The Philadelphia Eagles suffered a disappointing loss in week 2, falling to the San Francisco 49ers despite plenty of chances to turn things around and secure the win. This leaves the team with a 1-1 record heading into their first prime time game of the season and it just so happens to be against their fiercest rival – the Dallas Cowboys.
This is a huge red-circle game for the Eagles every year, but this one feels a little different. It’s the first time Nick Sirianni will have coached the Eagles in an NFC East clash as well as his first time under the ESPN MNF lights. The Eagles have already experienced the highs of a win on the road and the lows of a home-opening loss. How did Nick Sirianni galvanize the locker room after Sunday’s defeat?
I spoke with Fletcher Cox yesterday to discuss a partnership between the NFL and Tide that will see his voice being featured on a washing machine. You can enter sweepstakes to win it here. As part of that interview, I was able to discuss all things Eagles. There will be a full feature coming later, but his quote on Sirianni’s attitude towards the locker room following the loss really stood out as one that warranted its own story.
The biggest thing for Coach Sirianni is ‘How do we respond?’ When a coach puts things up on the screen and shows you the little things/details, harps on them all the time, we’re now 1-1 going into a Monday night matchup against a divisional opponent. How do we respond?
– Fletcher Cox
We’ve heard all about Nick Sirianni’s passion for the game, his attention to detail, willingness to get personal with his players, and love for schematics. As the season unfolds, we’re really beginning to see all of those traits marinate and the journey the team goes down will naturally shape which strings Sirianni pulls.
After only two weeks, he’s pointing out technical things for his players to work on and improve. All coaches do this, but for a player to point that out as a specific strength, it’s a testament to the importance Sirianni puts on film study. This comes only days after the former Colts offensive coordinator claimed DeVonta Smith was ‘obsessed with getting better.‘ By the sounds of it, this is becoming the perfect environment for players like that to thrive.
Beyond that, he’s putting the onus on his players to respond. As opposed to acknowledging the loss and tucking his tail between his legs, Sirianni met with the media after the game and said he needed to do better. He served the ball into the court of his players, putting the ownership on them to get up after being knocked down.
It’s encouraging to hear Sirianni rallying the troops like that before a big game, pushing the players to ask themselves that question and get up for it, as opposed to barking and hoping that they follow. We’ll find out on Monday whether or not that translates to a win.
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