Xavier McKinney says he’s learned from his previous playoff loss to the Eagles and has prepared to ‘capitalize’ this time around

GREEN BAY, Wis. — After his first career postseason run with the New York Giants ended at the hands of the Eagles in January 2023, safety Xavier McKinney left the Linc in a state of introspection.

The Eagles walloped the Giants, 38-7, in the divisional round on the path to Super Bowl LVII. McKinney, who was 24 years old at the time, was one of the Giants’ best defensive players in the game, finishing the contest with a strip-sack of Jalen Hurts, one pass breakup, and eight tackles. Still, two seasons and a new team in the Green Bay Packers later, McKinney looks back at that loss as an inflection point in his professional career.

“Just got to be better,” McKinney said Thursday. “Not even just on Sunday, but how I prepare throughout the week. I thought it was good enough, and then once you lose, you’re like, ‘Damn. All right, next time I get here, we’ve got to figure out something else that can improve where I’m at to be better than what I was this time.’”

» READ MORE: What’s changed the most since the Eagles and Packers met in Week 1? The top-ranked Eagles defense.

Next time arrives on Sunday. McKinney will have an opportunity to show his growth as a player in his return to the Linc for the wild-card contest between the Packers and the Eagles. His talent has been apparent all season long. After signing a four-year, $67 million free-agent contract with Green Bay in the offseason, McKinney earned his first career Pro Bowl nod by posting eight interceptions (No. 2 in the league) and 11 pass breakups.

He made one of those interceptions in the regular-season opener against the Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil. On the Eagles’ opening drive, Hurts overthrew DeVonta Smith on a seam route, prompting McKinney to make a play on the ball and snare the interception. McKinney knows how to capitalize on Hurts’ mistakes, picking him off three times during his five-year NFL career.

But he also knows Hurts’ poise in the face of adversity. Hurts was in his sophomore season as the starting quarterback at Alabama when McKinney arrived as a freshman in 2017. Even though freshman Tua Tagovailoa replaced Hurts as the starter in the national championship game against Georgia, McKinney admired how the elder quarterback continued to show up for his teammates the following season.

In the SEC championship game the next year against Georgia, Hurts stepped in for the banged-up Tagovailoa, leading the team to a win. Hurts’ approach and attitude as the backup taught McKinney the importance of staying even-keeled through the ups and downs of the football season.

“He was a great leader,” McKinney said. “He not only led vocally, but he led by example. He went about his business a certain way. And that’s what I always admired about him was how he went about his business. How he never let really anything fluster him.

“Even if you see him now, you might see him make a bad play, and there’s no facial expression. He might make a good play. No facial expression. I think he understands, like, all right, he wants the big goal. And the big goal is obviously to win it all. I think that’s what it’s been, even when I played with him in college.”

McKinney expects to see the same mindset from Hurts on Sunday. But he doesn’t expect to see the same player. Every year since McKinney first met Hurts at Alabama, the quarterback has continued to “evolve his game and grow,” the safety said. When McKinney turns on the tape and compares Hurts’ performance from Week 1 until the end of the season, he sees a quarterback who has been receptive to coaching and has reversed his early-season turnover woes.

Hurts is on the cusp of returning to action after a two-week hiatus while in concussion protocol. The 26-year-old quarterback practiced in a full capacity on Thursday for the first time since he sustained the concussion in Week 16 against the Washington Commanders, trending in the right direction toward getting cleared to play in the wild-card game.

McKinney expects Hurts to play. He doesn’t expect much rust from his former college teammate, though. With offensive weapons like Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, and Smith who can turn an inch into an explosive play, Hurts could find his rhythm quickly. That’s why McKinney emphasized the importance of going into the game with a mindset of dominance against a diverse Eagles offense.

“Mentally, we’ve got to be ready to out-compete them, and I think that’s what it is,” McKinney said. “It’s no really X’s and O’s that I can give you behind that. It’s just more so of, OK, are you going to go in there and win your matchup? Am I going to go in there and win my one-on-one? That’s really all it’s going to boil down to this game.”

» READ MORE: Eagles injury report: A.J. Brown misses practice; Jalen Hurts upgraded to a full participant

Since that fateful divisional-round loss to the Eagles two years ago, McKinney said he has altered his postseason approach. He has stayed late at the Packers’ facility this week to pore over film, then heads home and digs into a second helping of tape, determined to prepare for any look the Eagles might present.

McKinney returns to the Linc as one of the veteran leaders on a young, stout defensive corps ranked sixth in the league in yards per game and points per game. He is eager for a better fate this time around at the expense of his former college teammate.

“I took an L and I had to learn from why we lost that game, what I didn’t do,” McKinney said. “So now, going into this game, I’m thinking about those things and trying to capitalize on all the opportunities that I know are gonna come for me on Sunday.”

The Eagles play in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs against the Green Bay Packers. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest story lines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.