The Eagles’ quarterback depth is suddenly a major problem, and Sunday only sharpened that reality.
With Jalen Hurts on injured reserve because of a blood clot, Philadelphia is leaning on Tanner McKee for now. Against the Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field, the fourth-year backup couldn’t give the Eagles enough in a 25-14 loss. He finished 26 of 45 for 215 yards and a touchdown, and outside of two scoring drives, the performance looked every bit like that of a backup who was overmatched.
That leaves the Eagles in a tough spot with three important NFC East games coming up. The season is still in play, but winning with McKee under center figures to be a steep climb.
“First thoughts, my team needs me to be better,” McKee said after the game. “I need to be better.
I am so much better, and I’m looking forward to learning everything and becoming the player that I know I am, the player that I can prove that I am. A lot of things obviously that were frustrating fall on me.
A lot of things we’ve got to get fixed as an offense for sure.”
The bigger question, though, is whether the Eagles should have avoided this situation entirely by moving McKee when they had the chance. They could have dealt him either this past offseason or in the 2025 offseason, picked up a solid draft return, and brought in a more proven No. 2 quarterback. Instead, they held onto him.
That decision wasn’t for lack of interest around the league. Multiple teams asked about McKee this past offseason, and according to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Eagles showed little interest in dealing him.
The person spoke to NJ.com in March on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Reports have also said Philadelphia wanted a second-round pick for McKee in trade discussions, and another source said an NFC team made a “strong offer” for him during the 2025 offseason.
The hesitation is notable because McKee once looked like a real developmental piece. Philadelphia took him in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and in his first two seasons he flashed enough in preseason games and training camp to keep the buzz alive. He even looked like he had starter upside in his first NFL start, a Week 18 game against the New York Giants in 2024.
But the trajectory has changed. Over the past two years, McKee has regressed enough that he no longer projects like a future starter. The Eagles, who had believed in him for years, changed course this summer and pushed him down to third-string quarterback.
He lost the backup job in training camp to Andy Dalton, then got it back before Week 4. Dalton was cut last week and elected not to re-sign with the team. McKee’s summer struggles didn’t go away, and they showed up again in his first start of the season.
After the game, he pointed to the kind of small breakdowns that can snowball for a quarterback.
“Even from the jump, just communication,” McKee said of his struggles against the Panthers. “Whether it was guys in the wrong spot, I’ve got to get them fixed or a missed call, I’ve got to get it fixed.
That falls on the quarterback. That is nobody else’s responsibility but the quarterback’s.
That’s on me.”
In Other News...
Jordan Mailata Just Put Eagles Offense On Notice
The Eagles are trying to steady themselves after a 25-14 loss to the Panthers, a game that underscored how thin the margin gets when key pieces are unavailable. Without Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia has had to lean harder on the rest of the roster, and Jordan Mailata made clear the offense cannot afford to let the details slip while both players work through injuries and their return timelines stay unclear.
Mailata framed the fix in simple terms: the Eagles need better focus and effort to clean up the kind of mistakes that stall drives and pile up pressure on everyone else. With Dallas next on the schedule on October 26, Philadelphia does not have much time to sort out its rhythm, especially with Hurts calf issue and Barkleys hamstring injury still hanging over the offense. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Mailata Just Put The Eagles Biggest Problem On Blast
The Eagles defense spent too much time chasing the Panthers in the 25-14 loss, and the imbalance showed up in a way that has become hard to ignore. With the offense sputtering on the ground and piling up penalties, Philadelphias front seven wound up absorbing the kind of workload that wears a team down long before the fourth quarter arrives.
Jordan Mailata did not shy away from saying the quiet part out loud after the game. The left tackle pointed to the offenses lack of discipline and accountability as a major reason the defense was left in that spot, underscoring how much the Eagles need the unit on the other side of the ball to clean up its act before the strain starts showing up in even bigger ways. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Have An Under Center Problem They Cant Ignore
The Eagles work from under center has become hard to ignore after the loss to Carolina, where the offense leaned on play-action and got almost nothing out of it. The game plan included five under-center dropbacks, and none of those throws turned into completions as the pocket got squeezed and the rhythm never really showed up. It fit a larger pattern for Philadelphia this season, one that has made the most traditional part of the playbook look far less dependable than the shotgun looks this offense usually prefers.
Jalen Hurts has been part of the issue, too, with the numbers showing far less success when he is asked to operate from under center instead of in shotgun. Tanner McKee has had similar trouble in those situations, which leaves the Eagles with an uncomfortable question about how much of the offense can still live in that space. For a team trying to stay balanced and keep defenses honest, the under-center package is starting to look like a problem that cannot just be brushed aside. [Read more 🡒]