August 22, 2026
Bill Streicher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Makai Lemon (above) will be retuning to practice full-time soon. Can Darius Cooper hold him off for the starting WR3 role?
The Philadelphia Eagles will be playing in their second preseason game Saturday night against the New England Patriots. Here are our five things to watch.
The Eagles' starters didn't play in the first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, and the most important backups / role players exited quickly. So, there's some level of "who cares" to these preseason exhibitions. Still, the Eagles' backups got their asses kicked in Baltimore, and badly, as first downs favored the Ravens 31-2 at one point in that game.
The offense in particular got absolutely nothing going when Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee were in the game, raising concerns about the backup quarterbacks behind Jalen Hurts.
Even if the starters don't play — spoiler, they won't — it would be less than ideal if the backups looked as bad as they did last week. Ideally, there will be significant improvement.
The Eagles could be looking to showcase a few players in the game as potential trade bait. A few players they might be looking to deal if they can get something in return:
• QB Andy Dalton: Dalton had a decent couple of days in joint practices against the Patriots, and he would actually make some sense for New England, seeing as their current QB2 is Tommy DeVito. I mean, come on. The Pats will have tape of Dalton from those practices, and he might be a valuable off-the-field sounding board for the young and talented Drake Maye.
• CB Kelee Ringo: Ringo has physical traits, and he had a really nice INT in the first preseason game. Maybe he can put something else positive on film in Game 2?
• QB Tanner McKee: McKee has been trade bait for over a year now. Maybe the Eagles' price could come down?
• OT Cameron Williams: There's still some growth potential for Williams, but there isn't much room for him on an Eagles roster loaded with offensive tackle talent.
Campbell was the only starter to play Week 1 in Baltimore.
"When Nakobe got back last year, [Jihaad's] snaps got cut down a lot and I just feel he needs more reps," Vic Fangio said when asked why Campbell played Week 1. "It proved it out in the game. He had a play or two that he didn't play the right way, that he should be playing the right way. We've still got work to do."
Campbell will ideally play in 17 regular season games, and rarely come off the field. The Eagles don't want their players to be too fatigued by the time January rolls around. If Campbell plays in two preseason games, that would be pretty telling that Fangio is concerned about his play from a mental perspective.
Makai Lemon began practicing in a limited capacity on Thursday. He will be returning to practice full-time soon. The Eagles' WR1 (DeVonta Smith) and WR2 (Dontayvion Wicks) spots are spoken for, but the WR3 spot remains wide open.
Cooper is challenging for that role, and I imagine he'll be given the opportunity to play against the Patriots on Saturday night. In the first preseason game against the Ravens, Cooper had 2 catches on 5 targets for 21 yards. Can he improve on that performance, and at least get the Eagles' staff to consider starting him Week 1? If not, Lemon will have a golden opportunity to swoop in at the tail end of camp and claim that spot.
Elliott missed a couple of field goals on Wednesday during Eagles-Patriots joint practices. Obviously, he is coming off two down seasons, and needs to bounce back. It'd be good to see him get a few live-game opportunities so the Eagles can have more information to work with on Elliott's currently unchallenged spot on the team.
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