Tanner McKee’s first high-stakes moment as Eagles starting quarterback comes Sunday: ‘You have to be ready’
McKee will work with the No. 1 offense after Jalen Hurts was ruled out due to a superficial blood clot in his calf.
Reporters swarmed to the locker as soon as the dressing room opened. There were so many, in fact, that a member of the Eagles’ communications staff had to clear a path so the new starter could walk through.
Tanner McKee is now the Eagles’ QB1, with Jalen Hurts sidelined due to a superficial blood clot in his calf.
McKee was peppered with questions about it after Thursday’s practice.
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“As a backup quarterback, that’s the mindset you have to have: At any moment, you can be ready to play on Sunday,” said McKee. ”You have to be ready. It’s kind of a luxury for me to be able to have a few days of getting the ones [No. 1 offense] in practice, getting those reps and running the meetings or whatever it is.”
It’s unclear how long Hurts will be out. The Eagles said in a statement that they’re determining “the appropriate course of treatment.” But McKee, 26, will at least start Sunday vs. the Carolina Panthers (2-2) — his first regular-season game action since starting for the Eagles in Week 18 last season.
It’s a high-stakes scenario for McKee, too. His two NFL starts came in Week 18 of 2024 and 2025, when the Eagles had already clinched playoff spots. This iteration of the Eagles (2-3) desperately needs a win to get their season back on track.
How is he handling the gravity of this moment?
“Somebody said pressure is a privilege and I really think that’s true,” McKee said. “I think it’s great. And just in this position, you’ve got to love to compete. And the reason I’ve been training, the reason I put in the extra time, the reason [behind] all those extra reps are for an opportunity like this.
“And so I’m ready and excited to make the best of this.”
McKee, once viewed as a promising prospect, struggled this summer. He tossed for 263 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in three preseason games. He initially lost the backup quarterback job to Andy Dalton, who was cut last week, but regained it following Dalton’s messy cameo against the Chicago Bears in Week 3.
McKee was asked about the position battle on Thursday.
“I mean, yeah, that’s the NFL,” he said. “As a quarterback, especially as a backup quarterback, you have to be ready at a moment’s notice. And so the thing that’s been nice is the way I prepare. The way that I’ve been preparing is not going to change. These last few weeks of being one of those three … the preparation is going to be the same.
“I feel like I was ready at any moment.”
The Eagles are back from London, looking to leave the disappointment of a last-second defeat behind while choosing instead to focus on lessons they can learn from a third straight loss. And you know what? The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane actually thinks there were encouraging takeaways from the game, outcome aside. He and Mike Sielski discussed why the Eagles’ sky, despite being gray, isn’t falling just yet, and what the team can build on to if it hopes to reverse its fortunes during a key stretch of the schedule that begins Sunday. Listen here.
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