Makai Lemon has quickly become one of the biggest storylines at Philadelphia Eagles training camp. The rookie receiver has been dealing with a lingering hamstring issue that has now caused him to miss two straight days of camp. The Eagles have continued to say that they don’t expect this to be a long-term thing, but hamstring injuries are always a concern.
The Eagles have an extremely deep roster, specifically at the receiver position. Still, having your first-round draft pick missing valuable training camp reps is a big deal. Here’s why Lemon’s injury could be a concern for more than just a few days.
Lemon has now missed the last two days of training camp with a hamstring injury, joining Devonta Smith on the injury report. This normally may not be a major concern, but he also missed a majority of minicamp with a similar hamstring injury. It is unclear if it’s the same injury, but multiple hamstring issues in the span of a few months is concerning.
The Eagles have said that this injury is not expected to be a long-term issue and shouldn’t affect him in the regular season. The problem with hamstring issues is that they linger and don’t go away. It was an issue last season with AJ Brown, and they have to hope it’s not an issue with Lemon this year. The concerning part is that he’s already dealt with this at one point in the offseason. Now, it’s already back after a few days of training camp. Hopefully this isn’t something that will repeatedly come back.
Lemon missing extended time during training camp would affect his regular season more than anything. He would start behind everyone else and would have to climb up the depth chart as a rookie. If he misses more time throughout camp and preseason, he could begin week one as the WR4.
Hollywood Brown and Dontayvion Wicks are some of the best depth receivers a team could have, so having those two to surpass as a rookie will be tough. Lemon needs to be out there on the field and make as much ground on those two as possible if he wants to start immediately.
Lemon has had a good camp when healthy, so that bodes well for him. The Eagles have been trying to find ways to get him the ball, indicating that he may have an easier path to immediate playing time.
The injury could become a worst case scenario situation if it lingers into the regular season. That’s when things actually matter, and you can’t afford to miss too much time. If he enters week one with a hamstring issue, who knows when he will see the field again.
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