Eagles preseason game ball: Tanner McKee drives the team to victory over the Patriots.

Tanner McKee, who plays quarterback for the Eagles, maintains his composed and methodical demeanor. When does he start talking about backup quarterbacks?

After the starters received their reps at the joint practice the day before, the Eagles’ second and third string players participated in almost the whole second preseason game against the Patriots up in Foxboro on Thursday night.

Even though Tanner McKee masterfully staged a late comeback for the Eagles to win 14–13, he did start a few defensive starters against New England, two of whom made some noteworthy plays right away. This might potentially alter the discourse surrounding backup quarterbacks.

Keeping that in mind, these are the Thursday night game ball awards that will be presented.

On offense, Tanner McKee Kenny Pickett appeared uneasy, completing just 11 of 13 passes for 67 yards and taking four sacks.

Leading the fourth-quarter touchdown drive, McKee found Joseph Ngata on a 28-yard pass that went all the way down to the 4-yard line. With 4:23 remaining, a 1-yard rush by Kendall Milton put the Eagles ahead 14–12.

McKee gained 140 yards on 15 of 19 plays. Though he faced many of the Patriots starting defensive linemen, he was still superior to Pickett, who participated in the first half.

He did have his part in a botched tush push on fourth down though, but granted, that play only ever seems to work for Jalen Hurts and the first-team – much to the rest of the league’s disdain – so you can probably cut some slack there. The main thing is, this is the second preseason in a row now where McKee has looked pretty poised and methodical in moving the football. Pickett was signed on to be Hurts’ backup, but at what point do you really start giving McKee some serious second-team looks if you’re Nick Sirianni and the Eagles’ coaching staff? That late scoring drive makes him really tough to deny

Defense: Bryce Huff, Avonte Maddox • The Patriots’ drive to within the Eagles’ 10-yard line was stopped by Avonte Maddox, who put an end to the entire series.

Brissett decided to go straight for tight end Austin Hooper in the end zone on a third and short play from the Philadelphia 8, but Maddox beat the route, gained the advantage on the pass, and went off with the pick on a 47-yard return down to the Eagles’ 45.

A 42-yard field goal by Jake Elliott gave the game its first points, and that play was easily the biggest in an otherwise uneventful first half.

On that play, Maddox was lined up at safety with James Bradberry, whose future with the team is still uncertain.

Maddox’s is, in many respects, too. He was cut loose and then signed again in the spring, this time to work as a defensive back in a room with the goal of getting younger and, depending on Cooper DeJean’s health, finding playing time eventually for rookies Quinyon Mitchell and DeJean.

As a seasoned player on the team, Maddox may easily return to the nickel corner position, at least to begin with. For the time being, it may even be his to lose. But what happens after that?

The 28-year-old has missed time due to injury over the past two seasons, which particularly hurt the Eagles’ defense last year. He is surrounded by players like Isaiah Rodgers, Darius Slay, Mitchell, DeJean, Kelee Ringo, Reed Blankenship, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Bradberry, who is still with the team despite it being obvious that his time is running out.

The backfield is abruptly changing between the old and the new, but Maddox might still be able to contribute and use that interception against his typical position to support his argument.

• Although the recently signed edge rusher Bryce Huff only participated in the first two defensive series, he made them matter, particularly the first one.

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