Eagles' Kenny Pickett Earning "Check Down King" Title In Philly

This offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles traded for former Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Kenny Pickett to be the backup to Jalen Hurts. So far this offseason, he has been unimpressive and his refusal to take deep shots down the field is gaining him a reputation around Philadelphia with fans as the “check-down king.”

In two games this preseason, Pickett has connected on 25-of-35 passing attempts for just 156 yards. While his completion percentage is over 70%, he is averaging just 4.5 yards per attempt.

Pickett was asked about it following practice on Friday.

“We had some shots called that were covered up, and I ended up checking it down, and we got good gains there,” Pickett said. “Besides that, it’s just taking the completions that are there and try and move the offense. Those big plays will come sooner or later, we just have to continue to throw them in practice.

“When we practiced on Tuesday, we got a couple down the field, which was great, so it is just if they are there, we will take them, and if not, just continue to move the ball down the field.”

Related: 'No S*** To Fear!' Jalen Hurts Reveals Mindset

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Sooner or later? In 24 starts with the Steelers, Pickett only led Pittsburgh to 20 or more points six times. He only has a 6.3-yard per attempt for his career.

He only has one career 300-yard game and it took 52 pass attempts to get there.

While Sirianni is comfortable with Pickett as the backup, we aren’t sure fans would agree.