PHILADELPHIA — About 45 minutes after the Eagles beat the Giants in Week 17, players gradually cleared out of the visiting locker room at MetLife Stadium, most of them donning black NFC East champion hats and t-shirts commemorating their just-clinched division title.

Josh McCown lingered.

Introducing Eagles Extra: Sign up for a free trial now. Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text directly with reporters

He stood and listened as reporters surrounded his teammates, ignorant to his moment. He smiled on his way out the door and to the team bus, and thought about what it took to get here.

Time.

McCown has been an NFL quarterback for 17 years; he’d only been to the playoffs once before this season. That’s hundreds of regular season games he’s been apart of — mostly a backup, he’s started 76 games — that never led to postseason play.

It took all 16 games for the Eagles to do it, especially after a 5-7 start, but they did it against the Giants, and will open the postseason at home against the Seahawks on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

“There were some dark moments,” McCown said on Wednesday. “To watch our team rise out of that, the collective belief of the group, to be able to make the run that we did especially, is the coolest thing that I’ve seen in my career.”

Here’s one reality: The Eagles might not be here if not for McCown. Behind the scenes, the 40-year-old backup has played a vital role in the Eagles’ resurgence, both as a confidant for franchise quarterback Carson Wentz and as a leader, mentor and motivator for the team’s younger players, especially at wide receiver.

McCown is the adult in the room — he’s nine years older than Eagles quarterbacks coach Press Taylor — but childlike on the sidelines, hyped up for every big play his teammates make, running around like a kid hopped up on Mountain Dew.

“He’s still a puppy out there,” Eagles quarterback Nate Sudfeld said, “running around and yelling.”

***

When McCown arrived in Philadelphia after coming out of retirement in August, nobody was more excited than Alshon Jeffery. The Eagles receiver played with McCown for the Bears and he helped Jeffery put together his best-ever season as a pro. They maintained that friendship in the years after they stopped being teammates.

Well, Jeffery’s disappointing season ended after Week 14 due to injury, and the Eagles had already lost DeSean Jackson at that point. Nelson Agholor missed five of the last six games to end the season and Mack Hollins, who played a lot of the snaps for most of the season, was cut after 13 unproductive weeks.

Through those three-plus months of tumult at wide receiver, where production and performance was poor and the players were often injured, McCown was putting in work behind the scenes with the players on the practice squad that have since become the core of the Eagles’ passing offense. In Week 14 against the Giants, actually, he almost had to play wide receiver in an emergency situation.

About that, McCown laughed and said “Well, everybody’s got an Eagle on their helmet. One for all, and all for one. That’s always the mindset: What can I do to help?”

Well, he put in extra work with Greg Ward earlier in the season. Ward has since become the Eagles’ most productive wide receiver over the last six games since signing onto the active roster.

Shortly after Robert Davis was signed to the practice squad on Oct. 7, McCown pulled him aside during practice to demonstrate the Eagles’ route concepts and go over the team’s offensive philosophies.

He’s still doing that now.

“He helps us tremendously,” Davis said. “One thing about being a young player in this league, and being a young player who has bounced around, seeing stuff like that just fuels you and helps you build confidence in what you’re doing out there. It lets you know that you’ve got people in your corner that support you. That’s always a big thing to have support from your teammates, especially one that’s been around for as long as he has.”

The Eagles signed Deontay Burnett to the practice squad on Dec. 12, and McCown was one of the first people to greet him by his new locker in NovaCare Complex. McCown was teammates with Burnett in 2018 with the Jets.

When asked, the quarterback credited the Eagles’ personnel department with finding Burnett, but a source familiar with the situation told NJ Advance Media that McCown actually did vouch for Burnett and put in a good word when the Eagles were considering adding the former USC receiver, among other options.

That’s not out of the ordinary — general manager Howie Roseman has said that the team likes to vet possible free agent or trade additions, at least in part, by speaking to Eagles players they have played with before.

Well, Burnett was signed to the active roster just 12 days after joining the practice squad, and promptly hauled in an impressive 41-yard catch on a pass from Wentz. It was caught toward the opposite sideline, but McCown still howled with excitement when Burnett made the biggest play of his young career.

When Davis made his first catch as an Eagle in Week 16 against the Cowboys, McCown ran down the sideline and onto the field to give Davis a high five. He was the first one to greet him after the play.

“That just shows,” Davis said, “how much passion he has for not only this team but for the game. It means a lot. I’m happy to have him as a teammate.”

In Week 17, after Eagles cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc tackled Giants running back Saquon Barkley behind the line of scrimmage, McCown charged onto the field to slap LeBlanc on the chest and scream “Let’s go!”

McCown often gets animated, too, when Wentz does something as simple as making the right read or completing a short throw. He always lets him know as he walks off the field.

Burnett has seen that in two different environments — a losing one with the Jets, and now this one.

“Josh is a true leader, man,” Burnett said. “He’s happy to see young people get their opportunity and he’s always helping them. As a young guy, that means a lot. You have a veteran who believes in you and trusts you and that’s just awesome.”

So, where does McCown find that energy at 40?

“I just love the game, man,” he said. "It’s just fun ... It’s just trying to, as best you can, bring energy and juice in a different way when you’re not on the field.

***

Most Saturdays, McCown, Wentz, center Jason Kelce, tight end Zach Ertz and, sometimes, another player or two will meet to discuss a variety of topics, not only football. It’s a meeting of the minds.

McCown has only been in the organization for four months, but he’s already become a part of the fabric of the Eagles’ team chemistry. He’s a relied-upon leader and trusted voice for teammates on both sides of the ball, and among an offensive coaching staff with some relative inexperience.

Taylor is only in his second-season as a full-time position coach. Wide receivers coach Carson Walch, oft-criticized for his position group’s lack of production this season, had never been a position coach outside of the CFL before this year.

“He galvanizes the group and he’s fun to be around,” said practice squad quarterback Kyle Lauletta. “Guys want to be around him, his energy is contagious and that’s what you need. He’s got all of that stuff. I can totally see him being a coach whenever he retires.”

McCown most important role, though, has been as a close confidant for Carson Wentz, his sidekick behind-the-scenes.

McCown is often the first person Wentz talks to on his way to the sideline off the field during games. They’re in constant communication throughout the week, and McCown’s primary focus since the moment he signed has been to make Wentz’s life and job just a little bit easier.

McCown didn’t come to Philadelphia with delusions of grandeur about his role.

“He’s been a huge supporter ever since he got here,” Wentz said. “When things are good, bad, ugly, it doesn’t matter, he’s always there, always a guy to talk to. Also, just with his ideas and how he sees the game and talking it through on the sidelines with coaches (helps) as well. It’s been nice to have a guy that’s that excited to see someone else succeed.

“It’s been pretty fun.”

McCown has spent most of his career on rebuilding teams with young players. Pulling them aside and tutoring them comes naturally, and he loves doing it. McCown spent each Friday for the first three months of the season flying to and from Charlotte to coach the offense at Myers Park High School. He’s become a player-coach, of sorts, for the Eagles, too.

His time spent with the team’s young receivers — not to mention quarterbacks like Sudfeld and Lauletta — also works in service of making Wentz’s life easier.

“A lot of my career has been played in situations where it’s a new head coach or you’re building a team starting up,” McCown said. “You’re dealing with different guys on the roster that you’re trying to help bring along so for us to find ourselves in that kind of season, that’s the next thing as a QB group is make sure these guys are ready to go.

“Carson has got a lot on his plate,” McCown continued, “as far as getting himself prepared so: What can we do to get these guys up to speed and be ready to go for him?"

***

McCown has found rare longevity in the NFL, made even rarer by the luckless nature of his 17-career.

He’s one of only two quarterbacks in NFL history to throw a pass for eight different teams, including three against the Falcons in Week 2 this year.

McCown has also never taken a postseason snap.

So, when the Eagles fell to 5-7 after a loss to the hapless Miami Dolphins, it was a familiar feeling to McCown. In a weak NFC East, the playoffs were still in reach, the Eagles were probably just going to need to win out.

Buy Eagles playoffs tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek

He’s had similar feelings to that in his career before. His teams always fell short.

- In his rookie season with the Cardinals in 2002, Arizona started 4-2 and finished 5-11.

- In 2007, the Raiders started 2-2 and finished 4-12.

- In 2009, the Panthers won four of their last five games, finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs.

- In 2011, the Bears started 7-3 and finished 8-8.

- In 2012, the Bears started 7-1, finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs

- In 2013, the Bears started 6-4, finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs.

- The Jets started 3-2 in 2017 and 3-3 in 2018 and finished 5-11 and 4-12, respectively.

McCown also carries the unfortunate distinction of playing for the 1-15 Browns in 2016.

The one outlier season: In 2008, he was the backup to Jake Delhomme on a 12-4 Panthers team. Otherwise, it’s been mostly misery.

Until this week.

Wednesday, McCown walked onto the Eagles’ practice field and looked around for a moment, taking it all in.

This time last year, he was transitioning into retirement from the Jets, and working as an analyst for ESPN. In the past, he’d spend that time attending his sons’ basketball games, or watched the NFL playoffs from his couch.

Finally, he’s a part of a team that’s still alive.

“Just standing out there on the field today and preparing, I was like: this is awesome,” McCown said. "I’m preparing to play a game in January! How special that feels and I know these guys have had this success, but it was 12 years ago for me (with the Panthers) ... the whole thing is just so cool.

“I’m just so thankful to be a part of it.”

Get Eagles text messages from reporters: Cut through the clutter of social media and text directly with the Eagles beat writers. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now for a free trial.

Zack Rosenblatt may be reached at zrosenblatt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZackBlatt. Find NJ.com on Facebook.