Winners, losers from Eagles preseason game: Drew Mukuba's secret mentality to win safety job

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PHILADELPHIA − Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is steadfast in not revealing anything about who's winning any of the competitions for starting jobs.
Sirianni did it again after the Eagles' 22-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 16, when he was asked specifically about the competition at safety between Sydney Brown and rookie Drew Mukuba.
But it's hard to deny Mukuba's strong push for the starting job. Mukuba not only returned an interception for a 75-yard touchdown, but he also recovered a fumble that ultimately led to another Eagles touchdown.
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That, sadly, accounted for all of the Eagles' scoring after a desultory offensive performance where both quarterbacks vying for the No. 3 job in Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Kyle McCord struggled, to put it mildly (more on that later).
"I know you guys are waiting for us to be like, 'Here's the guy who's starting,'" Sirianni said. "I think it's also a good thing that we have a bunch of guys that we feel good about that are still battling all the way until the end. That's what we're excited about."
Great. But there was something else Sirianni said about Mukuba that perhaps gave away what the Eagles are really thinking as to who the starter will be next to Reed Blankenship.
"I always thought that he has a knack for the football," Sirianni said about Mukuba. "Any time you go out there and make a play, that's big. That was exciting, the interception. And even the one when he was there for the fumble recovery after they had a missed exchange.
"Guys that have a knack for the football just find ways to be around the football."
They also find ways to win starting jobs. It's not that Brown played poorly. He just didn't do anything to stand out, and he hasn't stood out even while Mukuba was injured early in training camp.
Here, then, are our winners and losers from the Eagles' loss to the Browns:
WINNER: Eagles safety Drew Mukuba
Mukuba revealed after the game that it was his first-ever pick-6, going back to high school and college at both Clemson and Texas.
Mukuba stepped in front of a Dillon Gabriel pass intended for Diontae Johnson along the sideline on the first play of the second quarter. He returned it 75 yards for the touchdown.
"The quarterback was looking (at Johnson), and I was surprised he was throwing it because I was literally right there," Mukuba said. "As soon as I caught it, I already had in my mind that I gotta get in the end zone. I was able to do that. It felt good."
But Mukuba also showed the mentality that the Eagles are looking for in a starting safety.
That's because for the second time, Mukuba had an interception after giving up a reception. It happened in the joint practice session with the Browns on Aug. 14. And it happened again in the game, when Mukuba gave up an 18-yard pass play from Gabriel to Cedric Tillman two plays earlier.
"You have to be able to ... have a short memory and move on so you can have your full focus," Sirianni said. "That's part of the mental toughness of being able to be in the moment and fix the mistakes later."
As for those mistakes, Mukuba said this: "Looking deep down and looking in the mirror at myself, I know for a fact there are things out there I need to go out and clean up for sure."
Mukuba has the mentality to fix that. Does Brown?
QB QUESTIONS: Analysis: Why Eagles' No. 3 QB problem matters after Kyle McCord, DTR's debacle vs Browns
LOSERS: Eagles QBs in competition for No. 3 spot
With Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee sitting out, the Eagles provided a golden opportunity for either Dorian Thompson-Robinson or Kyle McCord to take the lead in the battle for the No. 3 spot.
McCord might have done that, by default. He completed 8 of 16 passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. He rotated in and out with Thompson-Robinson, who was 5 of 8 for 17 yards and an interception.
But McCord had an interception negated by a Browns penalty, and a potential pick-6 was dropped on another ill-advised pass.
DTR didn't get help from his teammates as AJ Dillon caught a pass off a deflection that went for a 14-yard loss when he should have knocked the ball down for an incomplete pass. But DTR also threw a dreadful interception by throwing as he was getting hit. He should have taken the sack.
McCord, however, had a solid play on his 3rd-and-goal TD pass to Ainias Smith from the Browns' 9. McCord didn't see the completion because he got walloped as he threw.
"As a quarterback, that's your way to show toughness," McCord said. "There aren't too many times where you're physically showing your toughness. So when the opportunity presents itself and it's a 0-blitz and you can stand in there and throw a touchdown, that's your way to exemplify that."
WINNER: Eagles WR Ainias Smith
Smith's 19 yards led the Eagles, which isn't great. But Smith did get into the end zone for the second time in two games. And after an injury-filled and dreadful rookie season in 2024, that's something for Smith to build on.
LOSER: Eagles running backs
Granted, Saquon Barkley sat out the preseason game as did Will Shipley. But veteran A.J. Dillon played. In addition to his bad decision by catching DTR's minus-14 yard pass, Dillon also had just 7 yards on 3 carries. He wasn't alone. Dillon, Montrell Johnson, Kellan Robinson and ShunDerrick Powell combined for 18 carries for 31 yards.
WINNER: Azeez Ojulari and Jihaad Campbell
Ojulari, after a slow start to training camp, turned it on during the practices against the Browns and continued that in the game, with an early sack of Dillon Gabriel. Campbell, the Eagles' first-round pick, had a sack on the second play of the game. Campbell keeps showing that he's going to be a force, sooner rather than later.
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LOSER: Eagles offensive line
As bad as Thompson-Robinson and McCord were was an indication of how poorly the backups on the offensive line blocked for him. While the QBs were only sacked once, the Browns had 6 tackles for losses and 6 QB hits.
LOSER: Nick Sirianni, Kevin Stefanski sideline antics
It's preseason Week 2, yet there was Sirianni calling a timeout with 2 seconds left in the first half, just as Andre Szmyt was about to try a 49-yard field goal. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski didn't appear happy that Sirianni would ice his kicker on a steaming hot day. The two coaches were caught on camera pointing at each other and chirping back and forth.
It's great that Sirianni wants to be prepared for every situation that might come up in a game. But come on, he knows how to call a timeout to ice a kicker without having to do it in a preseason game.
Contact Martin Frank at [e-mail]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles' championship season in 'Flying High,' a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Eagles preseason Week 2 vs Browns: Biggest winners and losers