Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore downplayed the fact that Tanner McKee got second-team reps at quarterback in practice recently, but a bad outing for Kenny Pickett in the team’s preseason opener would have likely opened the door to questions about who will be the primary backup to Jalen Hurts.
Pickett avoided that bad outing. He led a pair of extended drives to open the game, including a 15-play touchdown drive, and played into the third quarter before giving way to McKee. He was 14-of-22 for 89 yards and a touchdown while McKee also led a 17-play touchdown drive and had a 14-play drive end without points when Jake Elliott missed a field goal.
When the 16-13 win over the Ravens was over, head coach Nick Sirianni had compliments for both players.
“We were moving the ball nicely when Kenny was in,” Sirianni said, via Martin Frank of the Delaware News Journal. “It was not his fault that there were a couple of penalties that stalled drives that weren’t necessarily him. I thought when Tanner was in, he did a good job getting into some checks, really being in control of the operation. I thought they were both in complete control while they were in, and made some big throws. There are going to be plays that they want back.
That should leave the status quo in place at quarterback, but the bigger issue remains how well things will go when Sirianni and Hurts are working together come September.