August 28, 2026
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Tanner McKee was not at his best Friday night.
If you like football games that matter, you probably didn't like Friday's final preseason game between the Eagles and Bengals, one that saw the Birds fall 30-13 and score exactly one touchdown.
The starters and most of the backups didn't really play. And the headliner in this one, first round pick Makai Lemon didn't do very much in his first pro game (he caught three passes, most of them forced his way for one total yard).
With more than two weeks left until meaningful football returns to the Linc, the Eagles have plenty of time to shape their roster and get ready for the season with cutdowns due Sunday.
Before turning the page, here's a look at some players who really helped their cause against Cincy, and some who inflicted some damage on their cases for roster spots or playing time:
Dameon Pierce, Carson Steele RB
Pierce and Steele have tough fights to earn a spot with the Eagles, behind Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley. Pierce flashed first, bruising to a 16-yard run that saw him bounce off of several defenders for a big first down. Soon after he had a 12-yard streak to start the second quarter. Steele picked up where he left off after that, catching eight passes for 52 yards, including one for a touchdown from Andy Dalton. They're candidates for the practice squad.
Smael Mondon, LB
Mondon is making the 53-man roster and is a part of, perhaps, one of the best linebacking corps in the game (behind Zack Baun, Jihaad Campbell, and Jeremiah Trotter Jr.) Last year's fifth rounder made a great play in the first half, sniffing out a screen to force a loss of six yards — and was promptly taken off the field after showing the coaches enough to keep his roster spot secure.
Special shout out to safety Andre' Sam, who had a monster game, recovering two fumbles and forcing a third before being carted off with what looked like a serious injury in the second half of this one.
Tanner McKee, QB
The Eagles' backup quarterback situation was murky entering Friday, as neither McKee nor veteran Andy Dalton have emerged as a trusted understudy for Jalen Hurts. But then McKee fell flat, while Dalton looked serviceable. It'll be a very interesting weekend to see what team elects to do with that duo and rookie Cole Payton.
Right from the get-go it wasn't McKee's day. A forced throw down the field to Lemon was met with great coverage and very easily could have been intercepted. On the very next play, McKee took a bad sack as he hesitated, checked down and lost nine yards to set up second and long — he could have dumped to Pierce to avoid the negative play. Then on third and long, McKee checked down and threw a horrible layup pass on a running back dump off.
On the Eagles' next drive, the QB came close to taking a sack before an under-throw down the field was nearly picked off. An under throw to a wide open Pierce stunted Philly's third drive before the interception finally came, as a decently delivered pass grazed the hands of Lemon and was intercepted by Bengals reserve d-back Tacario Davis.
Tacario Davis with the INT 🔥
— NFL (@NFL) August 29, 2026
CINvsPHI on CBS/Paramount+
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He had Britain Covey sprinting to the end zone on his final drive in the game and didn't lead the receiver as the ball fell short. McKee finished 12-for-22 for just 55 yards, two sacks and the interception.
Kapena Gushiken, DB
A trendy pick to make the 53-man roster, the undrafted d-back from Mississippi had a pretty ugly start to his day as he tried to solidify his case. First he streaked down field on an Eagles punt and missed a very easy tackle as a gunner. He then went on to miss a couple of plays lining up at corner, allowing a pair of first downs on the Bengals opening field goal-scoring drive.
The spot is his for the taking, in theory. He has to beat out a 33-year-old veteran fresh off an injury (Jonathan Jones), a cornerback who has had an extremely shaky tenure as an Eagle (Kelee Ringo) and a second-year special teams guy (Mac McWilliams). It's not easy to spend the entire offseason... not tackling... and then make tackles in the preseason — though he did make a play later on special teams that was wiped out by a Bengals penalty.
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