The Eagles are pushing one of the last buttons they have.
After Nick Sirianni on Monday afternoon claimed he was sticking with Tanner McKee as the their starting quarterback, the Eagles (2-6) are now reportedly making a switch to Joe Milton for Sunday’s game against the Giants. This will be his first-career start.
ESPN first reported the news on Wednesday afternoon.
While Sirianni didn’t indicate a change during his press conference less than two hours earlier on Wednesday, the head coach was asked about his new starting quarterback. He praised Milton, the recent addition from Dallas.
“I think he’s worked really hard,” Sirianni said. “Him and (Quarterbacks coach) Parks (Frazier) have spent a ton of time together, getting him caught up to speed. I know the developmental periods, those always help to be able to run our plays. But he works extremely hard. He is always in the building, doing the extra things. I like his progression.”
The Eagles signed Milton to their 53-man roster off the Cowboys’ practice squad back on Oct. 16. It took him just about a week to supplant rookie Cole Payton as the backup quarterback and he is now the starter just three weeks after joining the team.
Starting quarterback Jalen Hurts has not played since Oct. 11 against the Jaguars in Jacksonville. He is out for the rest of the season with blood clots in his lungs.
McKee, 26, has started the last three games and has struggled. McKee this season has completed 63.2% of his passes for 114 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. But he really struggled with pocket awareness in the loss to the Commanders on Sunday in Washington.
“Tanner’s our guy,” Sirianni said on Monday. “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. We’re looking at everything as far as what we can do differently as coaches.”
The hope is likely that Milton will be able to create more than McKee has been able to over the last few games.
Milton, 26, was drafted out of Tennessee by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2024 draft. Milton (6-5, 236) has a big arm and a ton of talent but was seen as a developmental prospect when he got drafted.
Over his first two NFL seasons, Milton has played in five games without a start. He has completed 37 of 53 passes (69.8%) for 424 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
The Eagles have mishandled their backup QB spot since training camp. They rotated Andy Dalton and McKee throughout the summer and gave Dalton the job. But after one throw and one interception against the Bears, they demoted Dalton and then eventually released him. So when Hurts was ruled out for the Panthers game, the Eagles turned to McKee. Now they’re turning to a new QB who arrived less than three weeks ago.
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