Quinyon Mitchell drops his first interception, but may have dropped the mic on winning the Eagles’ CB job

BALTIMORE — Quinyon Mitchell thought he should have had an interception.

“It was in the bread basket, and I let it out,” the Eagles rookie cornerback said. “I should have brought it in.”

Nick Sirianni agreed.

“I wanted him to finish that,” the Eagles coach said. “We’re going to talk about that. I’ve seen him finish that. But it was a good breakup on a third down to stop that drive.”

It was just one brief moment in Mitchell’s NFL preseason debut. And it didn’t come against the Ravens’ MVP Lamar Jackson or while covering one of the quarterback’s starting wide receivers. But it was an accurate representation of how the Eagles’ top draft pick has performed in his first training camp.

Mitchell’s near-interception in the Eagles’ 16-13 win over the Ravens came at slot cornerback, a position he has all but wrapped up despite not having played there in college. But what stood out the most from Friday night’s game at M&T Bank Stadium was that he started at right cornerback.

That spot remains up for grabs. Isaiah Rodgers has played there the most in camp with Kelee Ringo a close second. But with veteran Darius Slay having the night off, Eagles coaches had Rodgers on the left and Mitchell on the right in base personnel.

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“Just where we felt where we are right now,” Sirianni said when asked about the decision to start Mitchell.

Ringo was on the right when Mitchell slid inside in nickel personnel. But with two preseason games left and almost four weeks until the Eagles open the season in Brazil against the Packers, there is still time for the first rounder to win the job.

“Wherever they put me at,” Mitchell said, “I’m ready to go.”

Rodgers and Ringo were in coverage when quarterback Josh Johnson connected separate 19-yard passes in the first quarter. But neither allowed another completion. Ringo played more snaps than any Eagles cornerback and also had two breakups — one on slant into the end zone and another on a back-shoulder pass.

“I’m continuing to compete,” Ringo said. “You guys know what that depth chart looks like. There’s definitely a lot of good guys in that room.”

A year ago, the Eagles didn’t have enough talent in that room. James Bradberry regressed following an All-Pro 2022 season, and when slot Avonte Maddox suffered yet another injury, a cast of also-rans and youngsters failed to match his level of play.

Maddox is back after being released at the start of the offseason. He opened camp as the first-team slot, but Mitchell eventually overtook him. And with the Eagles light at safety with injuries, Maddox played there exclusively vs. the Ravens.

That speaks to the improved depth at cornerback. The group as a whole helped limit Baltimore’s three reserve quarterbacks — Johnson, Devin Leary, and Emory Jones — to just 82 yards and no touchdowns on 10-of-22 passing.

It’s just a preseason sample against backups. But with the addition of Rodgers, Mitchell, and fellow rookie Cooper DeJean, who has been sidelined for all of camp with a hamstring injury, the Eagles made upgrading the position an offseason priority.

Mitchell, though, was the most significant investment. And even though he played against lesser competition at Toledo, he already has shown he can match up against elite receivers like the Eagles’ A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith — at least in practice.

“I feel like he has all the tools,” Bradberry said. “He just has to get acclimated with the speed of the game and getting comfortable out there because he’s playing nickel while also playing outside. That requires a lot of communication, which is usually hard for a rookie.

“But he’s handling it well.”

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For his first live NFL game, Mitchell said he didn’t alter his pregame ritual of listening to one song on repeat. He declined to divulge which song he chose.

“It’s usually the same song over and over,” he said.

Mitchell is soft-spoken off the field. On it, he’s apt to talk trash Brown or Smith. He said he didn’t engage in any chatter with the Ravens. But the more important talking he’ll have to make will come in communicating with his teammates in the back seven, particularly when he’s in the slot.

Mitchell said Maddox is the player who has helped him the most with learning the position. He said his coaches haven’t glossed over his mistakes in film review.

“It’s not all positive at all,” Mitchell said. “Just playing the nickel position, I’m [told] I got to communicate more. I just got to know my assignments.”

A film review will give a better view on how Mitchell performed overall against the Ravens. The ball wasn’t thrown his way beyond the near-interception. He blitzed once from the slot, but Johnson ran away from him when he slowed down.

It took all of five snaps, however, for Mitchell to get his hands on the ball. He hovered over Malik Cunningham on said play — with his hands around the Ravens receiver’s waist — before he jumped his hitch route.

Mitchell excelled at Toledo playing in zone with the freedom to have his eyes on the quarterback. He recorded 37 pass breakups his last two seasons with five interceptions as a sophomore. But he snatched just one pick as a junior in his final year.

On Friday night, he broke on Johnson’s pass and the ball landed in the arms. It popped out, though, before he hit the turf.

“I really want it back,” Mitchell said. “I’m kind of mad at myself. This week in practice, I just got to be working hard to bring it in.”

If he doesn’t get an opportunity in a joint practice with the Patriots on Tuesday or two days later when they meet in the second preseason game, there are sure to be more on the way. Mitchell’s just getting started.