Philadelphia Eagles

Ex-Cowboys WR clowns Eagles fans for Minshew chatter

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Nick Sirianni names Jalen Hurts Eagles starting QB going forward after Gardner Minshew lead the Eagles to a win over the Jets.

Keyshawn Johnson spent more than a decade in the NFL, including seven years in the NFC and two years in the NFC East, so the three-time Pro Bowl wideout feels pretty confident in saying he knows a thing or two about the Eagles and their fans.

Which is why Johnson, who is now a personality for ESPN, decided he could chime in on the fabricated QB controversy in Philadelphia - you know, the one that doesn't really exist.

ESPN's morning show radio, KJM, was touching on Gardner Minshew's impressive performance in the Eagles' win over the Jets during a Tuesday morning segment when Johnson went off on a little bit of a tangent about Birds fans.

Here's what the former Cowboys wideout had to say:

"What I would say about Philadelphia is, the backup quarterback is always the favorite in Philadelphia. I can go back as far as I remember from my time just playing in the league alone. Whether it's Koy Detmer, whether it's Kevin Kolb, whether it's Michael Vick, whether it's Nick Foles, whether it's Jeff Garcia, I can just go on and on and on about the backup quarterback in Philadelphia. They have this, I don't know, this lust for backup quarterbacks in Philadelphia. One or two wins, 'Get him out! Sports talk radio, early in the morning, get him out!' Like man, just let Jalen Hurts continue to develop. Gardner Minshew was not brought there to challenge Jalen Hurts as the starting quarterback. Stop it.

"[...]

"One of the things the Philadelphia Eagles fanbase, and I'm involving their sports media in this fanbase, they've got to realize: you don't start messing with the quarterback. You don't start putting doubt in his mind by hot takes. You're not helping the situation at all."

Objectively? Johnson is correct in his assessment of the city's relationship with the QB2. Eagles fans do love a backup quarterback. There's something about the unknown that sparks the collective imagination, and the fact that the franchise's only ever Super Bowl victory came with a backup QB at the helm certainly exacerbates the situation.

But in this case, it feels like Johnson - and everyone making fun of Eagles fans for talking about a "quarterback controversy" - is taking a bit of an unfair shot.

From the Eagles' first drive and Minshew's first touchdown of the game on Sunday, this conversation was basically written in the stars even if zero Eagles fans called for Minshew to start after the bye week.

Sometimes the conversation begins precisely because scolds like Johnson start telling imagined Eagles fans not to call for Minshew to start - as in, before they've even done it. It's a straw man argument, concocted simply to paint Eagles fans as irrational and destructive.

I'm not saying there aren't some Eagles fans who want Minshew in at QB; of course there are. But that's not abnormal. Every fanbase has members who are wrong. Welcome to sports! What I'm saying is, there isn't some widespread groundswell movement backing Minshew. Most reasonable Eagles fans realize that Hurts needs to start the final four games of the season.

And the Eagles' coaching staff immediately silenced any doubt about the position as soon as the game was over, when Nick Sirianni told reporters that Hurts would start when healthy.

So, sure, the backup QB situation in Philadelphia is always a spicy topic, especially when the current starter isn't exactly a franchise-level guy. But this time it felt like Eagles fans never had a say in the matter: as soon as Minshew played well, they were going to be painted as calling for a revolution - even if that never happened.

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