When the Philadelphia Eagles acquired quarterback Kenny Pickett from the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was widely assumed that he would be the backup quarterback to starter Jalen Hurts, but it sounds like there’s a chance that’s not exactly the case.
This week, second-year quarterback Tanner McKee took snaps with the second-team offense over Kenny Pickett, which was obviously a pretty surprising turn of events considering Pickett has been a starting quarterback in the league and was widely expected to take the backup role.
Eagles coach Kellen Moore offered a bit of an explanation for the surprising move as he made it clear that the move wasn’t about Pickett underperforming, but because they are happy with McKee.
“Tanner is doing an awesome job. Kenny is doing an awesome job,” Moore said according to Pro Football Talk. “Really two independent things. It’s not necessarily that they’re associated with each other. I think both of those guys are having really good camps. Sometimes when you are a younger guy, sometimes we like to put you in some different situations where you are with different guys on the field, whether it be with a second group or a first group, all those different things. We try and mix and match these things to give yourself a different perspective for these guys. Kenny has handled it awesome. Tanner has handled it awesome. It’s been really good for these guys.”
Regardless of the reason for the move, it’s pretty clear that McKee is challenging for the backup role.
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