With Jalen Hurts still in concussion protocol and Kenny Pickett on the mend from an aggravated rib injury, Tanner McKee was thrust into action in Week 18 and did a bang-up job for the Philadelphia Eagles, completing 27 of his 41 attempts for 269 yards plus two touchdowns.
McKee looked cool under pressure, showed some mobility on roll-outs outside of the pocket, and even zinged a few tight window passes to his teammates not often seen by sixth-round picks making only their second NFL regular season appearance.
Discussing his efforts in Week 18 after the game, Nick Sirianni celebrated his young QB for running the show, as he did a great job with what he was given.
“Again, I thought he was in complete control of the game today. Making good decisions. I felt like he got to his check down a couple times, that was really impressive, to [RB] Will Shipley a couple times. Really impressive. Strung together a couple good quarters last game and then a full good game today. Every time he gets an opportunity in practice, he does a really good job. We're excited about Tanner and the player he is,” Sirianni told reporters.
“I love our quarterback room, obviously starting with Jalen [Hurts] and all the great things Jalen has done this year to help us get to where we are right now. Kenny [Pickett] has had really good minutes and played a good game last week. Played a good game against Washington. Then Tanner doing what he did today and at the end of the Dallas week last week. Love that room. Awesome job by Howie and his staff to get these guys. Great job by the players themselves by helping themselves develop into what they can be. And then you got to give a lot of credit to [Quarterbacks Coach] Doug [Nussmeier] and [Offensive Coordinator] Kellen [Moore] and [Passing Game Coordinator/Associate Head Coach] Kevin Patullo for all the things they've done to help develop those guys.”
Twenty years ago, a performance like McKee's would have gotten him traded to another team for a Day 2 pick Kevin Kolb-style, as Sam Monson joked on social media. But now, in 2025, the pride of Stanford is just proud that he was able to prove he belongs, which wasn't always a guarantee based on how he entered the NFL.
Tanner McKee was proud of his first Eagles start too
Discussing his own performance against the Giants in Week 18, McKee told reporters that he was proud of his efforts, proving to himself and the world that he can run an NFL offense effectively.
“I mean, looking internally, I just felt like I showed that I have confidence in myself to go out and, you know, operate, run the offense. And, I feel like, for me, it just showed that my preparation has been working, and my preparation has helped me just get to how the offense was run today,” Tanner McKee told reporters.
“And obviously, there's a ton of things that we can change; we're going to go back and watch film, and there's a lot of things that, different checks or progression, or something that I did wrong. So obviously, for me, it was a growing opportunity, which was great. I'm happy to kind of get my feet wet a little bit, obviously, with my first start, and grow, watch the film, and learn from the experience.”
While only time will tell if McKee will get another chance to play for the Eagles this season or if he will return to his QB3 role if Hurts and Pickett return to the field for the playoffs, based on his performance in Week 18, it's clear Philadelphia would be in good hands if he needs to take the field once more.
