Eagles vs. Packers film review: Will Quinyon Mitchell’s encouraging debut be enough to keep him outside?

It was only a matter of time, Quinyon Mitchell figured, before the Green Bay Packers would test his mettle.

The first-round rookie out of Toledo started at outside cornerback for the Eagles in his NFL debut. Mitchell had a strong enough training camp to inspire some confidence, but the true measure would be the inevitability of Packers quarterback Jordan Love trying him on the opening drive Friday in São Paulo, Brazil.

At least he’d been warned, both by Eagles coaches and his veteran mentor Darius Slay.

“Coach and Slay told me pregame that first drive, they were going to test me deep,” Mitchell said after the Eagles’ 34-29 season-opening win. “I was kind of anticipating it, so I was ready for it.”

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As he’s done throughout the summer leading into the regular season, Mitchell aced the test against a talented group of Packers receivers both on the opening drive and beyond. His play dispelled the notion that he’d struggle to transition from the Mid-American Conference to the NFL. Mitchell also is making a case to stay as an outside corner even when Isaiah Rodgers returns from injury after spending training camp playing in the slot to facilitate the veteran corner playing on the outside.

Here’s our review of the film:

Facing third-and-6 from the Eagles’ 38-yard line, Mitchell lined up across from Green Bay receiver Christian Watson in off coverage and ran stride-for-stride with the former second-round pick without safety help over the top, breaking up a would-be touchdown and jawing with Watson after the play. It was a sequence that illustrated the 4.33-second 40-yard dash time Mitchell ran at the NFL Scouting Combine, matched up against Watson, who also ran in the 4.3s two years earlier and averaged 15 yards per reception in his first two seasons.

Mitchell’s technique, from opening up his hips in time to turn and run with Watson, squeezing him down the sideline, and getting his head around to locate the ball without being overly physical to avoid a pass interference call, highlighted the traits he has shown all summer.

Jawing at Watson afterward was, too. The first-round rookie clearly plays with an edge.

Mitchell spent the majority of his college snaps at Toledo playing off-zone coverage, affording a cushion to receivers at the line with eyes on the quarterback to discern where the ball was heading.

Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio used the rookie similarly against the Packers, letting Mitchell read and react on most of Green Bay’s 34 passing attempts. Facing second-and-goal from the Eagles’ 5-yard line, the Packers ran a mesh concept in an effort to create a midfield collision between Mitchell and Darius Slay, but Mitchell diagnosed it quickly and avoided his fellow outside cornerback while sticking with Green Bay wide receiver Romeo Doubs across the end zone.

Mitchell’s comfortability in zone coverage was also apparent on a second-down play midway through the second quarter. The 23-year-old, responsible for deep outside coverage on the play, did a nice job reading a crossing route entering his space and breaking on the ball intended for Green Bay tight end Luke Musgrave.

“The moment is never too big for him,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “He’s just very calm and very confident, which you need to be as a corner. You need to have short memories, you need to be confident in yourself. Because you’re on an island out there the entire game. At times during the game. I know there are times where you have help over the top and this and that.

“I just thought his poise in his first NFL game, not surprising. He doesn’t get too up, he doesn’t get too down. And you saw that during camp. Again, great predictor of how you’re going to play in the games is how you practice.”

That’s not to say Mitchell didn’t have a few growing pains in the first regular-season action of his career. He got caught with his eyes in the backfield against a Packers play-action fake and was late getting depth on his drop as a result, conceding space on his outer third to receiver Dontayvion Wicks to work up the seam.

Wicks slipped just before Love’s downfield pass arrived, causing an incomplete pass that otherwise would have fallen on Mitchell and linebacker Zack Baun getting sucked in by the play-action fake.

With Mitchell lining up so far off the line of scrimmage, the Packers inevitably tested his ability to break on the underneath routes at times with mixed results.

One of his best reps came on a first down late in the third quarter, when Love targeted Wicks on an underneath out route. Wicks took a jab step toward the middle of the field to get Mitchell off-balance before breaking outside, but Mitchell had the requisite recovery speed to adjust and get a hand on the ball for his second pass breakup of the game.

Pro Football Focus charged Mitchell with five catches allowed on nine targets, although a handful of them came from him either being out-leveraged or in the fourth quarter as the Eagles secondary prioritized limiting explosive plays at the expense of underneath routes.