PHILADELPHIA (AP) Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and most of the starting lineup that returned for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles took a night off.

The tush push is always in play.

Without Hurts behind center, the Eagles used the contentious short-yardage play to success again, beating a potential ban in the offseason, then getting a helpful shove on quarterback Tanner McKee for a score to help Philadelphia beat the Cincinnati Bengals 34-27 on Thursday night in the preseason opener for both teams.

The Eagles wasted no time breaking out the play that narrowly survived banishment to live on in the playbook.

Against a Bengals team that played starters, including QB Joe Burrow and NFL receiving leader Ja'Marr Chase, the Eagles had the crowd buzzing when they assembled in the familiar formation on fourth-and-goal from the Bengals 1-yard-line on their opening drive of the game. The Eagles used their rugby-style scrum to nudge McKee into the end zone for the first - of an expected many, many more - tush push TD of the season.

“Live reps, we don't do a ton of them,” McKee said of the push. “Just getting those types of snaps, technique, coaching points, that's a big thing in what we do.”

The Eagles are bullish on McKee, a sixth-round pick out of Stanford in 2023, and he's firmly entrenched as Hurts' backup. The Eagles let McKee rip - he played into the second half and finished 20 of 25 for 252 yards and touchdown passes to Ainias Smith and Darius Cooper.

Kyle McCord, a sixth-round pick out of Syracuse and raised a diehard Eagles fan, threw a pick-six in his debut in mop-up duty. McCord, from nearby Mount Laurel, New Jersey, led the FBS last season with 4,779 yards passing, a total that broke Deshaun Watson’s Atlantic Coast Conference single-season record.

Burrow got his work in and threw for 123 yards and two touchdowns that included a 38-yard score to Chase.

“We've still got a ways to go,” Burrow said. “But it was a good start. It's just good to play football again. We got 15 reps tonight, so we're 15 reps better.”

The Bengals had long odds to win the Super Bowl, per BETMGM Sportsbook. The betting favorite to win the Lombardi Trophy remained the Eagles.

“This was a team effort in the loss,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor, who then rattled off a lengthy list of mistakes. “I like the fight in our guys. They came back at the end, that I appreciate. But there’s a lot of things we’ve got to fix as a team."

Hurts and Barkley, who topped 2,000 yards rushing last season, were among the scores of starters that coach Nick Sirianni rested. The Eagles' whirlwind offseason included a parade and a White House visit and the page will officially be turned when the championship banner will be raised at Lincoln Financial Field next month in the prime-time season opener.

“It's great to have Jalen on the headset,” Sirianni said.

Better yet, when he's making plays.

Burrow completed a 9-yard pass on the opening drive to Brown and the halfback was pushed out of bounds by a familiar face, his twin brother and Eagles safety Sydney Brown.

The brothers starred in college at Illinois and played against each other last season in an Eagles' win.

“It's a cool opportunity, it's unique,” Sydney Brown said. “I haven't tackled him since I feel like I was 16. It's been a while.”

Hurts turned 27 on Thursday and was gifted a night off.

What to get the Super Bowl MVP who has everything?

Hurts already has a Super Bowl ring after the Eagles’ 40-22 thrashing over Kansas City and one other trip to the Super Bowl on his resume. He signed a contract in 2023 that guaranteed him at least $179.3 million over the life of the deal that expires after the 2028 season.

Hurts had his helmet off and broke into a wide smile when he watched McKee break down the team before the game.

There’s one more preseason game at the Linc and one more chance to see the Eagles in Philly at preseason prices.

Tickets in the 200-level Thursday night were going for about $30-$40 each on the secondary market; in the same ballpark for next week’s second home game against Cleveland. Consider, tickets were priced at $38 each in the second level.

Seem high?

Ticket prices were listed as low as $630 and soared past $1,000 per ticket in the same section for the Sept. 4 season opener against Dallas.

Bengals: Play a Monday night game in Washington on Aug. 18.

Eagles: Host the Browns on Aug. 16. The teams will hold joint practices next week.

---

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Copyright 2025 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.