“Kenny coming in, he played really tough last week. He’s a competitor. He got hit pretty hard a few times out there and he’s got a lot of grit to him, and he’s a fighter. And so, I was impressed with how he conducted himself today and Tanner (McKee) was the exact same way,” right tackle Lane Johnson said.
Tanner McKee entered the game for the injured Pickett early in the third quarter and was ready to roll.
On his second drive of the day, McKee threw a dime to Brown on third-and-8 in the left corner of the end zone for his first career touchdown pass.
“It’s surreal. You grow up dreaming of playing college football, and then someday in the NFL, and so to actually be able to play in the NFL, play with these guys, throw a touchdown pass and win a game was surreal,” McKee at his locker after his NFL debut.
Although McKee didn’t know he was going to play going into the game, his preparation is the same as Pickett’s and everyone else on the team every week.
“I feel like, in general, I try to prepare like I’m going to be the starter,” McKee said. “So as far as preparation, things didn’t change that much. Because I feel like I prepare that way every week. But last night, I was going through the call sheet a few times and just running things in every single possible scenario that we could get just, just so I could go out, not think, and just play with second nature.”
McKee finished the day with a pair of touchdown passes as he found Smith for a 25-yard touchdown catch and run with 10:09 left in the game as the Eagles blew out the Cowboys 41-7.
“It was awesome, so happy for Tanner,” Pickett said. “He’s a great guy. Being in the quarterback room you spend so much time together. We watch a lot of tape together on the opponent for whatever week it is and in the meetings and on the practice field. So happy for him and a special day for everyone in the locker room.”
For the two quarterbacks who did their job to the fullest and left it all out there, the experience they’ve gotten will only make them better going forward.
It truly is a next-man-up mentality in Philadelphia.
“Guys obviously know that it is a next-man-up mentality. Everybody has each other’s back,” McKee said.
“When I heard, ‘Hey I’m going in,’ all these guys have a ton of confidence in me. I know we have a ton of confidence in all the other guys that are second, third string, whatever it is that when they get…
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