It took one Eagles preseason game for the Makai Lemon conversation to start

This was one of the most anticipated rookie debuts for a Philadelphia Eagles player in a long time, since fans didn't have the first two preseason games to watch first-round pick Makai Lemon play.

There had been a ton of hype surrounding Lemon, especially after his great 2025 season with the USC Trojans. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award and was a unanimous All-American selection, catching 79 passes for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Over the last week at training camp, Lemon has been slowly showing how good he can be, catching a touchdown in the Eagles' open practice. When he stepped on the field for the preseason finale against the Cincinnati Bengals, though, things didn't go well.

What should Eagles fans make of Makai Lemon's debut?

Lemon made a nice adjustment to an off target throw by Tanner McKee on the first play of the game for a three-yard completion. That would be the only noteworthy play of the night for Lemon, though.

He had a really bad drop that the Bengals intercepted, then muffed a punt return he recovered, but it went nowhere. Lemon finished with three receptions for three yards on five targets and had one punt return for zero yards in the 30-13 loss to Cincinnati.

Lemon opened up about his drop in the game and took accountability for it.

"It's a drop. It went through my hands. I got to catch it. Learn from it."

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni talked about Lemon's performance after the game as well. While Sirianni understood it was not the best performance from his rookie, he still sees good things in him.

“Few opportunities, but we’ll look at it. There’s gonna be ups and downs for every player. There’s gonna be good plays, bad plays. Obviously, he’s going to want that catch back on third down, to be able to hang onto that, not cause a turnover that basically led to points. We’ve seen some good things throughout his practices where we’re feeling good about his development. He’s got to continue to develop. Young player that we know we’re going to be able to count on this year.”

Overall, it was not quite the performance Eagles fans wanted from their first-round pick, but there are reasons it was a bit lopsided. Lemon had been working with the starters more than the backups, so he doesn't quite have the help or chemistry with McKee. He also missed most of training camp with his hamstring injury, so he is still adjusting to the speed of the gam.

Read more: Eagles surprise fans with QB trade in final 53-man roster prediction for 2026

There's no reason to hit the panic button with Lemon, as there are plenty of things to take away from the game that he can learn from on the tape. This is more of a learning lesson for Lemon, who now has two weeks to prepare for the Week 1 showdown against the Washington Commanders. That's where he can really do some damage and prove his worth.

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