Australian giant Jordan Mailata will have to wait longer to make his NFL regular-season debut for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson confirmed on Wednesday his veteran offensive lineman Jason Peters will play against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday despite suffering a torn biceps.
Mailata, a 21-year-old, 203cm tall, 157kg former South Sydney Rabbitohs junior, would have been an option to fill in for Peters, a 10-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team all-pro.
"He definitely can play," Pederson, asked about Peters' health, told reporters.
"There's no concern with injuring him any further.
"We have all the confidence in the world in him, and he'll be ready to go."
Mailata has been left on the bench for the Eagles' first six regular season games, with Pederson opting to bring the Australian rookie along slowly.
He had never played a game of American football until the recent NFL pre-season.
Peters, the second-oldest starting offensive lineman in the NFL, has proven to be a warrior by also playing through a quad injury earlier in the season and overcoming a torn ACL suffered last year.
