Eagles facing uncomfortable Makai Lemon starting question amid injury

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Eagles facing uncomfortable Makai Lemon starting question amid injury originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Philadelphia Eagles traded A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots this offseason, and to replace him, drafted Makai Lemon in the first round, traded for Dontayvion Wicks, and signed WRs Elijah Moore and Hollywood Brown.

During training camp, there's been plenty of buzz about Wicks and even second-year WR Darius Cooper. But, when it comes to Lemon, their first-round selection, they traded up with the Dallas Cowboys to draft, it has not been very good.

He's out with an injury, and there have been questions about his ability to learn this new offense properly. Amid such an injury and offensive questions, Jimmy Kempski of Philly Voice shared doubt that Lemon would even be a starter for the Eagles' offense.

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"Well, Lemon missed half the spring and so far half of training camp, and on the days he did practice he didn't do a whole lot," Kempski writes. "It's fair at this point to doubt that he will start, at least early in the season."

This is not the kind of update that Eagles fans will want to hear at all. While this isn't an announcement that Lemon won't start, the fact that this has even become a possibility is a bit of a concerning sign.

Lemon has been banged up for much of the offseason, dealing with a hamstring issue that's becoming a real problem for the Eagles and Lemon.

Similar to how Cooper DeJean, in his rookie season, didn't get onto the field as a starter until Week 6 due to missing a lot of time in training camp due to injury, Lemon might be on the same trajectory.

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With Devonta Smith locked into a starting spot, the WR2 job is now seemingly up for grabs due to his injury for Lemon.

If another WR were to win that job, Wicks might be the favorite. He and Jalen Hurts have meshed well based on all reports coming out of camp, and the fact that he and Mannion were with the Green Bay Packers together last year is a good sign as well.

Ideally, though, Lemon would be the team's No. 2 WR. He still might earn that job, that is, if he comes back from injury during the preseason, looks good, and can learn Mannion's offense.

But, at least right now, the week leading up to Preseason Week 1, there is some worry about how the Eagles' first-round WR will factor into the offense at the start of the year.

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