Makai Lemon, a guy projected to be a starter for the Philadelphia Eagles, suited up for the preseason finale against the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night, and man, it was not the debut anyone hoped for. This was supposed to be his chance to show what he could do before Week 1, especially after missing so much time. Instead, he left a whole lot of questions on the field.
Rough Start for a Rookie in the Spotlight
It was a sensible move for the Eagles to get Lemon out there. He missed half of their spring practices and the majority of training camp dealing with a hamstring injury, the exact same one, too. The team definitely didn’t want his very first NFL game action to be against the Washington Commanders in Week 1, and honestly, who could blame them? With Lemon not exactly “popping” in the limited practices he’d been in, everyone was looking for some positive signs, some spark. Unfortunately, that just wasn’t the case. Can you believe it? Five targets, but only three catches for a measly three yards. Three. Yards. That’s rough, man. Worst of all, he let a pass slip right through his hands that turned into an interception. And yeah, he even muffed a punt that he ended up recovering after it took a couple of bounces. Tough, tough debut. Credit where it’s due, Lemon owned up to it after the game. He said, and I quote, “It was a drop. It went through my hands. I gotta catch that.” You gotta respect that honesty, but man, you also gotta make the play.
More Than Just Bad Luck for Lemon?
Now, Lemon wasn’t exactly getting superstar treatment from his backup quarterback, Tanner McKee, who generally struggled. McKee threw short of the rookie on the first target of the game. Then there’s that second target where McKee probably could’ve placed the pass better, though Lemon didn’t exactly create a ton of separation on the play either. It’s too early to write the book on Lemon’s career, no doubt about it. But it’s totally fair to raise some serious questions about his readiness to contribute early on as a rookie. We’re talking about a guy who ran into Elijah Moore on a play in this game. We even heard about a rep in practice this week where Lemon didn’t even know he was supposed to be on the field! Based on everything we’ve seen this summer, Darius Cooper and Elijah Moore are inspiring a lot more confidence as WR3 options than Lemon is right now.
If beating Washington in 15 days is the absolute top priority, then one of those guys, Cooper or Moore, should probably be starting alongside DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks. Here’s the kicker though: Lemon has been working with the starters since coming back from injury. And the Eagles have been making an effort to force-feed him touches, even if it hasn’t translated to much success in practice. Will patience pay off? We gotta hope these short-term struggles will subside, because right now, it’s not looking pretty.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleeding Green Nation.
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