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Sep 28, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee (16) warms up before the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Eagles Sitting Starters; Tanner McKee In The Spotlight

Originally posted on Philadelphia Eagles on SI
By John McMullen | Last updated Dec 31, 2025 3:46 PM ET

The Eagles do plan on resting some starters for Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders, according to the team.

The understanding is that others will be limited and some will dress and not play.

A certain number of players have to dress to adhere to the NFL’s roster rules so this isn’t like a preseason game where the pool is 90 players.

The Eagles will have their 53-man roster to work with and two practice-squad elevations, one of which will be long snapper Charley Hughlett.

Third-year quarterback Tanner McKee is expected to start his second career game for Philadelphia.

McKee’s first start was in Week 18 last season when the Eagles also rested many of their key players. The Stanford product led Philadelphia to a 20-13 win by completing 27 of 41 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns.

Eagles On SI asked Eagles head coach about McKee’s development behind the scenes.

“When you see Tanner he's really good about knowing where to go with the football, seeing the defense and being able to deliver things acccurately,” Sirianni said.

The Eagles’ head coach also noted the ecosystem around McKee since he arrived from Stanford as a sixth-round pick in 2023.

“It's a great [QB] room where those guys feed off each other and learn from each other,” said Sirianni. “He's got Jalen [Hurts]. Being able to learn from Jalen which is a huge deal, any time you are around a really good quarterback your game goes up to and he's able to sit in that meeting room with Jalen for hours upon hours a day, just learning from him and that' a big deal.

“And [QB coach] Scot [Loeffler]’s done a nice job coaching him and continuing to help him develop. His quarterback coaches in the past. Doug [Nussmeier] did a really good job of helping develop him as well and Kellen [Moore] and Kevin [Patullo].”

Developmental Periods

On the field, the Eagles always make time for the backups and a more developmental approach.

“We do a lot that-- this goes back to when [former Eagles QB] Gardner [Minshew] was here,” Sirianni explained. “We didn't have Gardner through the entire preseason, so he didn't have any reps in 2021. We knew we had to do a lot of things to help him get his-- he was getting obviously scout team reps, but we had to give him as many of our play reps as possible. That's something I take a lot of pride in.”

Now the Eagles try to do that after as many practices as possible.

“We try to do that after every practice that you can, or you're at least getting some seven-on-seven each and every day of your plays, and those reps add up,” said Sirianni. “I feel like that with all our guys, even guys that are on practice squad, guys that are just not playing as much offense or defense, that they're getting a lot of reps throughout the year.

“It's not every week, but that's 24 plays a week that they're getting on our plays. We do our best to be able to prepare them and then it's their job to prepare themselves, and that's the case for every player, not just the quarterback”.

You’ll see the results for McKee on Sunday.

“I like [the] continued development of what he's done,” Sirianni said.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Eagles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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