Monday night could be Dotson’s chance to shine

It’s looking increasingly like Eagles No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown could miss Monday night’s home opener at the Linc against the Atlanta Falcons after injuring his hamstring Friday.

“It got a little tight in practice, and we’ll see how that goes,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said on Saturday. “We took it a little bit precautionary yesterday. We’ll probably be the same way today.”

Brown, in fact, didn’t end up practicing Saturday. If he doesn’t play, it could mean more action for Jahan Dotson, the former first-round pick out of Penn State, acquired from the Washington Commanders last month.

Dotson, expected to be the No. 3 receiver this year, often working in the slot, didn’t have any catches against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, but he said he’s settling in nicely.

“A lot more comfortable within the playbook, within my role on the team,” Dotson said. “I’m working on it day by day, but I’m getting more comfortable every day

“We’re preparing right now as if A.J. is playing, that’s the goal,” he said. “But if my opportunities do come, I’m going to take full advantage of them. That’s what I was pretty much brought here to do, to take advantage of every single opportunity that’s given to me.”

Obviously, wideout DeVonta Smith would also expect more targets if Brown has to sit. Rookie receiver Johnny Wilson is nursing a hamstring injury as well, the Eagles announced Saturday, so Parris Campbell could be elevated from the practice squad.

A tight-knit group

There’s a palpable feeling of comraderie among this year’s incarnation of the Eagles. It is often a necessary ingredient when trying to win a championship.

“A lot of guys, it’s all together as one, from the staff to the players,” cornerback Darius Slay said. “That’s what it is. There’s not a disconnect anywhere. That was the goal, to kind of stay connected and continue to keep moving.

“Coach (Sirianni) always says that word, ‘connection,’” he said. “I think that’s what we missed a little bit last year, a connection, and this year we’ve got a group that wants to connect.”

Safety Reed Blankenship, all smiles, echoed that sentiment.

“Everybody’s just, like, happy,” he said. “Everybody’s playing ping-pong, staying late together.’”

Fixing the turnover problem

Left tackle Jordan Mailata thinks such togetherness is what can help the Eagles this week against Atlanta. He said it bailed them out in Week 1, when the Eagles were the only team to lose the turnover battle (3-1) yet still get a win.

It’s a statistic that Sirianni shared with the team.

“I think we were able to overcome a lot of adversity if you look at all three phases,” Mailata said of the game against the Packers. “The offense faced adversity early, and we were able to overcome that. The defense, they helped us out a ton, but they also faced adversity and were able to overcome that. And the special teams too.

“Obviously, we’ve got to control what we can control with the turnovers,” he said. “At the end of the day, what won us that game was turning up for each other.”

Excitement about ‘Q’

The Eagles organization, from management to the players, feels like it got a gem in cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, the 22nd overall pick in April out of Toledo.

“He’s going to continue to keep prospering and keep getting better each and every day,” Slay said. “That’s for sure my goal, to keep teaching him everything I know, give him pointers about everything, to make sure he reaches that potential.

“He’ll continue to keep working,” he said. “That’s one thing about Q, is that he’s a hard-working guy that’s willing to listen and willing to go out there and perform. … I’m thankful he fell to us.”

Mitchell likely will line up against Atlanta Falcons receiver Drake London on Monday night. London saw only three targets in Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr., but Atlanta coach Raheem Morris later emphasized that wasn’t nearly enough.

Q can expect to be busy.

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Christiaan DeFranco covers the Philadelphia Eagles, preps and other sports for MediaNews Group. Follow him on X at @the_defranc.