More important Philadelphia Eagles narratives than what Xavier McKinney said

Well, let’s just say that there are a few Alabama Crimson Tide products that aren’t as popular as some others if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan. The last weekend of June means the 4th of July is approaching, and that means much of our news about the Birds comes via radio interviews, podcasts, and tweets by popular players.

No one on Big Blue’s roster would ever fall into the category of being popular in Eagles-centered circles, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t occasionally say something worth discussing. Xavier McKinney, a New York Giants safety that spent some time in Tuscaloosa as a teammate of Landon Dickerson‘s and DeVonta Smith‘s, didn’t quite hit the mark of being a worthy conversation piece with some recent remarks he made, but we can all throw him a bone anyway.

Hey, Zach Ertz hasn’t been traded yet at the time of this story being published, so it isn’t like we don’t have time.

Here’s what McKinney said and two Philadelphia Eagles narratives that are more interesting.

You almost have to hear things for yourselves to believe them, so how about this for some fodder? Remember that Week 17 Philadelphia Eagles versus Washington Football Team tilt? You know the one. Philly took their foot off the gas and told us several untruths about their decision to do so, one of which being that they needed to get Nate Sudfeld some snaps.

Well, it appears that months after Big Blue voiced their displeasure, some of their guys are still angry. Yes, that’s still a thing.

Giants safety Xavier McKinney recently appeared on CBS Sports’ All Things Covered with Patrick Peterson & Bryant McFadden podcast to air out a grudge he’s still holding. Take a look at this one if this slid past you.

"It was a winnable game for them, and actually, when I came home, I ain’t even watch the game because I had a feeling something like that was gonna happen. It was gonna be something weird going on because they had stuff going on the whole year with the whole quarterback situation.I’m like, ‘Damn, what the hell? What’s going on?’ So, I go look, I turn on the game and I start watching, and I’m like, ‘Damn, they just about to give it up. They gave it up, man’. It was rough, it was rough to see it happen like that, but everything happens for a reason."

As much fun as it would be to dissect that one, here are a couple of narratives that actually trump this one. For the first, let’s have some fun. Here’s what Xavier McKinney should have said.

Dang man! I’m not going to lie. It sucked to see the Eagles lose that game like that, but I get it. They tanked. In their eyes, they felt like draft positioning was more important than sending a late-season message in a game that didn’t mean much for them.

It sucks that their loss ended our season as we feel we were getting hot at an appropriate time, but we as members of the New York Giants have no one to blame but ourselves. Had we taken care of our own business, our postseason fate would have never come down to a game between Philly and Washington in the first place,

There! Now doesn’t that sound much better?

Here’s something else to think about. Much has been made about Jalen Hurts and whether or not he’s the guy to lead the Eagles into the future. He’ll have a 17-game audition to prove if he’s worthy of carrying the QB mantle or not in 2021, but let’s be frank here.

Part of the reason we have so many questions about him stems from that Week 17 game. Hurts walked into the second half of the Birds’ regular-season finale knowing that he had a chance to secure the victory. What if he would have won that game?

Rather than boasting a 1-3 record in his first three starts, he would have closed the campaign with a mark of .500. The Philadelphia Eagles’ decision by the brass to take their foot off of the gas robbed him of that opportunity. It would have been nice to see if Hurts could have gotten the job done. It would have been nice to see if he could make magic in a late-season divisional game. Instead, we’re left to guess.

No, we’ll never know what would have transpired, but as McKinney stated, everything happens for a reason. In the end, Philly had the ammunition to get DeVonta Smith, someone they may not have snagged if they had to pick later in the draft. Philly’s also flirting with the possibility of having three first-round selections in the 2022 NFL Draft, so things worked out, sort of.

Again, Jalen Hurts has an opportunity to prove he’s the guy, but the next time you’re talking about him and you’re being supercritical, remember the decision Philly’s leadership made in Week 17. It kind of changes things when you think about it, doesn’t it?

Oh well. None of that matters now. All that matters is that the Eagles take a few building blocks from 2020 and come back as a better team in 2021. From the looks of things, they may have a shot to do that in 2021.