The Philadelphia Eagles open training camp on July 28, and their rookie wide receiver just made a promise he’ll be ready to roll.
Makai Lemon, the team’s first-round pick out of USC and last season’s Biletnikoff Award winner, spent the spring dealing with a hamstring injury that limited him during minicamp. It wasn’t a major deal, but with A.J. Brown now in New England and the Eagles needing a new reliable target, any health question marks in the receiver room get attention. Lemon told reporters this week that the issue is fully behind him.
“Just how to take care of your body,” Lemon said, when asked what he learned from the offseason. “Just how to attack your preparation. Every little thing that them guys do, I’m watching closely. I feel like I can learn so much from them boys.”
If the kid sounds like he’s still feeling out his surroundings, that makes sense. He’s about to step into a major role fast. The Eagles traded Brown to the Patriots back in June, a move that surprised a lot of people around the league but made sense after the star wide receiver and quarterback Jalen Hurts had some friction down the stretch last year. Suddenly DeVonta Smith is the No. 1 guy, and Lemon is the most likely candidate to line up opposite him.
Lemon doesn’t have the same freakish physical tools Brown brought. He’s not 6-foot-1 with 230 pounds of muscle. But he plays bigger than his frame suggests at the catch point, and he’s nasty after the catch. That’s where new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion will try to weaponize him. Get the ball in Lemon’s hands in space. Let him turn a five-yard out into a 30-yard gain.
The Eagles limped into the playoffs last season after a Super Bowl win the year before, then got bounced by the 49ers in the Wild Card round. You don’t have to look hard for motivation in that building. Lemon knows what’s expected of a first-round pick, and he seems to understand the situation he’s walking into.
Training camp starts in a few days. We’ll see if that 100 percent promise holds up through pads and contact. But for now, Lemon looks ready to earn his spot.
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