Moment Not Too Big For Eagles Rookie Cornerback:" I Knew They'd Test Me"

The first-round pick was tested by Green Bay's offense and he did not back down in Eagles' 34-29 win to open the season.

Sep 6, 2024; Sao Paulo, BRA; Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) runs against Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (8) and cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (27) during the second half at Neo Quimica Arena. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It took all of six plays before the Green Bay Packers challenged Eagles rookie Quinyon Mitchell when Jordan Love loaded up and threw deep down the left sideline for Christian Watson.

Mitchell matched the 6-4 receiver stride for stride while nudging him to the boundary. There wasn’t any room to fit the ball in and the pass fell incomplete in the end zone.

“My coach told me pregame, on the first drive, they’d be testing me,” Mitchell told reporters in the postgame locker room at Corinthians Arena in Sau Paolo, Brazil. “That felt good, just getting the energy and getting my confidence up.”

The Packers tested Mitchell most of the night, but he bowed up well, and the Eagles held on for a 34-29 victory to begin the season 1-0 for the fourth straight year under head coach Nick Sirianni.

“The moment is never too big for Q,” said Sirianni. “We were so comfortable taking this guy because he's not fazed, and playing corner…the way he handled training camp and OTAs, he's not fazed. He's going against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, two of the best, top receivers in the NFL. That's pretty awesome, right?”

Sirianni and Mitchell’s coach at Toledo, Jason Candle, were former roommates and teammates at Mount Union College, and that inside knowledge helped steer the Eagles to taking Mitchell with the 22nd overall pick.

“He had a pass interference at one point and they tried to throw deep on him early in the game and he made a big play,” said the coach. “That's something I love about Q, is his competitiveness.”

Eagles rookie CB Quinyon Mitchell / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Mitchell played 63 snaps (94 percent) and did so exclusively on the outside. He had spent a good part of training camp working on familiarizing himself with the slot, a position he had never played before, and handled that well, but when Isaiah Rodgers was ruled out of the game with a hand injury, the Eagles opted to use Mitchell on the outside and Avonte Maddox in the slot.

Mitchell knew the arrangement going into the game when coaches told him that’s where he’d be.

“just strictly corner,” he said he was told. “Just play everything outside. It was alright. If I had to go inside, I’d go inside. I felt really good.”

A 10-hour flight to a South American country that is nearly 5,000 miles away from South Philly is where Mitchell’s pro debut happened, but Mitchell can always say now that he was one of the first NFL players to play a game in the Southern Hemisphere, and it was his very first game of his career.

Based on how he played, the career looks like it could be very promising for him.

Was it perfect? No. Not much that took place from either the Packers or Eagles was perfect. Far from it.

Mitchell acquitted himself well, though.

He was targeted 10 times and surrendered five completions. He was also called for a pass interference, but also had a nice pass break up against Romeo Doubs and made five tackles.

“I’m a rookie,” he said. “I knew they weren’t going at Slay, they were going at me.”

The Packers tried but were successful just 50 percent of the time. Not bad for a first start.

More NFL: Saquon Barkley Lifts Eagles To Season-Opening, 34-29, Win Over Packers In Brazil