Any Philadelphia Eagles fan who watched the team's 22-13 preseason loss to the Cleveland Browns did not leave with a comfortable feeling about the depth of the roster. One rookie emerged the way fans had hoped he would.
After missing last week's 34-27 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Eagles second-round rookie safety Andrew Mukuba made quite the first impression on the NFL with a massive performance. Mukuba only had one tackle, but had the two biggest plays of the game that prevented the Eagles from losing by more.
The big play was Mukuba picking off Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel and returning it 75 yards for a touchdown. Mukuba was also on top of a fumble recovery from a bad handoff by the Browns. Those two turnovers led to 10 points.
During the postgame press conference, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni praised the performance of his rookie safety and his ability of impacting the game on a dime.
"He has a knack for the football. How he practices, watching his tape, whether it was at Clemson or at Texas. Has the ability to take the ball away as a playmaker. Anytime you go out there and make a play, that's big. That was exciting."
“he has a knack for the football”
— Eagles HC Nick Sirianni on 2nd round pick Andrew Mukuba after his Pick 6 + fumble recovery vs Browns
“he has the ability to take the ball away as a playmaker.“
Sirianni not ready to name starters in secondary thoughhttps://t.co/m8ozvTyDf4 pic.twitter.com/INTiFmqmiJ
— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) August 17, 2025
Was one game enough for the Eagles to see Mukuba as a starter in 2025?
The Browns game are hard to judge off of anything as there weren't many memorable performances. Philly's offense had under 100 yards of total offense and the defense struggled to shut down long drives in the first half.
Mukuba was the one bright spot to the defense, but some credit should be given to the safeties. Sydney Brown and Tristin McCollum had good performances, too, and shouldn't be forgotten. The safeties played way better than the cornerbacks, who looked terrible, allowing a 74% completion percentage from Browns quarterbacks.
The safety job alongside Reed Blankenship may not have been decided yet, but Mukuba made a convincing argument to be at least number one of the depth chart for the moment. When the defense had zero momentum and needed to make big plays at the most critical moments, Mukuba was right there to make them and give the team a 13-12 halftime lead. That doesn't happen without Mukuba's contributions.
Read more:Eagles just needed two preseason games to send former fifth-round pick packing
Going into the final week of the preseason, the competition between Mukuba and Brown are only going to intensify as the rookie eyes to win the starting job.