After getting beaten for a couple sacks and multiple pressures in his inauspicious NFL debut in Washington two weeks ago, Halapoulivaati Vaitai stood at his locker that night, professed his confidence, and vowed to get better.
Then he did.
In his second NFL game, against the Vikings Sunday, Vaitai gave up just one quarterback hurry and was largely invisible throughout much of the afternoon. Invisibility is a desired trait of any offensive lineman.
“After that first game, you’re just trying to prove yourself, you know?” Vaitai said. “Are you worthy enough to be playing in this league? And so, I took that as motivation.”
Vaitai used that motivation to work on the details that he knew he could fix in his fundamentals. Among them, was making sure he didn’t kick too many times.
Thursday was the first time Vaitai has spoken publicly since the night of the Washington game on Oct. 16. While he said it wasn’t on purpose, he also said during last week he was just focusing on getting better without distractions.
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How difficult was it to stay confident?
“You didn’t have the best day of your life, you know?” Vaitai said. “It’s just life, you have to move on, come back ready the next day to work. That’s what I did. The O-line coach (Jeff Stoutland) was really good at keeping me calm. I cleared my head.”
Whatever Vaitai did last week, it worked.
Offensive coordinator Frank Reich attributed the improvement from week to week to Big V “settling down,” playing at home, playing with a lead and gaining confidence as he learned from his mistakes.
According to Vaitai, the area in which he improved the most was “just staying calm.” He was understandably excited and nervous during his debut; he needed to get past the nervousness.
During his eight minutes in front of the press on Thursday he twice dropped a current hot line in Philadelphia: “Trust the process.”
For Vaitai, the process was learning from his past mistakes and correcting them, and also listening to his veteran teammates like Jason Peters, who has been helping him immensely in recent weeks.
“He’s just been by my side,” Vaitai said. “He tells me ‘Hey, just clear your head, don’t beat yourself up. Just go out there and do your job. Just go out there and be smart, don’t overthink. Just go out there and kick to your spot.’ It’s really simple, he says. But … for him. It’s simple for him.”
This week is a little extra special for Vaitai. Vaitai, who grew up in Haltom City, Texas, just outside of Dallas, is listed as one of the team’s three captains.
Furthermore, Vaitai’s parents, Takilivi and Shirley, will be attending their first NFL game ever on Sunday. (Big V had actually never been to an NFL game before getting drafted.) His parents have been to AT&T Stadium, but that was to see Vaitai play in high school and college.
This time, they’ll get to see their son start at right tackle for the Eagles. Vaitai called it a “once-in-a-lifetime deal.”
It’ll also be Vaitai’s first road game since his debut in Washington. But this time, he thinks he’ll be more ready.
“I know what to expect now,” he said. “I know it’s going to be a loud stadium. I know what I have to do. I can’t kick too many times. That was my big problem there. You have to trust the process.”
