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Eagles' Nick Sirianni explains his decision to make a QB switch
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- Eagles' Nick Sirianni explains his decision to make a QB switch
Eagles' Nick Sirianni explains his decision to make a QB switch originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
A couple days after the news broke, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni finally addressed his decision to make a quarterback switch in Week 9.
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Joe Milton will start and Tanner McKee is heading to the bench.
"Obviously, that's always a difficult thing to think through," Sirianni said on Friday. "Because it isn't ever just on one person. As a matter of fact, I think Tanner played solid. But this is just what I felt we needed to do at this particular moment to give ourselves the best chance to win this weekend."
Milton, 26, was signed just three weeks ago off the Cowboys practice squad but rose from No. 3 to No. 1 in that span. Milton has played in NFL games before with the Patriots and Cowboys but this will be his first NFL start.
What about Milton does Sirianni think gives the Eagles the best chance to win?
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"He's talented and been here for a couple weeks now," Sirianni said. "Very talented arm, very talented athlete, can process and make decisions out there. Lot of good qualities he has. I like his confidence and everything that he brings and it's been fun getting to know him and working with him."
While Milton isn't exactly known as a dual threat quarterback, he is more athletic than McKee. So his ability to avoid pressure and run a little bit very likely factored into this decision.
But Sirianni said a few times on Friday that he thought McKee was "solid" in his three starts since Jalen Hurts has been out with blood clots. But the Eagles went 0-3 in those games and are now sitting at 2-6 in what looks like a lost season.
Who was involved in this decision?
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"At the end of the day, I have to make the decision based off of that," Sirianni said. "Every decision that we make, we talk through in great, great detail. Obviously, Howie (Roseman) and I talk in great detail, the offensive staff and I and Parks (Frazier) and Sean (Mannion) and everybody. We just talk through it. At the end of the day, my job as the head coach is to make these decision that I think are best for the football team but you discuss everything with everybody."
Sirianni was asked point-blank on Monday if he was considering a QB change and said he wasn't. He then told McKee the news on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Sirianni was asked about Milton and didn't hint that a switch was coming. Less than two hours later, the news broke.
On Friday, Sirianni said his plan was to withhold that information as long as possible for the sake of competitive advantage. But even though the Giants now know Milton is starting, they don't know exactly what the offense will look like with him in there.
It's understandable why the Eagles thought they needed a spark on offense. Through eight weeks, the Eagles are 32nd in yards and 30th in scoring.
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"The toughest part about this in my mind is that, again, I felt that Tanner did solid," Sirianni said. "I thought he did a lot of good things. That's always tough. You wear that as the coach. I know it's tough for Tanner too."
