PHILADELPHIA — First, the bad news.
Eagles backup quarterback Tanner McKee, who has been brilliant this summer after a strong finish last season, missed practice Tuesday with a finger injury on his throwing hand.
The good news? Early reports suggest it won’t require surgery.
But don’t exhale yet. McKee’s wasn’t the only injury development at training camp.
Left tackle Jordan Mailata was out with a concussion. Receiver DeVonta Smith, who had a back issue a couple weeks ago, was sidelined with a groin strain. And receiver Johnny Wilson, who has come on strong in the second half of camp, was carted inside with an apparent left leg/foot injury after visiting the medical tent. He may have gotten rolled up on.
As if all of that weren’t enough, rookie safety Andrew Mukuba — who had a 75-yard pick six, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup in his NFL debut last weekend against Cleveland — suffered a hamstring injury.
Oh, and tight end Dallas Goedert, who missed a chunk of time last year, was limited with a groin strain. Even before Tuesday’s rash of injuries, the Eagles were already without top wide receiver A.J. Brown (hamstring) and Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson (knee).
Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee passes during the first half of a preseason game the Cincinnati Bengals Thursday night. McKee did not practice Tuesday because an injury to a finger on his throwing hand. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Suddenly, the damage is mounting with the opener against Dallas just two weeks away.
Behind McKee, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and rookie Kyle McCord have been battling for the third QB spot. McKee was 20-of-25 for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns, plus a rushing TD on a tush push, in the first preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals. This after a crisp, 269-yard passing performance against the New York Giants in January, his first NFL start. The Birds saw no need for him to play last week against the Cleveland Browns.
McKee found Wilson three times for 73 yards in that Bengals game. Since then, Wilson has leveled up at camp, hauling in more passes and displaying his skills as a blocker.
Mukuba, who missed time earlier this summer recovering from a shoulder injury, is competing with Sydney Brown and Tristin McCollum for the starting free safety spot, opposite Reed Blankenship.
Others who didn’t practice Tuesday were safety Brandon Johnson (groin), safety Lewis Cine (groin) and cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields (hamstring).
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Eagles general manager Howie Roseman made the trade for receiver John Metchie III for one simple reason: because he could.
Perfect timing, considering how thin the Birds’ receiver room became Tuesday.
Loaded with draft capital for 2026 (10 picks, plus a projected three compensatory picks), Roseman and the Eagles swapped tight end Harrison Bryant and a fifth-rounder with the Texans for Metchie and a sixth-rounder on Sunday.
At a glance, the deal was a head-scratcher. The Eagles are deep at wide receiver with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Jahan Dotson, who is much more acclimated to the offense than when he arrived toward the end of camp a year ago. And they’ve been impressed with the hulking Johnny Wilson (6-6, 228) in his second summer since they selected him out of Florida State.
Also, second-year wideout Ainias Smtih has seen lots of reps, and undrafted rookie Darius Cooper has been making a name for himself. Then there are Terrace Marshall and Avery Williams.
But the fact is, with 53-man cuts coming next Tuesday, Bryant was unlikely to make the team. And, according to multiple reports in Houston, Metchie was on the fringe there. So this move was vintage Roseman. He saw an opportunity for a possible steal in Metchie — a former second-round pick — and he pulled the trigger.
Plus, with Brown and DeVonta Smith dinged up (and now it’s wait-and-see with Wilson), some depth couldn’t hurt.
“I think any time you can add a player like him to the room, it creates more competition,” Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo said Wednesday. “It’s great for the rest of the team. Howie does a really good job of just adding good players and adding depth, giving us more options to work with throughout the season. You’re going to need as many bodies as you can, and I think he does a really good job of bringing guys in that can add to the team. We’re excited to have him.”
The Texans drafted Metchie 44th overall in 2022 out of Alabama, where he won a national championship with DeVonta Smith. Two months after the draft, he was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, and sat out his rookie year while undergoing treatment.
Over the past two seasons, he had a combined 40 catches on 67 targets for 412 yards and a touchdown. In three years at ‘Bama — two as a starter before missing his senior year with a torn ACL — he racked up 155 receptions for 2,081 yards and 14 TDs, including 96 balls for 1,142 yards as a junior.
“Excited to be here,” said Metchie, who attended the Peddie School in Mercer Township, N.J., with Dotson. “Some guys reached out to me, like Smitty and them. … I’m just trying to bring something to the table, trying to contribute to a team that’s already so good.”
He went on to discuss the perspective he has gained from dealing with a major injury and cancer: “Just kind of being present with everything, living the dream, not worrying about a bunch of things you can’t control … and understanding the things you can control, the things you’re grateful for.”
Based on a handful of scouting reports coming out of college, he was projected as a slot receiver with above-average athleticism, estimated 4.5+ speed (didn’t participate in the combine), toughness, solid route-running instincts but has some tells, good ball-tracking skills, gets yards after the catch, lacks explosiveness, suffers drops from being a body catcher, lacks size and strength, and is has a moderate upside overall.
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.
Originally Published: August 19, 2025 at 3:20 PM EDT