On the leadership of Josh McCown

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”

That quote is from Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part III, but there’s a shot they were the same words uttered by Josh McCown when he came out of retirement to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. We’ve talked plenty about what the signing means for the Eagles and the value McCown can bring as a player, but there are other factors that make sense of the acquisition.

We dive into some of those with Mark Schofield on The QB Scho Show #29! Here are Schofield’s thoughts on some key items regarding McCown and his fit with the Eagles...

On McCown’s leadership...

“If you think back to Week 1 last year, the Jets draft Sam Darnold and he starts from Week 1 and Josh McCown really took on that mentorship role. Darnold comes out his first game, his first throw is a pick six but he bounces back, they win that game against Detroit...

There was a clip of outside the Jets locker room when Darnold came out to greet his family. He got a huge from his dad, huge hug from his mom, and then his mom went right to Josh McCown to give him a hug. That’s emblematic of the relationship that they two had to the point where it became a meme...

McCown really did a tremendous job of taking him under his wing. He’s a very self aware guy... and he knows that he’s not going to be a starting quarterback unless somebody gets hurt at this point of his career. So his job is to pass on what he’s learned and he did a great job of that with Sam Darnold, we saw that in many different ways, and I think you’re right Mike, he’s going to do the same for Carson Wentz...

That might have also been a reason why they wanted to get him onto this organization because they thought ‘he can be a guy that can be that extra voice’.”

McCown himself has talked about the role he’s taken on late in his career, but highlighted that it was “hard to stay away” from a situation like the one that exists in Philadelphia. It’s big win for McCown, who finds himself on a real contender for the first time in a long time.

On McCown’s connection with Alshon...

“McCown, even when he’s at his best, he isn’t the strongest armed passer. But at the same time he’s got that understanding of touch and he’s got that understanding of risk-reward in the downfield passing game...

If Josh McCown sees the field and he sees Jeffery get one-on-one coverage, he’s probably going to go to him more often then not... It’s always good when you can have a situation where your backup quarterback has somebody that he’s known for years and trusted... and that’s what the Eagles will be getting if McCown sees the field with Alshon Jeffery.”

If you want to see McCown work with Jeffery, there are two games that I combed through from 2013. It’s safety to say there’s a lot of trust between the two.

You can hear the rest of that discussion from The QB Scho Show #29! We also dive into the performance of Clayton Thorson from last week and what we’re looking for from both the Eagles and Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks in Week 3 of preseason action. Listen on the media player below or click here if the player doesn’t load. New to podcasts? Check out our guide on how to listen to BGN! FLY EAGLES FLY!

Note: we’re nerds and often start the show with a historical reference. Fast-forward six minutes in if you’d rather take a pass on that and get right to the serious football conversation.