Eagles fans get their wish as Quinyon Mitchell and A.J. Brown create intriguing moment in joint practice
Brown is obviously a talented wide receiver, but Mitchell is quickly becoming one of the top cornerbacks in the entire NFL.
The most anticipated rep of the entire Eagles’ offseason finally arrived, and Quinyon Mitchell delivered. The Philadelphia Eagles traveled to New England for joint practices with the Patriots, and everybody knew the storyline walking in. A.J. Brown, the receiver the Eagles traded earlier this offseason, was on the other side of the field. Eagles fans traveled all the way to New England just to see this practice. That is how diehard this fan base is and how much they were anticipating this matchup.
Brown walked through his former teammates before practice, gave a little pat on the chest, but nothing much. Just going about his business. We know it was not a good ending in Philadelphia, but Brown has reiterated that things are fine and that he’s moved on.
Mitchell showed up when the lights got bright
The most important rep of the day came early. Brown lined up against Mitchell one-on-one, and they went for a deep pass down the sideline. Mitchell ran stride for stride with Brown all the way down the field, staying in his hip pocket on a very tight throw. Brown even joked afterward that Mitchell got away with a penalty.
I don’t see any holding. I see a top 2, top 3 cornerback in the league, and Mitchell showed up when the lights got bright. I know it’s just a joint practice, but everybody was waiting all summer for this rep, and Mitchell locked him up. How do you like that? Maybe Brown is still one of the best receivers in the league, but he couldn’t separate from Mitchell. Shout out to Q for holding it down.
Now, I do want to be fair. Brown had a monster day overall. He showed that he can still be a No. 1 wide receiver. He had several catches and took advantage of the Eagles’ defense the rest of the day. But that first rep, that’s what everybody was waiting to see.
Brown dropped it, and the jokes wrote themselves
From another angle, you could see Brown streaking down the sideline with Mitchell right on his tail. Brown probably could have reeled it in, but he dropped it at the end. A lot of people were making jokes that Brown went harder on that rep than he did in the San Francisco 49ers game.
Look, joint practices are joint practices. Nobody is handing out trophies for winning a drill in August. But this was about more than one rep. This was about Quinyon Mitchell proving he can match up with one of the best receivers in football, a guy who knows this offense inside and out, a guy who had every reason to come out and try to embarrass his former team. And Mitchell answered. That’s the kind of confidence you want from a cornerback heading into the season.
Brown can still play. Nobody should doubt that. But Mitchell locked him up on the rep everybody came to see, and that matters heading into the regular season.
