The Philadelphia Eagles knew they needed some wide receiver help earlier this offseason given the inevitable departure of A.J. Brown, so they went out and swung a trade for Dontayvion Wicks while also selecting Makai Lemon in the NFL Draft.
The Eagles proceeded to trade Brown to the New England Patriots in June, so their proactivity in adding more pieces to the receiver room was obviously understandable.
The problem? Lemon has been pretty concerning thus far.
Lemon has not looked great in training camp, and it Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation made that very clear in a recent assessment.
“I’ve yet to see any kind of ‘wow’ factor with Lemon,” Gowton wrote. “He didn’t look very fast on a vertical target where the ball landed in front of him. Not sure if that incompletion was an overthrow or if he simply didn’t get to where [Jalen] Hurts was expecting him to be.”
Perhaps it’s largely because the Eagles are easing Lemon into practice after he missed most of minicamp due to a hamstring injury, but shouldn’t he be fully healed by now?
To make matters worse, the USC product left Monday’s practice early for an unknown reason.
“Also of note: First-round pick Makai Lemon later exited practice. His status will be updated Tuesday,” wrote Zach Berman of The Athletic.
Why did Lemon depart drills early? Was he injured? Was he sore? Did something else go wrong?
Needless to say, the trepidation surrounding Lemon thus far in the summer has Philadelphia fans worried, and you can understand why considering the Eagles spent a first-round pick on him.
Devonta Smith will be Philly’s No. 1 receiver in 2026, but the Eagles definitely need some reliable depth behind him. They hope to have that in Wicks and Lemon.
But through the initial stages of training camp, all Lemon has done is generate concern.





