On Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia Eagles will look to push their record on the 2025 NFL season to 4-0 when they hit the road to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay has been a house of horrors for Philadelphia in recent years, as the Buccaneers sent the Eagles home in the 2023-24 playoffs and beat them again last regular season.
Ahead of Sunday's clash, the Eagles announced their injury report, and one of the inactives was quarterback Sam Howell, who was listed as the third-string quarterback instead of the second-string position that he's occupied throughout this season so far.
NFL insider Mike Garofolo of the NFL Network then confirmed what that implied on X, formerly Twitter.
“Tanner McKee QB2 for the #Eagles for the first time this year after recovering from a thumb injury,” he wrote.
Howell was brought in via trade by the Eagles this offseason, but it seems they are putting their trust, at least for this week, in McKee should starting quarterback Jalen Hurts have to exit the game.
A big test for the Eagles
Of course, Eagles fans are hoping that Jalen Hurts is able to play the full 60 minutes on Sunday afternoon, or if he does exits, that it would be because Philadelphia is blowing the Buccaneers out by so many points that his presence is no longer necessary.
The Eagles have faced criticism this year for their vanilla offense, with Hurts at times going long stretches of the game without even attempting to throw the ball down the field.
However, that changed in the second half last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, in which Philadelphia rallied from a 19-point deficit, thanks in large part to Hurts' frequent connections with wide receiver AJ Brown. The Eagles ultimately ended up winning that game after blocking two field goals in the fourth quarter, and Hurts' play was a large part of the reason why.
With a win against Tampa Bay, the Eagles could cross another NFC hopeful off the list this season. In any case, the Eagles and Buccaneers are slated to kick things off at 1:00 PM ET on Sunday.
