PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Sirianni had the best protection in Philadelphia since Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce and Jason Peters anchored the Eagles’ offensive line in the 2017 Super Bowl season.
His kids.
Trying his best to deflect attention from his headline-grabbing taunting of Eagles fans in the waning moments of Sunday's narrow win over Cleveland, Sirianni’s three young children tagged along with dad at the postgame news conference.
They squirmed and laughed when Sirianni dropped mild profanity and were mostly used as an excuse for the fourth-year coach to spend the bulk of his time talking about family rather than football.
The trash talk? The boos that tailed the Eagles into halftime? The “ Fire Nick!” chants that permeated pockets at Lincoln Financial Field?
Sirianni made it clear: He can pop off when he’s unhappy, but Eagles fans need to pipe down when they're ticked off.
“We thrive off the crowd when they cheer for us. That’s all I’ll say,” Sirianni said. “When our crowd cheers for us, we thrive off of them. We hear them when they boo. We don’t necessarily like it. I don’t think that’s productive for anybody. When they cheer for us and we’ve got them rolling, we love it.”
With time to reflect on his shenanigans and absorb public criticism, Sirianni apologized Monday for his behavior.
“I’m sorry and disappointed at how my energy was directed at the end of the game," he said. "My energy should be all in on coaching, motivating and celebrating with our guys. I have to have better wisdom and discernment of when to use that energy and that wasn’t the time.”
Sirianni — a habitual trash-talker — put a finger to his right ear and chirped at fans in the first rows at the Linc on Sunday. He took the shine off his team and instead provided more social media and tabloid fodder for a coach whose job security is up for daily debate and who — even in victory — won’t win any popularity contests in Philadelphia.
Sure enough, Sirianni took a beating Monday for jawing at the fans (and ignited a debate over when it's appropriate for coaches and athletes to use their kids as props in a professional setting).
Retired NFL player and ESPN analyst Damien Woody called Sirianni's antics “ clown behavior. This dude is a clown.” Talk show host Joe Giglio said on WIP radio that team owner Jeffrey Lurie needed to tell Sirianni “you apologize to the fan base or you pack your office up and leave.” Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski wrote that Sirianni's problem was that “every outburst like Sunday’s damages the image he’s supposed to project and the respect he’s supposed to inspire.”
Yes, this was after an Eagles' victory.
Jalen Hurts was fine, the defense was better, the receivers were healthy.
But how far can they go with Sirianni calling the shots — all while unwilling to take them from a temperamental fan base?
What’s working
Defense. The defense hasn't really clicked this season under new coordinator Vic Fangio, but the Eagles did hold the Browns to just 16 points. The Browns, for their part, haven't scored 20 points in a game this season. ... Jalen Carter, the ninth pick of the 2023 draft, temporarily moved off the bust line and scored his first sack of the season. The Eagles sacked Deshaun Watson five times and the defense held the Browns to 3 of 12 in third-down situations. The 10 QB hits were the most in more than a year.
What needs help
Special teams. Outside of the mostly reliable Jake Elliott, the Eagles have struggled on special teams. They had a punt blocked against New Orleans and muffed a punt against Tampa Bay.
The worst offense came Sunday when the Eagles seemed poised to nurse a small lead headed into halftime as Elliott lined up for a 57-yard attempt. All-Pro Myles Garrett got his hand on the ball when he jumped over Tyler Steen — a nice effort for a 6-foot-4, 272-pounder — for the block. Former Eagles safety Rodney McLeod scooped the loose ball and ran 50 yards for the score, topped with a somersault into the end zone, to tie it 10-all with 14 seconds left in the half.
Stock up
A.J. Brown. Brown just might be the most valuable piece of the Eagles' offense, and his production was missed during the three games he was out with a hamstring injury. Brown had six receptions in his return for 116 yards (19.3 avg.) and one touchdown. He has 100-plus receiving yards in nine of his last 17 games played, including both games this season. Since Week 3 of 2023, Brown is tied for the most 100-yard receiving games (nine) in the NFL.
Stock down
Saquon Barkley. It's not really his fault the Eagles kept the star running back out of the offense. He finished with just 18 carries for 47 yards. Don't expect his limited production to be much of an issue when he makes an anticipated return this week against the New York Giants, the team that let him go in free agency.
Injuries
The Eagles lost some key players to injury on Sunday, including TE Dallas Goedert (hamstring), CB Darius Slay (knee) and OT Jordan Mailata (hamstring). Sirianni said Monday that Mailata would be out at least two weeks.
Key number
200 — Defensive end Brandon Graham extended his team record when he played in his 200th career game with the franchise. Graham, the 13th overall pick in the 2010 draft, is having one of his better seasons and has anchored a defense that has failed to get much production out of their younger, latest draft picks. The 36-year-old Graham also holds the record for most seasons played with the Eagles — and he hasn't lost any of his spark. Beyond the numbers, Graham was caught yelling (which no Eagles fan seemed to mind) at several Browns players, specifically offensive tackle Dawand Jones during heated pregame warmups.
Next steps
Perhaps Sirianni can chirp some more if the Eagles don't blow out opponents on their upcoming soft schedule. The Eagles visit the Giants (2-4) on Sunday. They follow with another road game at Cincinnati (2-4) and return home in November for a game against Jacksonville (1-5). The Eagles should be favored to win all those games — and Sirianni will be under fire if they don't.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Dan Gelston, The Associated Press
