‘It’s on me’: Aussie NFL beast shattered by teammate’s comment as season ends in heartbreak

Sydney-born Mailata’s breakout season for the Philadelphia Eagles ended with a 31-15 thrashing at the hands of reigning Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday morning (AEDT).

Led by NFL great Tom Brady, the Bucs brutalised the young Eagles, holding them scoreless through the first three quarters to end the contest before it even began.

Afterwards, Mailata said he was shattered to hear that quarterback Jalen Hurts had shouldered the blame for the comprehensive defeat.

“It breaks my heart to see my QB solely take responsibility and say that it’s on him,” a visibly emotional Mailata said.

“It’s not. It’s on me. It’s on every player. I messed up as well not giving him enough time.

“It breaks my heart to see him try to take the blame for everything. It’s not true.

“We all need to be better.”

Hurts, playing only his second season in the NFL, was criticised for his wayward passing and for appearing rattled on the big stage.

But Mailata said he had been inspired by the 23-year-old’s leadership.

“I want to follow that dude. He wants to fix his mistakes. When I see my captain doing that, I want to do the same thing,” Mailata said.

Mailata said that while the huge loss was difficult to take, the Eagles had a bright future ahead under Sirianni.

“I think he’s a great, phenomenal coach. We all bought into his process and his fundamentals,” Mailata said.

“We trusted in him and we invested ourselves. We got to the play-offs.

“We’re a young team with a young coach and this is only the beginning.

“We’re going to look back at this film and we’re going to learn from it. We’re going to make the corrections and carry that chip on our shoulder until next year.”

Originally published as ‘It’s on me’: Aussie NFL beast shattered by teammate’s comment as season ends in heartbreak