PHILADELPHIA — The next time the Philadelphia Eagles play in their home stadium, the game will count. That’s the best news that came out of the Eagles’ 30-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals Friday night in the third preseason game.
Preseason performance does not necessarily indicate a team’s regular season prospects, so nobody should adjust their win-loss prediction based on the on-field product that punctuated an 0-3 preseason. But Friday’s finale could help finalize the 53-man roster and offered valuable experience for rookies, and the Eagles were left with more questions than answers after Sunday’s performance.
Here are four takeaways from the Eagles’ loss:
Sour debut for Makai Lemon
The Eagles wanted Makai Lemon to play in a game before the regular season. It was clear he needed it.
Lemon, the first-round pick and a key part of the offense this season, was the only starter to play in the preseason finale. He missed the first two games with a hamstring injury and was absent from full-team drills for three weeks of training camp. That prompted the Eagles to play Lemon against the Bengals, similar to their approach in 2024 with Cooper DeJean in the final preseason game.
It was not a favorable first impression from Lemon. The Eagles tried feeding him the ball, targeting him five times on four drives. He finished with three catches for 3 yards. The ball went through Lemon’s hands on one pass attempt and was intercepted, thwarting a potential scoring drive. It was a high pass from Tanner McKee, but it hit his hands. Lemon collided with veteran Elijah Moore early in his route on one of his catches. The Eagles gave him a chance to return a punt in the third quarter, and Lemon bobbled the dribbler.
Will the Philadelphia Eagles passing game be good enough in 2026?
Robert Mays
One preseason game does not offer enough of a sample to form a modicum of an evaluation, but it was the only chance this summer to see Lemon in game action. Lemon was expected to be a ready-made receiver, arriving in the NFL as the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner. He’ll have a chance to show that in two weeks, because Lemon is expected to be a top-three receiver with DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks.
Looking for some reason for optimism? DeJean’s debut in that final preseason game in 2024 revealed growing pains. By the end of the season, he returned an interception for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. It took DeJean a month to become a major contributor to the Eagles defense that year. The Eagles could use Lemon to contribute from Week 1. — Zach Berman
No clear victor for QB2 battle at the end of the preseason
The Eagles split reps between Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee throughout training camp practices and preseason games to determine the victor of a backup quarterback battle. Neither quarterback played well enough to be considered a clear winner. McKee started Friday night against the Bengals; he underwhelmed by completing 12 of 22 passes for 55 yards and an interception. He was also sacked twice. His passes seemed to have too much juice in the backfield, too little on deeper throws along the sideline, and he overthrew Britain Covey on a deep pass attempt toward the end zone. Dalton led an 11-play, 76-yard touchdown drive against the third-team defense, but McKee had similar success against the bottom end of the depth chart last week.
The Eagles are likely displeased with what the QB2 competition produced. It is also unclear what the Eagles will choose to do. Coach Nick Sirianni said McKee needed extra reps to get more comfortable in a very new system. Last year, McKee completed 20 of 25 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns in the preseason opener against the Bengals, and the coaching staff was pleased enough to sit him for the remaining two exhibitions. If the Eagles bet on the 26-year-old McKee’s potential over Dalton’s 16 years of experience, they will enter the 2026 season in the precarious position of knowing Jalen Hurts’ backup is not yet comfortable with this scheme. – Brooks Kubena
OC Sean Mannion calls second straight game from booth
Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion called plays from the booth for the second straight preseason game against the Bengals. He called plays from the sideline in the preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens. Asked this week, Mannion did not disclose where he would call plays. That he was in the booth again Friday night does not in itself mean it will be his choice for the regular season. But it does indicate a potential preference. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has called plays throughout his tenure in Philadelphia. Some coordinators prefer to be on the sideline so they can have face-to-face communication with players between possessions. The Eagles moved the ball better when Mannion was in the booth, but that could be attributed to the playbook being more accessible in those games. – Kubena
Final evaluations for Uar Bernard, Joshua Weru
This was the third football game ever for Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru. Neither player distinguished himself in the preseason finale — both were credited with one tackle — but they progressed throughout the summer. They now leave Howie Roseman facing difficult decisions.
Bernard, a seventh-round pick from Nigeria, and Weru, an undrafted rookie from Kenya, were acquired as projects with their long-term development in mind. As expected, they’re not ready to contribute this year — Vic Fangio called them “light years away” and dubbed them the “exchange students” — but using the International Player Pathway program slot on the practice squad requires exposing them to waivers. That means 31 other teams would have a chance to claim either of them and embark on the experiment the Eagles started in the spring.
“We all want to win now,” Fangio said this week, “but it’s Howie’s job to always be building the team for future years, too.”
