Makai Lemon was the sole projected 2026 starter who suited up to play in the Philadelphia Eagles’ preseason finale against the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night.
It was a sensible decision. Lemon missed half of the Eagles’ spring practices and the majority of training camp with the same hamstring injury. The team didn’t want his first NFL game action to come against the Washington Commanders in Week 1.
With Lemon not exactly popping during the limited practices he has participated in, it would’ve been encouraging to see some positive signs from him in this game.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Lemon finished his first professional football game with five targets that resulted in three catches for three yards. He had a pass go through his hands for an interception and he muffed a punt that he fielded off of multiple bounces before ultimately recovering possession.
To his credit, Lemon took accountability for the turnover after the game:
Lemon wasn’t exactly done any favors by Tanner McKee, who largely struggled. McKee threw short of the rookie on the first target of the game. The backup quarterback also probably could’ve placed the pass in the following video better, though Lemon also didn’t exactly generate much separation here:
It goes without saying that it’s entirely too early to write the book on Lemon’s career. But I do think it’s fair to raise questions about his readiness to contribute early on as a rookie.
There was a play in this game where Lemon ran into Elijah Moore. There was a rep in practice this week where Lemon didn’t know he was supposed to be on the field.
Based on what I’ve seen this summer, Darius Cooper and Moore currently inspire more confidence as WR3 options than Lemon does. If beating Washington is the top priority, one of them should be starting alongside DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks in 15 days from now.
But I don’t think that deployment is necessarily likely. Lemon has been working with the starters since returning from injury. And the Eagles have been making an effort to force feed him touches, albeit to not much success in practice.
Perhaps patience with Lemon will pay off and any short-term struggles will subside as he improves over the course of his rookie season. I’m sure many will be quick to compare his path to Cooper DeJean, who also missed a lot of time in training camp before struggling in the Eagles’ preseason finale in 2024.
A few things about that comparison:
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DeJean is pretty great player who is probably more of the exception than the norm.
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It wasn’t until Week 6 that the coaching staff trusted DeJean to see regular playing time that year.
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DeJean’s layoff may have been less detrimental than it is for a rookie receiver missing out on time to build chemistry with his quarterback.
Maybe one day we’ll look back at this Lemon performance and laugh that there was any concern about his outlook. Until we see more from him, though, I think it’s fair to have some reservations. Especially since the Eagles kind of need him to be ready to have a meaningful role in this offense sooner than later.
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