Eagles to Start Joe Milton at Quarterback in Week 9 Against Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles will start Joe Milton at quarterback in Week 9 against the New York Giants on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Milton replaces Tanner McKee, who started the last three games and lost all three. The move was first reported by ESPN on Wednesday afternoon, with Adam Schefter and NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo reporting the change. It is a sharp reversal for head coach Nick Sirianni, who said on Monday that McKee would stay in the job. Milton, 26, has never started an NFL game. He joined the Eagles only three weeks ago, signed off the Dallas Cowboys practice squad on October 16, and now gets his first start in a season that has gone badly wrong for Philadelphia.

Quick Facts

How the Change Happened So Fast

The speed of this change is what makes it such a big story. On Monday afternoon, after the Eagles lost 27-10 to the Washington Commanders, Sirianni told reporters that the team was sticking with McKee. His words were plain. He said, “Tanner’s our guy. We’re not making any changes there.” He talked about finding answers in the scheme, in practice, and in coaching, but he gave no sign that a switch was coming.

Less than two days later, the story had changed completely. ESPN first reported the news on Wednesday afternoon. Sirianni did not fight the news. He praised Milton instead, saying the young quarterback had worked hard and spent a lot of time with quarterbacks coach Parks Frazier to catch up on the playbook.

That kind of reversal usually means the mood inside the building changed after the coaches watched the film from Washington. McKee had struggled with pocket awareness in that loss, and the offense had produced little. The Eagles are 2-6 and riding a six game losing streak, so patience was always going to run out. Milton is now the third starting quarterback for Philadelphia this season, after Jalen Hurts and McKee.

Why Tanner McKee Lost the Job

McKee did not lose the job on one bad throw. He lost it over three starts in which the Eagles failed to win a game and the offense failed to find a rhythm. The numbers explain the problem. In those three games, McKee completed 72 of 114 passes for 638 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His completion rate was 63.2 percent, and his passer rating was 76.6. He averaged only 5.6 yards per attempt, which is a sign of an offense that was not pushing the ball down the field.

He also never threw for more than 215 yards in a game, and he never threw multiple touchdowns in a game. For a team that needs points to stay in games, that is not enough. A quarterback can survive a bad game, but three straight losses with modest production will always put his job at risk, even when the head coach says publicly that he is safe.

None of this means McKee played without effort. He stepped in when the team needed him, and he kept the offense working through a difficult stretch. But the NFL is a results business, and the Eagles are losing. McKee is expected to move back to the backup role, where he will stay ready if Milton struggles or gets hurt.

Who Joe Milton Is

Joe Milton is one of the most talked about backup quarterbacks in the league, mainly because of his arm. He is 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 236 pounds, and he can throw the ball further than almost anyone in the NFL. He played college football at Tennessee, and the New England Patriots picked him in the sixth round of the 2024 draft. Scouts saw him as a developmental prospect, a player with rare physical tools who needed time to learn the finer points of the position.

His NFL career so far has been short and scattered. He has played in five games without a start, one for the Patriots and four for Dallas this year, all as a replacement during games. In those appearances, he completed 37 of 53 passes for 424 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His completion rate of 69.8 percent looks good on paper, but it comes from a small sample, mostly in games that were already decided. Sunday will be his first real test as a starter, against a division rival, with a full week of preparation and a game plan built around him.

The Eagles signed Milton to their 53 man roster off the Cowboys practice squad on October 16. It took him about a week to pass rookie Cole Payton and become the backup quarterback. Now, three weeks after he arrived, he is the starter. Milton also brings something McKee does not: mobility. He can move in the pocket, buy time with his legs, and make throws on the run. The risk is that a strong arm can tempt a young quarterback into throws he should not make.

What Happened to Jalen Hurts

To understand why the Eagles are on their third starter, you have to go back to Jalen Hurts. The starting quarterback has not played since October 11, when the Eagles played the Jaguars in Jacksonville. He was then ruled out for the rest of the season with blood clots in his lungs, a serious health problem that ended his year and changed the whole shape of the Eagles season.

Hurts is not a player a team can replace easily. He is the leader of the offense, and the whole system was built around his skills. When he went down, the Eagles first turned to Andy Dalton, who had won the backup job in training camp after a summer battle with McKee. Dalton lasted only one throw and one interception against the Bears before he was demoted and later released. That left McKee to take over, and he held the job for three games before Milton got the call.

The mess at backup quarterback goes back to training camp, when the Eagles rotated Dalton and McKee through the summer and gave Dalton the job. The plan fell apart quickly once the season started. The signing of Milton in mid October was the first real attempt to fix the problem, and now the Eagles are betting that a player who arrived three weeks ago can give them a spark that the other backups could not.

What Sunday Against the Giants Could Decide

The game itself is a big one. The Giants are a division rival, and the game is at home at Lincoln Financial Field, where the Eagles crowd will be loud and impatient after six straight losses. A win would stop the slide and give the team something to build on. A loss would make it seven in a row, and the season would feel even further gone.

The timing adds to the pressure. The Eagles have a bye in Week 10, which means this game is the last chance to judge Milton before a week off. If he plays well, the coaches can spend the bye week building the offense around him. If he struggles, they will have two weeks to think about whether to go back to McKee, give Cole Payton a look, or look outside the team for help. Sunday is not just a game. It is a tryout, and Milton knows it.

There is also a longer story to watch. If Milton plays well, or even a little better than McKee, he could hold the job through the rest of the season. The Eagles play the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day in Week 12, and Milton would face the team that had him on its practice squad only a month earlier. Read more: Brandon Aiyuk returns to the 49ers as reinstatement papers are filed. Like the Eagles, the 49ers are making a fast roster call under deadline pressure. Read more: Jack Campbell improving after neck injury for the Lions. And for a reminder of how one player can change a game, read more: Victor Wembanyama posts 52 points, 24 rebounds and 8 blocks for the Spurs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is starting at quarterback for the Eagles in Week 9?

Joe Milton will start for the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9 against the New York Giants. ESPN first reported the news on Wednesday afternoon, with Adam Schefter and NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo reporting the change. It will be the first start of Milton’s NFL career.

Why did the Eagles bench Tanner McKee?

McKee started the last three games and lost all three. He completed 72 of 114 passes for 638 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and he never threw for more than 215 yards in a game. The Eagles are 2-6 and on a six game losing streak, so the coaches decided to try a different quarterback.

When did Joe Milton join the Eagles?

The Eagles signed Milton to their 53 man roster off the Dallas Cowboys practice squad on October 16. He passed rookie Cole Payton to become the backup in about a week, and he became the starter only three weeks after joining the team.

What happened to Jalen Hurts?

Jalen Hurts has not played since October 11 against the Jaguars in Jacksonville. He is out for the rest of the season with blood clots in his lungs. McKee took over after Hurts was ruled out, and now Milton is the third starting quarterback for Philadelphia this season.

Sources

NBC Sports Philadelphia: Eagles making the switch to QB Joe Milton for Week 9 vs. Giants

USA Today Eagles Wire: Eagles bench Tanner McKee, name Joe Milton starting QB vs. Giants

Outsiders Sports: The Storm, November 5, 2026

Final Thoughts

The Eagles did not plan to be here. They planned to have Jalen Hurts at quarterback and a season with real hope. Instead they are 2-6, they have lost six games in a row, and they are turning to a quarterback who arrived three weeks ago from another team’s practice squad. Joe Milton has a big arm, real mobility, and a chance that few players ever get. Sunday against the Giants is his first start, and it comes with a bye week after it, which means the coaches will have time to judge what they see. If Milton plays with calm and care, protects the ball, and moves the offense, he could hold this job for the rest of the season. Either way, the answer starts on Sunday, and Philadelphia will be watching closely.