Despite having the NFL’s latest Super Bowl MVP title, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts faced heat from critics throughout the 2025 NFL season.
At one point, there was a portion of the Eagles’ fan base calling for his backup, Tanner McKee, as some were curious about how the offense would look without Hurts under center.
Last week, they got their look. The legendary linebacker Seth Joyner believes that the sample should be enough to close the book on any McKee-over-Hurts narrative that’s attempted to be created in the future.
“I don't want to hear a damn thing by anybody else about Tanner McKee replacing our quarterback, not another thing,” Joyner said on 94WIP this week.
“I don't give two rats whether he's playing with the first team, the second team, the third team, or whoever, okay? I don't care. Don't talk to me again about Tanner McKee. I don't want to hear it. He's a good backup. That's it. He may be great trade bait. That's it.”
In McKee’s defense, he played last week’s season finale against the Washington Commanders with mostly backups. Although he had a couple of pass attempts thrown at DeVonta Smith, the star wide receiver was ruled out after hitting his 1,000-yard mark.
The defense can only mask so much in this situation. Backups or not, McKee still had a rough outing. There was a clear difference between the inexperienced backup and the Super Bowl MVP in Hurts.
McKee threw 40 times on Sunday, completing 21 of his passes for 241 yards. He had one touchdown and one interception. There were two rushing attempts for three yards, and three sacks taken.
The Eagles put on a similar display against the Commanders—the offense struggled just as it did all season long. That’s not to say Hurts is now blameless for the way the season played out, but it’s clear that Philly’s offensive dysfunction goes well beyond the quarterback.
At the very least, the McKee discussion should be silenced, just as Joyner suggests. The Eagles should be distraction-free on that front heading into their Wild Card matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.