BALTIMORE — The Eagles lost 24-7 to the Ravens in their first preseason game on Saturday night at M&T Bank Stadium.
Philadelphia was outplayed in all four quarters, but not everything was bad. The Eagles watched a few of their young players have great nights, while some other players struggled badly.
Here are the winners and losers from the Eagles’ preseason loss:
Winners
Robinson struggled during his rookie season and did not stand out during the first week of training camp this summer. The Eagles’ 2025 fourth-round pick looked like a bust, but that narrative is slowly changing.
It’s not time to declare that Robinson has turned his career around, but he has performed better in practices recently and played well against the Ravens.
In the first quarter, Robinson beat Ravens second-year guard Emery Jones for a sack with a club move. He has beaten his teammates with that same move in practice. He plays with good power in his hands. Now he needs to round out his game and become a more effective player. But this type of performance should help him lock up a roster spot.
Eagles backup cornerbacks (with a caveat)
It was not a perfect night for the Eagles’ backup cornerbacks. The Ravens’ quarterbacks targeted Kelee Ringo, Mac McWilliams and Shaun Wade various times.
Ravens rookie wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane beat Ringo for a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and earlier on the same drive, McWilliams was beaten on a 19-yard catch. On the final drive of the second half, Ringo drew a pass-interference penalty at the goal line.
But then Philadelphia’s backup cornerbacks made a few big plays. After his pass interference flag, Ringo locked up Ravens wide receiver Xavier Guillory in the back of the end zone and leapt to intercept quarterback Joe Fagnano’s errant throw.
Late in the third quarter, Wade surrendered a catch to Ravens rookie wide receiver Elijah Sarratt and missed the tackle after falling to the ground, but he chased Sarratt from behind and forced a fumble that was recovered by his teammate, Eagles cornerback Ambry Thomas.
Philadelphia’s inconsistencies in coverage point to a potential depth issue at cornerback, but the unit deserves credit for making two fantastic plays.
Philadelphia’s undrafted free agents
A group of Eagles’ undrafted free agents flashed intriguing potential against the Ravens’ offense. Eagles rookie linebacker Deontae Lawson, the former Alabama standout, displayed impressive speed, stuffed a few run plays and delivered punishing hits. On his first tackle, Lawson filled a hole and knocked Elijah Tau-Tolliver down for a one-yard gain. Lawson is a candidate to make Philadelphia’s 53-man roster.
Edge rusher Joshua Weru, a native of Kenya who made his American football debut on Saturday, looked comfortable on the field, which is surprising because he only started playing the sport in May. Weru looked very explosive off the edge and landed a quarterback hit on his first drive.
Safeties Kapena Gushiken and Maximus Pulley, along with defensive tackle Zion Wilson, each made positive plays.
Eagles rookie quarterback Cole Payton
Payton went against Baltimore’s third-string defense, but at the same time, he was the Eagles’ best backup quarterback tonight over Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee. Payton won’t win the backup job, but he showed good long-term potential and increased his chances of making the roster.
Payton rushed for 45 yards and threw a touchdown pass on the Eagles’ final offensive drive.
Losers
Wilson missed the Ravens’ game for an undisclosed reason. He missed a few practices this week with a knee injury, but he returned on Thursday and looked healthy. Before suffering a knee injury, Wilson was making progress during practice, including hauling down a touchdown over Jonathan Jones and beating Mac McWilliams over the top for a long catch on August 7. This is the second straight summer in which Wilson’s momentum has been halted by injury. Last year, he suffered season-ending knee and ankle injuries during training camp after he had just started to put it together. The 2024 sixth-round pick is facing an uphill battle to make the Eagles’ 53-man roster.
Eagles’ top backup quarterbacks, Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee
Neither Dalton nor McKee made a strong impression during Saturday night’s game. Both quarterbacks failed to push the ball downfield or be decisive with their throws. Neither quarterback made a memorable throw.
In a tight competition for the backup quarterback job, either Dalton or McKee needed to have a good night to secure the job but that did not happen.
McKee completed 6 of 10 passes for 35 yards, while Dalton completed 3 of 6 passes for 20 yards.
Eagles wide receiver Darius Cooper
Cooper, the star of training camp, was disappointing tonight, finishing with only two catches for 21 yards. He also dropped a pass. To become a big part of Philadelphia’s offense, Cooper must be consistently great.
Cooper has been fantastic all summer. So could this just be a minor setback? He has two more weeks of practice and two more preseason games to carve out a role.
MORE BY CAYDEN STEELE
Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.