These 3 Eagles shined vs Patriots, and 2 signs they'll miss A.J. Brown

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. − Because the Eagles are not playing their starters in any of the preseason games, these two joint practice sessions with the New England Patriots are going to be a good gauge of where they stand before the regular season.

So it means something when Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts can hit wide receiver Elijah Moore deep down the field. The same is true when running back Saquon Barkley can take a handoff to the outside, then cut hard up the middle and pick up several yards.

Especially against a Patriots team that went to the Super Bowl last season.

We saw plenty of those examples on Aug. 19, the first of the two joint practice sessions. Sure, ex-Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown had his share of on-field victories against his former team. Just ask cornerback Riq Woolen, who gave up at least three receptions to Brown, not to mention some to other receivers.

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But there was a cornerback who didn't get beat by Brown, or anyone else for that matter. That's Quinyon Mitchell. He was an All Pro last season, his second in the NFL.

Mitchell and Brown were matched up against each other during a 1-on-1 drill. Brown went deep and appeared to have a step on Mitchell, who then caught up to Brown and prevented Brown from getting his other hand on the ball to complete the catch.

"Same Quinyon," Brown said. "He’s getting better and better. I’m excited for him. I think he can get even better ... It’s love between me and Q. That’s Li’l Bro, man ... I got so much respect for him. He’s an All Pro, and he’s going to continue to get better."

Here are two other players on offense who stood out against the Patriots on Aug. 19, along with two areas where the Eagles struggled:

It was always going to be hard to replace the 1,000-plus yards receiving that Brown was good for each season. But the Eagles can do it in a number of ways, perhaps most importantly by having Barkley return to his 2024 form when he rushed for 2,005 yards.

That's not saying Barkley needs another 2,000-yard season. But he does need to be more explosive than he was last season.

We saw our first taste of that against the Patriots as new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion's blocking scheme spreads the defense out horizontally, enabling Barkley to cut back sharply into a gap. That happened on at least a few occasions.

"He made a lot of big plays," right tackle Lane Johnson said. "We had some good plays in the screen game today ... All in all, the more productive we are in the run game, and stuff feeds off of that, then we'll see the Saquon of two years ago.

"We'll see the big plays. We'll see him flexing out wide at receiver, see him in the screen game."

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There need to be signs that the Eagles can have a dangerous passing offense with Brown gone.

So far, we hadn't seen that. It hasn't helped that DeVonta Smith and Makai Lemon have both missed more than two weeks with hamstring injuries. Smith took part in individual drills the last two practices, but not in team drills. Lemon, the Eagles' first-round draft pick, took part in stretching exercises and a few individual drills on Aug. 19.

At times against the Patriots, Hurts was throwing to roster longshots like Danny Gray and Britain Covey in 7-on-7 drills. Hurts was intercepted three times, and not all of them were his fault.

Other receivers hadn't stepped up, either. Hollywood Brown has had a disappointing camp, and he wasn't much of a factor against the Patriots.

But Moore had perhaps the best play of the day as he caught Hurts' deep pass over the shoulder and held on while landing on his back. Moore, also signed as a veteran free agent, has had a good camp. So has Dontayvion Wicks, who's expected to be the No. 2 receiver. Wicks had a few nice catches on passes from Andy Dalton, who's battling with Tanner McKee to be the backup QB.

The Eagles saw another former teammate in defensive tackle Milton Williams, who had 2.5 sacks for the Eagles in the Super Bowl in Feb. 2025, then signed a four-year contract with the Patriots worth as much as $104 million. Williams definitely had an impact against his former team.

In 1-on-1 drills, he got the better of left guard Landon Dickerson. In team drills, Williams had a possible "sack" on Hurts that wasn't called. But he and the Patriots defensive line put a good deal of pressure on Hurts.

"That's the thing," Williams said. "Every time we come out here, no matter who we play, who we line up against, we try to dominate, stop the run, get in the pocket, mess up the time and get the quarterback off of reads. Anything we can do to affect the quarterback is going to help us."

There's plenty of time for the Eagles to adapt. Dickerson, who made three straight Pro Bowls from 2022-24; center Cam Jurgens (2 Pro Bowls); and right guard Tyler Steen are certainly capable as they learn Mannion's offense and adjust to new offensive line coach Chris Kuper.

To say Woolen struggled was an understatement. It's one thing to get beaten by Brown, as Woolen did twice in 11-on-11 drills. It's another when that continued against some of the Patriots' other receivers.

Woolen did have a strong spring. The Eagles need him. Their plan is to have him full time at outside cornerback, enabling Cooper DeJean to play safety in base defense, then nickel the rest of the time. But Woolen has to hold up his end of the bargain opposite Mitchell.

If he can't, think back to last season with Adoree Jackson as the No. 2 to Mitchell, or to 2023 with James Bradbury as the No. 2 to Darius Slay.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Sign up for the "Eye On The Eagles" newsletter, emailed to your inbox every Friday morning. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: These 3 Eagles shined vs Patriots, and 2 signs they'll miss A.J. Brown