Eagles Bench Tanner McKee and Hand Joe Milton His First NFL Start Against the Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles said on Monday that they were not making a quarterback change. On Wednesday they made one. The Eagles are benching Tanner McKee and starting Joe Milton against the New York Giants on Sunday, handing a first career start to a quarterback who arrived off the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad three weeks ago. It is the third starting quarterback of a 2-6 season, on a team that has lost six straight, and it comes with the coach’s own Monday words still hanging in the air.

What did Sirianni say, and when did he say the opposite?

On Monday afternoon, the answer was no change. Head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters: “Tanner’s our guy. We’re not making any changes there. Again, how do we find solutions? That could be within scheme, that could be within how our schedule is, practice plays. Everything’s on the table for us in that aspect. But right now, this is where we are and we’re trying to find solutions there.” Less than two hours before the news broke on Wednesday, Sirianni held another press conference and still did not indicate a change, though he did praise Milton, saying he works extremely hard and is always in the building doing the extra things. Then ESPN first reported the switch on Wednesday afternoon, and the Eagles’ own site confirmed it on Thursday with Milton speaking as the starter. The locker room found out in a meeting minutes before the public heard, tight end Dallas Goedert said, and Goedert admitted he was surprised to learn Sunday would be Milton’s first career start. It is a public U-turn in 48 hours, and it is the story as much as the depth chart is.

Why did McKee lose the job?

Because he lost all three of his starts. McKee took over when Jalen Hurts went on injured reserve with blood clots in both lungs, and the Eagles lost all three games he started, with McKee completing 63.2 percent of his passes for 638 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. NBC Sports Philadelphia reports he really struggled with pocket awareness in the loss to the Commanders on Sunday in Washington, the third defeat in a row. The numbers are not disastrous on their own, but the results are, and on a 2-6 team on a six-game losing streak, the coach reached for the last button he had. McKee, for his part, is supporting the move. “I’m here to help us win, no matter what that means,” he said. “I am going to stay ready and learn from the experience and be at my best when my number is called again. Joe is doing a great job and I think he’s going to go out there and play a good game on Sunday.”

Who is Joe Milton, and how did he get here so fast?

A big arm who has never started. Milton is 26, 6-foot-5 and 236 pounds, drafted out of Tennessee by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2024 draft after a college career at Michigan and Tennessee. He has played in five NFL games without a start, completing 37 of 53 passes for 424 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and he backed up Dak Prescott in Dallas last season. The Eagles signed him to their 53-man roster off the Cowboys’ practice squad on October 16, one day before Hurts went on injured reserve, and it took him about a week to supplant rookie Cole Payton as the backup. Now, three weeks after arriving, he is the starter. The speed of the rise is the point: the coaching staff has liked enough of what it has seen to promote him quickly, and Milton says he has adjusted well. “I’m the oldest of seven kids in my family, so that is something I had to do early in my life. I’m good at adapting,” he said on Thursday. “The coaches have done a great job of helping me, explaining things to me, and taking time to get me ready.”

How did the Eagles get to a third starter?

Through a backup spot they mishandled from the start. The Eagles rotated Andy Dalton and McKee throughout the summer and gave Dalton the job, NBC Sports Philadelphia reports, but after one throw and one interception against the Bears they demoted Dalton and then eventually released him. When Hurts was ruled out for the Panthers game, the Eagles turned to McKee, and now they are turning to a quarterback who arrived less than three weeks ago. Hurts has not played since October 11 against the Jaguars in Jacksonville, and he is out for the rest of the season, so there is no cavalry coming at the position. The carousel is the season in miniature: a contender’s roster, a crisis at the most important position, and a series of short-term answers that keep getting shorter. The Eagles’ year has already had its share of strange openings, including two players ejected on the opening kickoff in London, but this is the first one that changes who takes the snaps.

What does Milton face on Sunday?

A division leader, a physical defence, and a quarterback on the other side who is the version of what the Eagles want. The Giants arrive at Lincoln Financial Field at 4-2-1 and leading the NFC East, with J.J. McCarthy at quarterback, and Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio called the trade that landed McCarthy a steal for the Giants. Milton prepared for this Giants defence in Week 1, when he was still with Dallas, and he calls them “a great team, a physical defense and one that communicates well, executes, and makes plays.” He also has a small piece of history with them: he completed 7 of 13 passes in the Week 18 game for Dallas against the Giants in January. The Giants, for their part, have had their own strange season, including letting the clock run out in overtime to tie the Commanders, so neither side arrives in a normal place. Milton’s job is simpler than the story around him: “I’m going to play my game and stay within the offense and that’s the job,” he said. “It’s football and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to lead this team and play the game I love. This is a great opportunity.”

What happens next?

Sunday answers the only question that matters, which is whether Milton can play. The Eagles are trying to stop a six-game losing streak with a quarterback who has had two games to learn the offence, against the team leading their division, and the margin for a learning curve is zero. If he plays well, the conversation becomes whether a practice-squad pickup can hold the job until the season ends. If he struggles, Sirianni will face questions about a Monday promise he broke by Wednesday, and about a backup-quarterback plan that has now produced three starters and two wins. Either way, the decision is made, the locker room is behind it, and a 26-year-old who was on a practice squad three weeks ago gets the ball on Sunday. The Eagles’ season may already be lost, but the Stephen A. Smith row over Lane Johnson’s mental health showed this team still generates noise when it stumbles, and a first start in a lost season is exactly the kind of night that produces more of it.