August 15, 2024
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Eagles QB Tanner McKee signing autographs at the NovaCare Complex during training camp. Is he building a case to be the backup?
The Eagles' second- and third-stringers played nearly all of preseason game No. 2 against the Patriots up in Foxboro on Thursday night, after the starters got their reps in during the joint practice the day prior.
A few defensive starters still did play for a bit against New England, with two of them making some notable plays from the jump, while Tanner McKee orchestrated a late comeback for a 14-13 Eagles win that might stand to change the backup quarterback conversation.
With all that in mind, here are the Thursday night game ball honors going out...
Kenny Pickett looked shaky, going 11-13 passing for only 67 yards while getting sacked four times.
McKee, who followed him up as both teams reached deeper into their rosters: 8-9 for 68 yards and no sacks – on his first run.
He subbed out for Will Grier for a bit then checked back in in the fourth quarter with the Eagles down 13-6 and led a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that gave them the late lead.
And they held on to it for the win.
In total, McKee finished his night 15-19 passing for 140 yards and just generally looked a whole lot more comfortable in the pocket.
Case in point:
Tanner McKee with a dime to the sideline 🎯
— NFL (@NFL) August 16, 2024
📺: #PHIvsNE on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/OQ3Ny3qpwi
And then for what stood as the winner:
Ainias Smith hauls in the 2-point conversion to give the @Eagles the late lead!
— NFL (@NFL) August 16, 2024
📺: #PHIvsNE on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/W5fKS8Blhi
He did have his part in a botched tush push on fourth down though, but granted, that play only ever seems to work for Jalen Hurts and the first-team – much to the rest of the league's disdain – so you can probably cut some slack there.
The main thing is, this is the second preseason in a row now where McKee has looked pretty poised and methodical in moving the football.
Pickett was signed on to be Hurts' backup, but at what point do you really start giving McKee some serious second-team looks if you're Nick Sirianni and the Eagles' coaching staff?
That late scoring drive makes him really tough to deny.
• Jacoby Brissett and the Patriots had driven down to within the Eagles' 10-yard line, but Avonte Maddox stopped the whole series dead in its tracks.
On a 3rd and short from the Philadelphia 8, Brissett opted to go straight for tight end Austin Hooper in the end zone, but Maddox had the beat on the pass, jumped the route, then took off with the pick on a 47-yard return down to the Eagles' 45.
PICK!
— NFL (@NFL) August 15, 2024
Avonte Maddox gets the ball back for the @Eagles 🦅
📺: #PHIvsNE on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/S6aRP8lgQ0
That was easily the biggest play of an otherwise ho-hum first half, and it went on to set up a 42-yard Jake Elliott field goal for the game's first points.
Maddox was lined up at safety on that play alongside James Bradberry, whose future with the team is still up in the air.
In a lot of ways, Maddox's is, too. He was released and then re-signed back in the spring, but did so returning to a defensive back room looking to get younger and needing to find eventual playing time somewhere for rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean (depending on the latter's health).
Maddox can easily go back to the nickel corner spot, at least to start, as an established vet on the roster – and it might just be his to lose for now – but what about beyond that?
He's 28, has missed time with injury the past two seasons – which especially hurt the Eagles' defense last season – and exists among a DB room crowded up with Mitchell, DeJean, Kelee Ringo, Reed Blankenship, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Isaiah Rodgers, and Darius Slay, plus a Bradberry who's still here though with the writing clearly on the wall.
It's a backfield suddenly in flux between the old and the new, but maybe Maddox still has his place within it, and that interception out of his usual position to help build his case.
• Bryce Huff only played the first two defensive series, but the recently signed edge rusher made them count, the opening one especially.
Huff made back-to-back tackles on the Patriots' first two plays of the game. First, he made the stop on New England running back Rhamondre Stevenson after a four-yard run up the middle, then read the next call perfectly, picking up on Brissett's eyes tracking the screen to DeMario Douglas behind him.
Huff spun off his blocker to shift direction, then took the inside angle away from Douglas to close in and take him down only a yard after he stepped over the line of scrimmage to make it third down.
The Patriots went on to punt.
Solid play recognition by Bryce Huff, recognizing the screen and pursuing it pic.twitter.com/EOtHDzRcVR
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) August 15, 2024
Huff's spot on the depth chart is pretty much set. Still, as one of the new faces coming in, it was a good sign to see him get a few reps and manage them pretty routinely.
Fair or not, he is going to be looked at as Haason Reddick's replacement, so the more promise the Eagles and fans can see in him, the better.
As for what's going on with Reddick and the Jets...well...
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