PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- Before the first game, the Eagles made a move that ensured them a safety net in case their quarterback room was unfortunately hit by COVID-19. They signed 41-year-old Josh McCown to their expanded practice squad. And instead of participating in team activities inside the Novacare Complex, McCown would stay home in Texas and participate in all he could remotely.
“Being able to kind of distance myself, be safe, but still be able to bring some virtual value to the team,” McCown said on Sept. 8.
That plan lasted only eight weeks.
McCown’s agent, Mike McCartney, tweeted on Wednesday that McCown signed to the Houston Texans active roster — making them his 12th team, including the Dolphins and 49ers, who he never actually played a game for.
McCown’s role with the Eagles was brought up again on Oct. 9, when Doug Pederson was asked how everything was going with the vet.
“Thing are going really well,” Pederson said. “He’s been attentive in all the meetings. He’s been a part of everything with the quarterbacks and with press. He’s up on the game plan. He’s constantly in communication with Carson (Wentz) and the quarterbacks -- obviously, not only in the meetings, but privately outside of the building, which is really good. His impact is being felt even though he’s out of the building at this time.”
Whether or not the Eagles find another emergency backup quarterback — or fourth quarterback, in this instance — remains to be seen. McCown’s setup fit well because he was Wentz’s backup in 2019, and played in the playoff loss to Seattle after Wentz suffered a concussion.
“That was an unusual thing to have somebody out there in never-never land that you could call just in case,” the Voice of the Eagles, Merrill Reese, told KYW Newsradio. “So if there’s somebody who could fit that role, but the thing about McCown was that made it possible was he had spent last year with the Eagles, so he really didn’t have to be there to go over game plans and to get up to speed each and every week because he could do it virtually. But, it all started with the fact that he had spent a year active with the Eagles.”