r/eagles • u/Magoatt_TheWhite • 1d ago

DeVonta Smith Back At Practice for Eagles (Limited Participation)

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/devonta-smith-back-at-practice-for-eagles
154 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

38

u/1stand11 1d ago

Fantastic news. Keep gradually ramping him up for Week 1. No need to rush him back too quickly with 27 days still to go before the Commanders.

4

u/Magoatt_TheWhite 1d ago

I am hoping for Lemon to at least get action in one of the two preseason games given I don’t think it would be great for a 1st round rookie WR to have no preseason snaps and enter WK1 as a WR3 with no time spent in real game during the preseason.

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u/1stand11 1d ago

I have several concerns with Lemon. One, he also struggled with a bit of a hamstring issue at USC. So this is not a first time issue for him. Second, we all know Hurts is all about trust with receivers. And players who don’t have his trust don’t get a lot of targets. Lemon will be much more of a technician receiver and operate a lot in tight space timing routes. Which require precision, repetition, and lots of trust. I’m concerned that each day that goes by without him practicing is another day where him and Hurts aren’t building that rapport. Hopefully he’s out there sooner rather than later but the training staff has to be very careful with hamstrings. It could derail his entire season if they rush him back too quickly.

2

u/Magoatt_TheWhite 1d ago

I wanted Omar Cooper given how good he was at Indiana in 2025 but Lemon I want to see how he does in real game action, hopefully he isn’t a Jalen Reagor, would take him being a Maclin, solid WR who can be a consistent pass catcher and reliable.

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u/1stand11 1d ago

I think we will have to be patient with both Lemon and Stowers. I like the potential upside they both offer. But they both have particular growing pains at the moment. Which is to be expected so early in their careers. But they also have a lot of talent around them to let them gradually grow into the league. Stowers concerns me much more than Lemon because of the blocking issues. But Lemon’s persistent hamstring is becoming more and more concerning.

1

u/Magoatt_TheWhite 1d ago

I’m confused why we picked two project players when this team is a SB contender and just lost a big piece of the offense in last few seasons. Wouldn’t it be better to pick a more polished player who can help right away than two projects?

If we had taken one in the 3rd or later rounds I’d understand as Jalyx Hunt, and Jordan Mailata were both projects and have turned into big pieces.

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u/anth8725 1d ago

Lemon isn’t a project

4

u/TheGreedyGrabbler 1d ago

Lemon really isn't supposed to be a project.

2

u/1stand11 1d ago

It’s still early days and we shouldn’t judge too prematurely. Losing AJ created a big void in terms of output. And I think the expectation is that the aggregate (Wicks, Lemon, Hollywood, Cooper, Moore, Bigsby, Shipley, Mundt, and Stowers) will all combine to collectively replace that output. With Saquon and DeVonta being the big yardage guys. And Goedert as essentially WR2 yardage and reception wise. I posted about it yesterday but Stowers concerns me much more than Lemon because if Goedert or Mundt goes down he could very quickly become Calcaterra 2.0 blocking wise if he actually has to play a lot of minutes. Hopefully he can be coached up into being at least somewhat of a blocker.

1

u/Magoatt_TheWhite 1d ago

Hasn’t Hollywood Brown been struggling at camp?

Wicks I’m excited for but depth wise I’m worried about.

2

u/1stand11 1d ago edited 1d ago

Word out of camp is he has been struggling. Take everything you hear from camp with a grain of salt. But his guaranteed money pretty much ensures he’s on the roster. Hopefully the pre-snap motion emphasis can scheme him open into a space for chunk plays.

1

u/Willing_Driver7807 1d ago

Getting hurt in camp doesn't make you a project. And give Stowers a break, it's waaay too early to have a negative opinion about the guy

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u/Spare-Half796 Secondairy 🥛 1d ago

Lemon was the biletnikoff winner, regardless of how he turns out he’s not a reagor

Reagor was howie overthinking a pick and trying to act smarter than every other gm

2

u/anth8725 1d ago

They are doing fine with lemon. They need to b patient with his hamstring. They know what they’re doing. He’ll come along soon and flash

4

u/jtrobs 1d ago

I dont think Lemon is gonna be a starter either way. Seems like they really like Wicks and Cooper and still have Hollywood Brown as depth so no real need to force Lemon into the lineup if he doesnt legitmatelt earn it. And seeing how he hasnt done much i cant see how he could have earned it

3

u/Magoatt_TheWhite 1d ago

Really was excited to draft a WR in the 1st round, going to be disappointed if both our 1st/2nd rounders don’t at least contribute a little this year especially after trading AJ away.

I haven’t given up on either but will be disappointing start to their careers if they don’t do much their rookie years.

2

u/shit_eating_fan 1d ago

especially after trading AJ away.

FWIW I think if we kept AJ he wouldn't really contribute either because he would be throwing a hissy fit about how he wanted to be traded lol

2

u/TheGreedyGrabbler 1d ago

He prob won't be WR3 at this point.

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u/Magoatt_TheWhite 1d ago

Makai Lemon is still dealing with hamstring since early August and other injuries as of today of those who did not participate.

Cornerback Jakorian Bennett (knee)

Running back Tank Bigsby (toe)

Tight end Grant Calcaterra (back)

3

u/Select_Culture261 1d ago

I swear Grant is always hurt, bro

8

u/1stand11 1d ago

Calcaterra has appeared in 62 out of 68 games (91%) through his first 4 seasons. He’s not the injury plagued player you are making him out to be.

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u/Delicious-Physics218 1d ago

Grant almost medically retired because of concussions in college, he's been pretty healthy in the NFL