A series of aggravations of his hamstring has one Philadelphia Eagles rookie focusing on the mental side of the game, as the physical side is keeping him limited. Makai Lemon, the Eagles' first round pick in 2026, first tweaked his hamstring and missed half of the team's organized team activities, then aggravated it on the fourth day of training camp, reports Brooks Kubena of The Athletic. "The injury caused him to miss two weeks of practices, two preseason games and the competitive parts of two joint practices with the New England Patriots," Kubena added.
So what's Lemon to do while literally sidelined ahead of his rookie campaign? He's been "making sure I’m more professional off the field," he told Kubena. Ain’t never want to be away from this game.
So, me knowing that it’s the hamstring again, I’m just making sure I take the right precautions. (I’m) learning from it so it doesn’t happen again.” New offensive coordinator Sean Mannion said he's noticed that Lemon has been "super engaged" mentally. "I don’t worry about that one bit with Makai," Mannion said. "I know the work he’s been putting in.
Injuries, unfortunately, they happen in football, but he’s been a total pro about his approach to rehab, his approach to the mental side of the game. Like I said, the unfortunate nature of football is sometimes you might miss some time, but he’s done everything in his power despite not having those physical reps to be ready for us to make an impact.” The opportunity will surely be there once Lemon is fullly healthy. The former Trojan joins an Eagles squad that traded away A.J.
Brown earlier this offseason, leaving DeVonta Smith as the unquestioned No. 1 and putting up for grabs the next spot. If Lemon can heal his hamstring, he might find himself getting to put those mental reps to use sooner rather than later.
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