Five injured Eagles to monitor before joint practice with Patriots
· Yahoo Sports
The Philadelphia Eagles are beginning to get healthier at an important point in training camp. DeVonta Smith, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean returned to practice Monday after missing time with injuries, giving Philadelphia a chance to have three of its most important players available for joint practices against the New England Patriots.
Not every report on Monday and Tuesday was as encouraging. First-round receiver Makai Lemon remained out of team drills with a hamstring injury, although he increased his rehabilitation work on a side field. Veteran cornerback Jonathan Jones also remained sidelined with the shoulder injury that has kept him out for approximately a week.
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All five players were held out of Philadelphia’s 24-7 preseason-opening loss to Baltimore. The Eagles would never expose injured starters to unnecessary preseason snaps, but the two practices in New England will provide more useful and controlled work than Saturday’s game. Philadelphia can manage snaps and rep counts, avoid tackling established players to the ground and still evaluate how each player responds against a high-level AFC opponent.
Here are the five injury situations to monitor before the Eagles begin joint work with the Patriots.
DeVonta Smith
Smith took the most significant step Monday when he returned as a limited participant after missing seven consecutive practices with a hamstring injury. Philadelphia does not need him to handle a full workload immediately. Simply participating in individual drills and selected team periods gives Smith an opportunity to rebuild his timing with Jalen Hurts before the regular season.
The next question is how much Smith will be asked to do over two days in New England. Joint practices create repeated one-on-one, third-down and red-zone opportunities that can place more strain on a receiver’s hamstring than a controlled return at the Jefferson Health Training Complex. The Eagles should remain cautious, but Smith needs some competitive work in Sean Mannion’s new offense after missing nearly two weeks.
Smith’s availability also changes the structure of the receiver rotation. Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore and Darius Cooper have received additional opportunities during his absence. Getting Smith back allows Hurts to work with his unquestioned No. 1 receiver while the Eagles continue sorting out the roles behind him.
Makai Lemon
Lemon remains the greatest concern of the five because his hamstring injury has cost him another important portion of his first NFL summer. The first-round pick did not return to team drills Monday, but he ran routes during a side-field workout and joined the post-practice catch circuit. Those are encouraging signs even if they do not guarantee that he will participate against New England.
Philadelphia drafted Lemon to become part of its immediate receiver rotation, making every missed practice more costly for him than it would be for an established veteran. He is learning a new offense, developing timing with Hurts and competing with several experienced receivers for snaps. Joint work against the Patriots would allow the Eagles to see how his route running responds to unfamiliar coverage and greater physicality.
The Eagles cannot allow the value of those repetitions to dictate the medical decision. Hamstring injuries can quickly become longer-term problems when a receiver returns before he can accelerate and decelerate without restriction. If Lemon remains limited or unavailable, Wicks, Brown, Moore and Cooper will receive another opportunity to widen the gap in the competition behind Smith.
Quinyon Mitchell
Mitchell was a full participant Monday after missing Philadelphia’s final practice before the Ravens game with a glute injury. His quick return suggests the Eagles were exercising caution rather than managing a significant concern, but his response to consecutive high-intensity practices will still be worth tracking.
The Patriots present an ideal test because former Eagles receiver A.J. Brown can challenge Mitchell with size, strength and familiarity. Mitchell has already developed into one of the NFL’s best young cornerbacks, but joint practices can recreate the physical demands of a regular-season matchup without requiring him to play deep into a preseason game.
Philadelphia should have the freedom to manage Mitchell’s workload without losing the value of the matchup. If he participates without limitation Wednesday and responds well enough to work Thursday again, the glute injury can likely become a closed training-camp storyline. Any reduction in his second-day workload would suggest the Eagles are still taking a measured approach.
Cooper DeJean
DeJean also returned as a full participant Monday after being listed with a groin injury. His availability is especially important because Vic Fangio has used him in several roles, including the slot and at safety. Every missed practice affects more than one position group and can alter how Philadelphia assembles its best secondary combinations.
The groin will be tested by New England’s use of motion, option routes and condensed formations. DeJean may be asked to carry receivers across the formation, close quickly against underneath passes and contribute near the line of scrimmage. Those movements require the sudden change of direction that can reveal whether a defensive back is completely comfortable after a lower-body injury.
The Eagles do not need to push DeJean through every competitive period, especially after he missed the preseason opener. They do need enough work to determine whether he can move between responsibilities without hesitation. A healthy two-day stretch would allow Fangio to continue building the versatile secondary packages expected to become a central part of Philadelphia’s defense.
Jonathan Jones
Jones remained out Monday with a shoulder injury and appears less likely than Mitchell or DeJean to participate fully against the Patriots. The veteran has missed about a week, and Fangio previously acknowledged that the injury would cost him some time. Even if the absence does not extend much longer, the timing works against a player competing for a role in a crowded secondary.
The trip would have given Jones the opportunity to play against his former team. He spent the first nine seasons of his career with New England before playing for Washington in 2025 and signing with Philadelphia during the offseason. That familiarity could help the Eagles prepare for the Patriots’ receivers and offensive tendencies, even if Jones is limited to observing and contributing in meetings.
His absence also matters because Philadelphia has dealt with injuries throughout the cornerback room. Jones was signed to provide experience, inside-outside flexibility and insurance behind the team’s younger defensive backs. Every practice he misses gives players such as Kelee Ringo and other reserve corners a greater opportunity to establish their place in Fangio’s rotation.
The practices matter more than Saturday’s game
Smith, Mitchell and DeJean appear to be trending toward participation in New England, while Lemon and Jones remain more uncertain. The Eagles can adjust each player’s workload across the two practices, emphasizing individual or situational periods without asking anyone to complete an entire session.
Philadelphia needs to enter the regular season with its core healthy and comfortable in new roles. Still, the Patriots' practices represent one of the last opportunities for meaningful work against another team. Progress from Lemon and Jones, combined with another healthy practice from Smith, Mitchell and DeJean, would make the trip far more valuable than any preseason result.
This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Five injured Eagles to monitor before joint practice with Patriots