Kracz: Eagles' Transparency Is Wearing Thin After Naming Joe Milton QB1 in Week 9

Something has to change.

The Eagles' transparency is officially wearing thin after announcing Joe Milton as the QB1 on Wednesday. | Ed Kracz/Eagles On SI

PHILADELPHIA, P.A. — The Eagles started the season with four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster. Joe Milton wasn’t one of them, but he will make his first career start when the Giants visit on Sunday.

The about-face is in direct contrast to what head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters just 48 hours earlier: “Tanner's our guy. We're not making any changes there.”

Welp…

Milton has been with the Eagles for 18 days since they signed him off the Cowboys' practice squad. The four QBs who began Week 1 were Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, Andy Dalton and Cole Payton.

Dalton was released after throwing one pass—an end zone interception against the Bears in Week 3 loss—and reportedly turned an Eagles overture to return when the team tried to bring him back after Hurts got hurt.

McKee started three games after Hurts went on injured reserve with blood clots. He went 0-3, completing 63.2% of his passes with two touchdowns, two interceptions, and a lost fumble. McKee was sacked 10 times in those three games.

In the only extended action of his career, in Week 18 of 2024, when he played for the New England Patriots against the Buffalo Bills, the 6'5", 235-lb Milton completed 22 of 29 passes for 241 passing yards with two touchdowns—one by rushing, one by passing—with no interceptions and a 111.4 passer rating.

Tanner McKee's benching raises more questions than answers

Milton will offer more mobility than McKee, but, oddly, the Eagles are pinning their hopes on someone who has been in town for less than three weeks.

Sirianni was asked about Milton on Wednesday afternoon. Given the opportunity to announce that Milton would be taking over for McKee, Sirianni didn’t.

“I think he's worked really hard,” was what the coach 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 always help to be able to run our plays, but he works extremely hard. He's always in the building doing the extra things, and I like his progression.”

It's unclear as to when the Eagles made the call to bench QB Tanner McKee. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

So, when was the decision made to remove McKee and replace him with Milton? Was it after Monday’s pronouncement that “Tanner’s our guy,” or was it in the two-hour window between Sirianni’s answer about Milton and when it was announced via a national media member that the Eagles were switching quarterbacks?

In the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn’t matter, but transparency is wearing thin with the organization.

To wit:

• The Eagles kept the Jalen Hurts blood clot situation as quiet as they could for as long as they could.

• Cam Jurgens self-reported concussion symptoms Monday morning, Oct. 5, a day after the Eagles lost to the Rams. Several hours later, when Sirianni met with reporters via Zoom, he was asked to evaluate Jurgens’ performance in the loss. The coach never mentioned anything about a concussion. Two days later, Jurgens became probably the first player in NFL history to be traded away while in concussion protocol.

It will now partially be up to Milton to help his really, really new team, at 2-6, end a six-game losing streak when the New York Giants visit for a Week 9 game on Sunday. He was at Wednesday’s practice taking first-team reps in individual drills. It appeared that Cole Payton was taking second-team reps, which would reduce McKee to the third-string, emergency QB on game day.

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