Mays has squandered his opportunity to make this a reality.
What was supposed to be a great opportunity for Joe Mays has ended, and from it comes an opportunity not for Mays, but for Omar Gaither.
Gaither will get the start on Sunday when the Eagles head south to Carolina to take on the Panthers. Why he's getting the start is the disappointing part for Mays.
Mays was basically handed the starting job after Stewart Bradley went down for the season with an ACL tear. All he had to do was not lose the job, and it would be nearly impossible for Gaither to take it from him. To the dismay of Mays, and the Eagles, the only thing Mays did right this offseason was implode. He looked lost in camp, and even worse in preseason.
I've been a supporter of Omar Gaither from the very beginning, but it's still incredibly disappointing whenever a guy can't take advantage of an opportunity given. Mays earned the nickname "Headbuster" last year because of his reckless abandon, but it became obvious this year that being a starter was simply too much pressure for him.
He began to think too much, and couldn't keep up with the game. The speed of the play developing, and of the other players, was simply too much for him.
Now to make matters worse, he won't even be suiting up on Sunday. He's been ruled out of the game with a shoulder sprain, and now the Eagles are extremely thin if one of the starters were to go down.
To illustrate this point, the backup at middle linebacker is Chris Gocong, the current starting SAM who has never played a single down at MIKE linebacker. Gocong's backup is then Moise Fokou, a young guy who has impressed during camp and the preseason, but is only a rookie. It goes without saying that if Gaither, Gocong, or Akeem Jordan were to go down, we're in trouble.
So instead of running one of the best defenses in the NFL as a second-year player, Mays will be watching someone else do it while he watches from the sidelines in his street clothes. That's certainly not the scenario for which the Eagles were hoping.
