Eagles QB Tanner McKee (Post-Game Transcript)

On his thoughts of his performance today:
“I mean, looking internally, I just felt like I showed that I have confidence in myself to go out and, you know, operate, run the offense. And, I feel like, for me, it just showed that my preparation has been working, and my preparation has helped me just get to how the offense was run today. And obviously, there’s a ton of things that we can change; we’re going to go back and watch film, and there’s a lot of things that, different checks or progression, or something that I did wrong. So obviously, for me, it was a growing opportunity, which was great. I’m happy to kind of get my feet wet a little bit, obviously, with my first start, and grow, watch the film, and learn from the experience.”

On what clicked for him to get everybody involved early:

“Yeah, I thought [Eagles offensive coordinator] Kellen [Moore] called a great game. Move in the pocket a few times, drop back, play-action. [I] kind of felt like we were well-rounded. [We] hit a little bit of a speed bump right there just with timing and different things, and a lot of that’s on me. I’m going to have to get better in that aspect, but, yeah, just overall, I thought Kellen called a really good game. I felt like we were well-rounded, which is great.”

On how valuable playing these last two weeks have been:
“Yeah, it’s huge, just seeing how fast the game is, seeing the different looks that people are going to give you, different checks. You can do a lot of walkthroughs and, you know, a lot of practice, but there is a little bit of difference in the game, you know, the adrenaline and what’s on the line and things like that. So, it is nice to kind of have that under my belt. And I think ultimately, for me, it just builds confidence, which is great.”

On scoring a touchdown on the first drive:
“Yeah, that was big. We wanted to set the tone early. Defense did a great job getting the stop, and then we obviously went down and scored. We were just trying to show like, ‘Hey, this is the standard.’ [Eagles head] coach Nick [Sirianni] before was like, ‘Hey, anytime that you step on the field, there’s a standard that everybody needs to play at.’ I felt like that was kind of our way of saying, like, ‘Hey, we’re here.’ We still uphold that standard as well which was great. It was good to see and a lot of fun obviously.”

On Eagles WR Jahan Dotson’s performance:
“Yeah, he’s a stud, really hard worker, kind of a quiet guy, but just the guy in the back that works really hard and perfects his craft. A couple of those timing routes were great. I just knew where he was going to be. With his speed and the way that he catches the ball and separates, I think he’s a really good player. It was good to see him have the success that he did. Obviously was a huge component to us getting the win.”

On Eagles TE Dallas Goedert’s performance:
“Yeah, he’s a stud. I think everybody already kind of knows that. His ability to separate, to make contested catches. I mean, that guy is so hard to tackle in the open field, he just runs hard. His stiff arm is nasty. It’s nice when, as a quarterback, when you sit back and see those guys, and you say, ‘Yeah, we have some weapons. So let me put the ball in these guys’ hands and try to tackle these guys, which is great.’”

On how he was able to spread the ball around:
“I think that credit goes to [Eagles offensive coordinator] Kellen [Moore] for calling good plays, getting everybody touches. I’m going through my progressions a lot of the time. A lot of times it’s pick your match-up, or leverage, or whatever that is. But a lot of times I’m going through the progressions and trying to find the open guy. I would say a lot of that is accredited to [Eagles offensive coordinator] Kellen [Moore] just finding guys that are open.”

On how he feels about possibly playing again next week:
“I haven’t thought about that. I’ll let those guys answer any questions that they want about them, but obviously I’m going to do my preparation to play, because I’ve been doing that all season. I’m going to be doing the same thing. I’ll be ready whether I’m the one, the two, the three, the six, whatever it is. It’s just doing my own thing.”

On whether it means anything to him to get Eagles WR Ainias Smith and Eagles TE E.J. Jenkins their first touchdowns in the same game:
“Yeah, it was great. A lot of fun having those guys get their first touchdowns. And I thought they played really well. It was kind of funny going out there today. In a way, I did feel a little bit more comfortable just because I have thrown to those guys so much last week. I’ve just taken less snaps with [Eagles C] Cam [Jurgens] and fades to [Eagles WR] A.J. [Brown] than I have with the guys that I got out tonight. So taking snaps with [Eagles OL] Nick Gates felt, yeah, a little bit more familiar. So yeah, it was a lot of fun. Those guys work really hard. It’s not always easy to be a scout team guy and work your butt off and not really get a lot of playing time on Sunday. So it is nice to see them have the success that they had tonight.”

On the opportunity today and showcasing himself to the league and whether he has thought at all about what this offseason could bring for him:
“Not yet. Right now, I’m focusing on this season, today, and obviously making a deep run in the playoffs. So yeah, I haven’t really thought about that. I guess we’ll see, whenever that comes.”

On what it feels like being on the podium again:
“Yeah, it’s fun. It felt very comfortable just being out there playing football again. Obviously, I got a few snaps last week as well. But it’s just fun. Like, obviously, I love football, but I really do just love football so being out there with the guys playing ball, making checks, I mean, that’s what I’ve been dreaming of since I was a kid. And so to actually, like, make it a reality, to throw my first touchdown last week, to get my first start, you know, we won both games. Like it’s, it seems a little surreal, which is fun. I’ve had a lot of family here last week, and this week as well, my parents flew out, which is fun. So, yeah, it’s been great.”

On whether there were aspects of the game and his play that felt natural, like there have been no break from the last time he played a game and other aspects that he felt were kind of clunky:

“I wouldn’t say there’s too many things that felt like they weren’t natural. I feel like that’s kind of the point of practice and the point of getting prepared and feeling comfortable. If there was a route that we didn’t love, then, like, hey, let’s either work this or take it out. And so I felt like I was very comfortable with the game plan, and felt like I had a pretty good understanding of what we were trying to get to, the looks, the checks. [The offensive line] did a great job communicating when we were changing the protection, what protection we were in. And so overall, just felt like it was a great team effort to kind of be on the same page and feel comfortable in what we were running.”