Eagles QB Tanner McKee Postgame Transcript 8/22
EAGLES QUARTERBACK TANNER MCKEE
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
August 22, 2026
Q: Better tonight?
TM: Yeah.
Q: Why?
TM: Why? We talked a lot about execution and not shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties. Felt like we did a lot better job not going backwards. Really hard to play offense, obviously, just playing first-and-20 or second-and-15, whatever it is. But you can’t call the plays that you want to call when you’re in those situations, so just getting the rhythm, getting the drive started, I thought just execution was better as well.
Q: Was the playbook opened up just a little bit to give you more to play with this time?
TM: I would say so, yeah. I would say so, which was great. I thought Sean [Mannion] called a great game. Just had a couple really good calls, easy throws for the quarterback, easy reads. So yeah, I thought it was great.
Q: How about Carson [Steele]?
TM: Yeah, how about Carson? Yeah, great. Awesome for him stepping up. W just got word that JJ [Ja’Quinden Jackson] is doing okay, which is awesome. But Carson stepping in, taking those extra reps and balling, which was great. Really good to see. Having a lot of confidence in him. Doing the right thing, eyes looking at the right spot. Knowing when he’s the hot, knowing in pass protection who he’s got. It was great to see, and just the excitement that it brought on the sideline when he was hurdling guys. It was good to see.
Q: Did you want that last drive?
TM: As a competitor, you always want to go in to win the game. I’m waiting for coaches to tell me when to go into the game when do I leave the game. So, as a competitor, of course I want every drive.
Q: Speaking of being competitive and competition, where do you think things stand between and you Andy [Dalton] at this point?
TM: I don’t know. I play when the coaches put me in. Obviously, put my best foot forward, try to do all the extra things, whether that’s in the film room or on the practice field, staying late, talking with the guys, bonding, whatever that is. I let them decide all that.
Q: Was the process the same in terms of you knowing you were not going to be the first guy up, or you found out the at the same time?
TM: Yeah, pretty much similar to the last game.
Q: How did you feel like you did in the joint practices this week?
TM: Felt great getting a lot of extra reps against another team, which was great. Obviously, the Ravens game didn’t go the way we wanted, so being able to get another shot at running our plays against another team was great. Obviously, in joint practices, you open up the playbook a little bit more, knowing it’s not going to be televised and not every team will be able to watch that film. So, that was great doing all our stuff. And yeah, it was great because obviously, I think we all kind of had that itch. We want to get back on the field. We want to play against someone else after what we put on film last week. It was nice we got the opportunity to do that in joint practice and obviously great tonight that we were able to sustain some more drives and put some more points on the board.
Q: How does that help you guys settle down when that happens [the first play and injury to Ja’Quinden Jackson]?
TM: I think everyone is different. A lot of different emotions. Just praying, hoping that he’s okay, hopefully it’s the best-case scenario. At that moment, just hoping that he gets the best care and everything. Everyone is asking about him, hoping he’s okay, and so then word was going around that he was talking and responsive and moving, so that kind of got everybody to settle down a little bit and just at least we know our teammate is doing okay.
Q: How do you feel you are in terms of learning this offense? Would you say that at first it was kind of a process, maybe a struggle, and then you feel like you have been kind of on an upward trend?
TM: Yeah, I would say so. Any time it’s a new offense, there is going to be a learning curve. We definitely had that. It’s very different than what we’ve run in the past, so just with the new terminology, different techniques, fundamentals. So, of course there will be some bumps in the road. As long as we don’t make the same mistake twice and we’re trending upwards, I think those will be good bumps, as long as they stay in practice. We learn in film. Learn from other people’s mistakes. Especially [as] a guy getting limited reps, I got to learn from Jalen [Hurts], Andy’s and Cole’s [Payton’s] mistakes, as well as my own. So, just being able to stay on this upward trend.