There has been a discussion involving the Philadelphia Eagles and who the backup quarterback will be behind star Jalen Hurts between Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee. With Hurts not playing, the two other signal-callers played in the 14-13 win over the New England Patriots as Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni gives his thoughts on if there is a competition for the backup spot.
Pickett started the game Thursday as he completed 11 of his 13 pass attempts for 67 yards on top of also being sacked four times while on the other hand, McKee threw for 140 yards, completing 15 of 19 passes. Obviously, this resulted in the media to ask Sirianni about if there is a chance McKee overtakes Pickett of the backup spot, but the head coach would be straight-forward with his answer according to NFL.com.
“You saw where they went in today. Kenny is No. 2 and Tanner is our No. 3, and I am really happy they're both on the roster,” Sirianni said.
Nick Sirianni liked what he saw from Eagles quarterbacks
It has been widely believed that Pickett will be the backup to Hurts as he does have a few years of experience starting in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers since he was a former first round pick. As for McKee, he was drafted by Philadelphia in 2023 in the sixth round so there is some familiarity, but Sirianni would credit both for their outings in the win over the Patriots.
“I thought they both did some good things today,” Sirianni said. “I think, you know, Kenny was what, 11 of 13? Ball only hit the ground twice. He had some pressure on him. Tanner played well. I think he was 15 of 19 today, but made some good throws. I thought Will did some good things. I'm happy they're all on the roster right now. I really am. That's good room and they're all helping Jalen, helping each other, and I love that. So really is a good room.”
“Like I said, the things that kind of stalled some of the drives in the first half today was some of the pressures we got,” Sirianni continued. “And we didn't run it great in that area either for some different reasons that we'll obviously look at and why. So no, I thought they both played a solid game tonight. Just some of the pressure that was on Kenny happened in that first half.”
Sirianni saw positives in quarterbacks
Quarterback Will Grier also got some time after McKee as while there will be a discussion of the depth chart, Sirianni expressed how glad he feels to have talent at the position.
“Again, like I said, I think they're both doing a nice job,” Sirianni said. “Yeah, Tanner made some really nice throws down the field today with some good anticipation. They both I thought played solid today. I'll have to watch the tape to see exactly what happened. Hard to say exactly — I don't remember any plays that I felt like Kenny made and I'm like, oh, man this was detrimental. Obviously you go back, or even with Tanner. I didn't have any of those notes down like that. I thought they both played well within the scheme and both did some nice things.”
The Eagles prepare for their final preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings next Saturday.
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