PHILADELPHIA — Josh McCown was in tears after the Seahawks eliminated the Eagles 17-9 in an NFC wild-card playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon.

But the tears were a mixture of the disappointment that comes with losing the final game of a season and the joy of finally experiencing something he had “chased” throughout his 17-year career in the NFL.

Losing never sits well with a professional athlete, especially losing a postseason game that seemed improbable a month ago. The injury-ravaged Eagles had come from 5-7 to win four straight games and capture the NFC East and dream of reaching the Super Bowl again. The fact that won’t happen left McCown devastated.

“When you come into a game and put everything you can into trying to win the game and it doesn’t get done, it’s painful,” McCown said. “From my standpoint, it feels like as a quarterback you want to do more. You feel like you let people down. It’s a sick feeling.”

Not all of McCown’s emotions centered around the defeat. There was a lot of satisfaction and gratitude mixed in there, too. When starting quarterback Carson Wentz suffered a head injury on the Eagles’ second offensive series and was out the remainder of the game, McCown saw his first postseason action since entering the league as a third-round pick of the Cardinals in 2002.

He had announced his retirement during the offseason following two years with the Jets, thinking a coaching or broadcasting career was in his future. But after Nick Foles signed a free-agent deal with the Jaguars, the Eagles needed a backup quarterback behind Wentz and talked McCown into coming to Philadelphia. He saw spot duty in two regular-season games and was ready to offer sideline support for Wentz until the starting quarterback felt woozy after a helmet-to-helmet hit from Seahawks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

Enter the 40-year-old McCown, who tried to rally the banged-up Eagles who were now playing without their starting quarterback, their top three wide receivers, their No. 1 running back, their starting right tackle and their starting right guard. The tight end Zach Ertz was playing with a lacerated kidney.

Losing Wentz was a blow to the gut for the Eagles. He had missed their last two postseasons with injuries and was “grateful” to be making his first playoff start. But that ended when he was drilled by Clowney, a hit that could have drawn a penalty but didn’t.

McCown would complete 18 of 24 passes for 174 yards and moved the offense well enough to generate field goals of 46, 26 and 38 yards by Jake Elliott. But the Eagles could never get the touchdown they needed. Their last chance came on fourth-and-7 at the Seattle 10 with two minutes left in the game. McCown was sacked on what was essentially a busted play.

“It hurts when you don’t get it done,” he said. “You want to help rally the team and get it going. We just didn’t get it going.”

That’s not the moral of the story though. If the Eagles were a team of resilience by overcoming a slew of injuries to win the division, McCown personified that by finally participating in a playoff game after stints with the Cardinals, Lions, Raiders, Panthers, Bears, Bucs, Browns and Jets.

“My wife and my family have moved around a lot and they’ve been there for me. My mom and dad, too,” McCown said. “To go out there and get to play in a playoff game was special. I can’t thank them enough for their support. It was a heck of a ride. I left it all out there. I know that much.”

McCown, who was in tears again, said he isn’t sure whether he’ll play another season.

“It’s different playing at 40,” he said. “Your body talks to you a lot. Still, I think more than anything it was fun to be out there for sure.”

Finally.