Tanner McKee put on his helmet, grabbed a football and began to warm up.
Then he went back to the bench.
After Jalen Hurts had already been ruled out on Sunday against the Commanders, Kenny Pickett took a shot to his ribs and needed to get checked out too. That’s when McKee began to get ready and got as close as he has been in his NFL career to seeing the field before Pickett was able to return.
“I think it was just being ready, always being ready to go,” McKee said on Tuesday. “I feel like that’s kind of my job in the position that I’m in right now. That’s kind of a nice thing of preparing in the right way, every week, every opportunity, just knowing that it could be my shot, my chance.
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“And so I feel like this week is the same thing, what I’ve bee preparing the last few weeks or the whole season, is just getting ready in case I do have the opportunity to go in.”
McKee, 24, has yet to see any game action in the regular season in his NFL career. But with Hurts in the concussion protocol this week, the second-year, sixth-round pick might be the Eagles’ backup in Week 17 against the Cowboys in a game where the Eagles can clinch the NFC East as the No. 2 seed.
This week as the Eagles face some uncertainty at the quarterback position, McKee claims his preparation won’t really change. The only thing that might be different is that on Sunday he could be one injury away from playing instead of two.
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Because Hurts is the starter, he typically gets most of the practice reps throughout a typical week, while the backups run the scout team. But the scout team is about getting the defense ready, not running your own offense’s plays. So during developmental periods and sometimes before or after practice, the two backups will get some reps in the Eagles’ offensive system.
That process in Philly began back in 2021 when the Eagles acquired Gardner Minshew just before the start of the season and wanted to get him up to speed.
“I think it’s just doing enough to feel ready and prepared if you were thrown into a game,” McKee said. “So grabbing a couple guys afterwards and being like, ‘Hey, I didn’t get this route in practice.’ Jalen obviously gets the majority of the reps so I want to throw a couple routes with this guy in case I do get called on for this concept. I think it’s just getting timing with the guys and feeling confident whenever a play is called.”
Thanks to a new rule beginning in 2023, McKee has been dressing in full uniform for every game the last two years as the Eagles’ third-string emergency quarterback. But in order for the emergency quarterback to play, both guys in front of him would have to get injured and that’s hasn’t happened yet.
So for all 17 games last year and the first 15 games this year, McKee has been a game day inactive — but the only one who is in full uniform. It’s an unusual spot.
“It’s definitely different because the chances of you playing are low,” McKee said. “But if I do get the opportunity to go in, then I know the team expects me and I have the expectation for myself and coaches to go move the ball and to win the game. That’s the expectation that I have, that’s the expectation that my teammates have. And so that’s what I’m going to do.”
During the summer, McKee was impressive and you can actually argue that he outplayed Pickett in training camp. But Pickett was a former first-round pick who has 24 career starts under his belt. The Eagles traded for Pickett in March to be their backup so don’t expect that to change now.
Maybe McKee would have been ready for that role but he didn’t get the chance. Instead, the 6-foot-6 pocket passer has been trying to improve behind the scenes.
“Tanner has done an excellent job,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said. “I think we feel very fortunate the room that we have this year going into it with obviously Jalen, Kenny, Tanner. That's a really, really good group, and we feel very fortunate to have all three of those guys.”
Once the season starts, a lot of McKee’s growth falls on himself, but the time he spends in the quarterback room with the two veterans definitely helps. And when Hurts gets reps in practice, McKee puts himself in those spots mentally to go through progressions, footwork and timing. Basically, McKee wants to get as close to getting those reps as he possibly can to see how he’d handle those situations.
Despite a lack of actual reps, McKee feels like he has gotten better this season.
“Absolutely,” McKee said. “I think just being around the guys, being around the system. I do feel a lot more confident with the system and the NFL as a whole, how to read defenses just from last year to this year, having another year under my belt. So if do get the opportunity, I’m excited to show that.”
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