Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Confusion at the QB Factory

Posted August 29th, 2026 | No Comments »

You never want to make too much of what goes on in the preseason, especially the finale. A lot of the guys who played tonight will be unemployed in a few days. The finale is for fringe guys trying to make the roster and rookies who need reps. That said, the Eagles put forth another uninspiring effort and finished 0-3. Not ideal, even for mostly backups.

The real takeaway from this game is QB confusion. Tanner McKee got the start, which was good to see. Unfortunately he struggled in a big way. I figured Cole Payton would replace him, but Andy Dalton came out and played almost the entire second half. Payton got to play the last five minutes. Color me confused.

My guess is that the team hoped McKee would play well and cement the QB2 spot. Then Dalton would look good against Bengals third stringers and help his trade value. Payton won’t play this year so limiting his snaps isn’t a big deal. The plan did not work. McKee was bad. Dalton was a bit better, but still not good. The backup QB situation is as murky as it has been all summer. And your rookie barely got on the field. The Eagles plan may have looked good in theory, but it sure didn’t work well. None of the backups had a good camp.

We’ll see how the team handles this in a day or two. It sure hasn’t been a smooth process. McKee has looked good in previous summers and even regular seasons. That wasn’t the case this year. Maybe that was the scheme change. Maybe the competition affected his confidence. Whatever the reason, McKee took a step backward. This was a forgettable summer for the backups.

I won’t be shocked by anything at QB. Heck, I wonder if the might want to upgrade the backup situation with a trade. Nick Sirianni says he likes the QB room, but I don’t know how much of that is real and how much is coachspeak.

Let’s shift back to the game. One key moment was Andre Sam Getting hurt. He’ll be headed to IR. I had him pegged for the practice squad, but he was having a terrific game and might have put himself in roster consideration.

While a couple of guys may have helped themselves, I don’t think anyone played their way onto the roster vs Cincy. RB Dameon Pierce was 4-44 and looked good. He could make the PS. Carson Steele caught 8 passes and flashed again. While fun to watch in August, I just don’t see hum as roster material.

Rookie Makai Lemon made his debut. Unfortunately he looked like a rookie. McKee struggled to get him the ball a couple of times. Then a catchable pass went off Lemon’s hands and got picked off. Lemon caught 3 passes for…3 yards. The coaches got him very involved early, but it didn’t go as hoped.

Jake Elliott was 2 for 2, including a 56-yarder. That was good to see.

Rookie DBs Kapena Gushiken and Maximus Pulley combined for 11 tackles, but both guys were up and down. Rookie edge rusher Keyshawn James-Newby made his debut and flashed on some plays. He had a sack and a pressure.

Kelee Ringo looked to have a good game. Great to see him turn things around.

CBS didn’t give us many replays so it was hard to get a strong feel for the blocking.

Uar Bernard struggled with tackling. That’s hardly a surprise. Josh Weru had some good moments. He also had a penalty and sloppy run defense. More good than bad.

We can all be grateful that the preseason is over. Nick Sirianni is a highly successful coach, but his teams can be painful to watch in August.

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