Philadelphia starts McKee on Sunday, and the quarterback room is as thin as it has been all season

Jalen Hurts is on injured reserve with a blood clot, Tanner McKee starts against Carolina, and Cole Payton is the only other quarterback on the roster. I've written about all three of those facts separately this week. What's worth noting now, with the game actually here, is that this is simply the situation — no cavalry coming, no procedural move left to make.

McKee is active and healthy. Payton is on the practice squad. Lane Johnson is out, Landon Dickerson is on injured reserve, and the center Drew Kendall is listed as questionable. The Eagles are asking a backup quarterback to operate behind a line that has been thinned considerably, with Dameon Pierce carrying the backfield after Barkley went down. That's a lot of weight distributed across a lot of players who weren't supposed to be carrying it.

Carolina is the opponent, which is a reasonable draw under the circumstances. But the Eagles don't have much margin if McKee struggles early or takes a hit. The quarterback depth behind him is a practice-squad arm. That's the week.