Eagles rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon says the hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of the spring is no longer a concern. Lemon told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday that he’s “feeling great” and will be “100 percent” when Eagles rookies and veterans report to training camp together on July 28, with the team’s first practice set for July 29.
Lemon, Philadelphia’s first-round pick out of USC, missed the second media-attended OTA practice and both days of mandatory minicamp in June. Teammate Quinyon Mitchell identified the injury as a hamstring issue, according to the Inquirer. He’ll still need clearance from Eagles trainers before he’s fully cleared for contact work, but there’s no indication the injury will keep him out of camp.
Lemon spoke Friday from the site of his FlexWork Sports youth camp in Aston, Pennsylvania. He described an offseason spent studying rather than running routes.
“Working on my craft, just trying to get the playbook down,” Lemon said. “Just making sure I’m ready so when I go out there, it’s lights out.”
Replacing A.J. Brown Without Being A.J. Brown
Lemon sits at the center of Philadelphia’s biggest question entering 2026: how the offense functions after trading A.J. Brown to the Patriots this offseason. Brown produced four straight 1,000-yard seasons in Philadelphia, and no single addition is expected to replace that on his own.
Lemon isn’t built as a like-for-like replacement anyway. Brown plays at 6-foot-1 and 226 pounds and built his reputation overpowering cornerbacks at the catch point. Lemon, at 5-foot-11 and 192 pounds, operates differently — mostly out of the slot, leaning on route precision and reliable hands. He closed his final season at USC with 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The Eagles didn’t ask one rookie to carry that load by himself. Howie Roseman rebuilt the receiver room around Lemon this offseason, adding Dontayvion Wicks in an April trade from Green Bay, free agent Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, and second-round tight end Eli Stowers. Returners DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert remain in the mix as well.
A Veteran Room Willing to Teach
That depth does more than spread out targets — it lightens the learning curve for a 20-year-old rookie adjusting to his first NFL playbook. Lemon will share a meeting room and practice reps with Super Bowl LIX MVP Jalen Hurts, former Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley and six-time Pro Bowl tackle Lane Johnson, among others.
Lemon, who grew up in Los Alamitos, California, and had never played organized football outside his home state before this year, said the transition to Philadelphia has been smoother than expected because of how the locker room received him.
“They had open arms for me,” Lemon said. “A lot of veteran guys in my room. I’m just there to learn from them. Soak up any information I can. I’m ready for the season to ride out with them boys, man.”
New offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, hired after Kevin Pattullo’s departure, will begin sorting out how the retooled group fits together once camp opens at the Jefferson Health Training Complex. The Eagles are coming off a 2025 season that ended in the Wild Card Round, and how quickly Lemon and the rest of the new receiving corps mesh with Hurts figures to shape how far Philadelphia goes this fall.
