Philadelphia Eagles third-string quarterback Tanner McKee impressed once again in a preseason outing.
On the face of it, Thursday's performance from McKee in a 14-13 win over New England should put pressure on Kenny Pickett for the backup job. However, head coach Nick Sirianni reiterated after the game that Pickett remains the backup behind Jalen Hurts.
"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 told reporters, via the game's official transcript.
With Hurts and the offensive starters sitting, Pickett again got the preseason start. The former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback went 11 of 13 for 67 yards -- 5.2 YPA -- while taking four sacks. Philly scored three points on five first-half drives with Pickett under center.
McKee entered in the third quarter and led two drives that ended on turnover on downs. The QB then gave way to Will Grier for two drives before returning midway through the fourth quarter to lead the go-ahead scoring drive, which included a nice two-point pass for the win. McKee finished 15 of 19 for 140 yards -- 7.4 YPA -- with zero sacks.
"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. 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."
Pickett might have only let two throws hit the dirt, but he also struggled to generate explosives. He averaged 4.3 yards per attempt and didn't complete a pass for more than 7.55 air yards, per Next Gen Stats. Pickett only attempted two passes of 10-plus air yards, both incomplete down the left sideline.
The former Steelers starter and first-round pick faced many of the Patriots' first-teamers, which, behind a backup offensive line, aided the struggles. But the dink-and-dunk tendencies aren't anything new. In 67 offensive snaps through two preseason weeks, Pickett has completed 25 of 35 passes, one has been for more than 10-plus air yards (11.89 air yards vs. Baltimore) with zero connections of 15-plus air yards. It's also how he operated in most of his 24 starts with Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, McKee looked like a young Nick Foles in an Eagles jersey Thursday night, avoiding pressures, pushing the ball down the field and displaying a fearless attitude when needing to make a play. Five of McKee's 15 completions were greater than 10-plus air yards, three of 15-plus yards, and a 20-plus-yard dot to Joseph Ngata.
McKee benefited from facing mostly Patriots backups, but the tenor of the two backups' performances couldn't have been more stark.
Still, Sirianni didn't suggest he would consider the pecking order before the third and final preseason game.
"Again, like I said, I think they're both doing a nice job," the coach said. "Yeah, Tanner made some really nice throws down the field today with some good anticipation. I'll have to look at the tape of what happened, but they both had good practices to this date. 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."
It's the second consecutive season that McKee has been a preseason darling, dicing up backups with calm confidence. Last year, none of it changed the order, as Sirianni stuck with Marcus Mariota behind Hurts despite the backup's struggles. With that backdrop, it's unsurprising that the coach would prop up Pickett as the No. 2.
To be fair, we don't know what happens during every practice, and the backup job behind a star like Hurts is more than just on-field work.
The simple fact is that if Hurts misses significant time, Philly's season is likely in jeopardy anyway. But at least we'll get one more preseason game to watch McKee rip apart some third-stringers when the Eagles face Minnesota next on Aug. 24.
