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Nick Sirianni Explains Why He Made the QB Switch From Tanner McKee to Joe Milton
By Matt Schultz
Published:
On Monday, Nick Sirianni said that Tanner McKee would once again get the start in Week 9 against the Giants. On Wednesday, Mike Garafolo and Adam Schefter reported that the Eagles were switching gears and would start Joe Milton instead, which the team confirmed later that afternoon. It was a pretty odd series of events, and the Eagles’ head coach was asked about the decision-making behind the change during his media availability on Friday:
Q. Nick, why’d you decide to go with QB Joe Milton? (Dave Zangaro)
Nick Sirianni: Obviously, that’s always a difficult thing to think through because it isn’t ever just on one person. Matter of fact, I think [QB] Tanner [McKee] played solid, but this is just what I felt like we needed to do right at this particular moment to give ourselves the best chance to win this weekend.
Q. Why this week instead of waiting ’til the bye and maybe having a little bit of extra time? (John McMullen)
Nick Sirianni: This is what we felt was best. This is what I felt was best in this particular moment. We’re trying to do everything we can do to win each and every game. That’s where we are right now.
Q. Who’s all involved in the decision? (Tim McManus)
Nick Sirianni: At the end of the day, I have to make the decision based off of that. But every decision that we make, we talk through in great, great detail. Obviously, [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and I talk in great detail, the offensive staff and I, [Quarterbacks Coach] Parks [Frazier] and [Offensive Coordinator] 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 decisions that I think is best for the football team, but you discuss everything with everybody.
Q. What changed since Monday when you said that ‘QB Tanner McKee’s our guy and we’re not making any changes there?’ (Martin Frank)
Nick Sirianni: You think through things, you look through the game. We had just gotten off of the game, and then you’re starting to look through the game and the game plan. As you start to put ideas down — and things are fluid, things are fluid. Like I said, the toughest part about this, in my mind is that, again, I felt Tanner did solid. I thought he did a lot of good things. That’s always tough, and you wear that as the coach. I know it’s tough for Tanner, too.
Q. Things changed from Monday to Tuesday with quarterback. Did things also change with roles for coaches? (Brooks Kubena)
Nick Sirianni: No.
Q. There’s a little bit of — I just want to understand kind of the decision making process on this. QB Tanner McKee tells us that he was informed he was being benched on Tuesday. You had media availability on Wednesday, but the first people we hear about this potential quarterback shift are, unfortunately, your players, who are like, ‘We don’t know what to say. We’re here.’ — (Breland Moore)
Nick Sirianni: No, it came out somewhere else. I was going to hold onto that as long as I possibly could, every second, every minute. Again, I’m not real shy with you guys. I’m going to tell you what I want to tell you guys. I respect the job that y’all have to do, but I’m going to tell you what I want to tell you guys because I’m always going to protect the team first and foremost. Every second that goes by in a situation like that, that you can hold onto information as long as you possibly can, is a little less time for the opponent to get ready for the game. I know there’s a lot of interest in everything that you all want to hear, the fans want to hear. My job is to win football games, do everything we can do to help win football games, protect the guys here on this football team, and handle everything that I can inside.
There’s speculation online that this decision was not made by Nick. Considering he had just confirmed on Monday that McKee would be starting, fans and media alike are getting the sense that the powers that be — Howie Roseman, maybe even Jeffrey Lurie — told Nick to make the QB change. There’s no way to know for sure, but from where I’m sitting, that does make sense. Feels like it could be true.
Nick just said on Monday that McKee was “their guy,” and even in today’s press availability, he seemed to go out of his way a handful of times to defend McKee’s play this season. His demeanor at the microphone seemed particularly down on Friday, too. Seemed like he didn’t enjoy having to answer for all of this, and I can’t blame him. This is probably how I would look too if my bosses told me 1) I no longer get to make any real decisions, 2) I don’t get to start the guy I want to, and 3) I have to lie to the media and fans by saying it was actually my idea:
This was only ten seconds in! He sat down and instantly did this! Can’t be good.
Ultimately, I’m not sure how much it matters, anyway. This isn’t the first time Nick has been accused of being a puppet of the front office with no actual power or agency, and it probably won’t be the last. And in any event, the decision to start Joe Milton, whoever’s it was, feels like the right one. I know I’m more excited to see him on Sunday than McKee. At least Milton throws it hard as hell. Looks cool:
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com