This time every summer, we hear from the rookies how overwhelmed they are, how much is being thrown at them, how far behind they are.<\/p>\n
Not Makai Lemon.<\/p>\n
The Eagles\u2019 rookie wide receiver just shrugged when he was asked after practice Saturday if he\u2019s felt overwhelmed in his first few days of training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t feel like it’s too much,\u201d he said. \u201cWhatever they throw at me, I appreciate that, knowing that they\u2019ve got the trust in me to throw things at me like that. So just backing up their trust, just making sure I do my job. Whatever they expect, just making sure I can do my job at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, so good.<\/p>\n
Lemon, the 20th\u00a0pick out of USC, hasn\u2019t had any explosive down-the-field opportunities these first few days of camp, but he\u2019s made the plays he\u2019s supposed to make, and he believes he\u2019s where he needs to be six weeks before opening day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels good to really get out here with the whole team,\u201d he said. \u201cFirst training camp, and everything\u2019s good. I’ve been excited to hit the field each and every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know my ability, what I can do on the field, so just bringing my talent to the team the best I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lemon is the centerpiece of a rebuilt Eagles wide receiver room, the likely No. 2 behind DeVonta Smith.<\/p>\n
The Eagles have had five rookies catch 50 passes in a season \u2013 Don Looney led the NFL with 58 catches in 1940, his only season with the Eagles, and more recently DeSean Jackson (62), Jeremy Maclin (56), Jordan Matthews (67) and Smith (64) have surpassed 50 receptions in their first season.<\/p>\n
In Sean Mannion’s offense, Lemon has a chance to make a similar impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMakai works extremely hard,\u201d Hollywood Brown said after practice. \u201cHe’s very detailed and he’s tough. He’s competing every day. You guys can see he’s getting hit, bouncing back up, going hard the next play.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is a great situation for Lemon, who\u2019s in a WR room with Smith, Brown, Dontayvion Wicks and Elijah Moore, who have all had success to varying degrees in the NFL.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And with Smith in the mix, Lemon doesn\u2019t have the presure of being the No. 1 guy like a lot of 1st-round picks starting their career.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it’s great to have those guys in my room,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cI’m the youngest guy there, I’m the only rookie. So to have a bunch of guys in my room that have experience in the league, that’s the best position I can be in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m going out there asking them for advice just how to do certain things, how to run routes, what they see. Cuz they’ve done it before multiple times at a high level. So me just being the student of the game, coming in, just trying to get all the information I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown and Lemon both played under Lincoln Riley, Brown at Oklahoma and Lemon at USC, so they speak the same language, and that\u2019s helped their relationship as they both adjust to playing for the Eagles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The offenses are totally different, but they have a background in common.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure,\u00a0I try to share as much as I can with him especially on coming from coach Riley,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI come from that system, too, so just whatever tips I can give him to help him with the transition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“But he’s coming in and doing a good job. And you see the kind of guy who will seek veterans out and stuff and ask for advice. He’ll come and ask us questions, off to the side, ask what we’ve seen. He’s been doing a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lemon has been returning punts, lining up mainly in the slot but also outside at times. What does he like doing the most? Whatever he\u2019s asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like that’s the good thing about this offense, that you can move guys all around, not just being in the slot, but all around. So whatever they need me to do, I’m making sure I’m available to do that. Catch punts, kickoff returns, whatever it is, just make sure I do that at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This time every summer, we hear from the rookies how overwhelmed they are, how much is being thrown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6107,108159,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-257987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-eagles-blog","tag-eagles-training-camp","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}