Philadelphia Eagles fans are already grieving over A.J. Brown's trade being official, but there is no time to rest on the news, as things are not looking particularly sunny in Philly.
In the first OTAs after the Brown trade, Eagles reporters noticed that rookie first-round pick Makai Lemon was on the field, but without his helmet. Turns out there was a reason that he was not practicing: he is injured.
League sources told 94 WIP Eagles reporter Eliot Shorr-Parks that Lemon has a soft tissue injury. While the team is not concerned that the injury will be a long-term problem, he is expected to be out for the rest of OTAs.
Makai Lemon is dealing with an injury at Eagles OTAs
Obviously, this is not an ideal situation for Lemon, as it is valuable time that could be used for him to get comfortable with the offense. He needs to start building that rapport with Jalen Hurts so that they are on the same page.
The good news is that Lemon's injury isn't serious, so he should be good to go for training camp. Eagles fans should be slightly concerned about this over the next few months, as soft-tissue injuries can linger if they don't heal properly.
It's also just really bad timing for the injury, given that the Eagles just traded for the receiver Lemon is essentially replacing. Even though Dontayvion Wicks is technically filling in on the outside where Brown was, Lemon is going to be getting those targets in the offense.
Read more: Eagles' first post-A.J. Brown trade move goes in a much different direction
While the panic button doesn't need to be slammed at the moment, Eagles fans should monitor Lemon's progress over the next month to see how he's doing. If he doesn't improve by training camp, more questions need to be raised.