PHILADELPHIA — With the Eagles freefalling in the conference standings after losing four of five games in December the only real question is do the coaches still have their attention?
Head coach Nick Sirianni believes his guys are buying in despite a wide-ranging assortment of struggles. The Eagles were blown out by the 49ers and Cowboys, lost in the dying minutes to the Seahawks and Cardinals and needed to break up a Hail Mary pass to finish off the Giants.
“I know our guys, and we’re with them every single day,” Sirianni said Wednesday. “We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs here and you know because of the guys, because of the relationships, because of what you witness every single day, that’s how you know. It’s something that you know from being in meetings with them, being in walk-throughs with them, being on the practice field with them, being outside of meetings with them, at lunch. All those different things.”
Sirianni still clearly has the backing of a couple of his superstars, if embattled wide receiver A.J. Brown is on point with his remarks about the ball coach. Brown said Sirianni took the heat for that deep ball that ended a late Eagles threat in the 20-17 loss to the Seahawks. Brown said he and quarterback Jalen Hurts “improvised” on that play.
“People say I’m beefing with Nick,” Brown said. “I’m not mad at Nick. I’m not mad at anybody. We have a great relationship. I got a ton of respect for Nick. He’s sticking up for us. For example, I’m going to get into detail. For the Seattle game, that was on us. We messed that up. We improvised and we went on our own, and Nick came out and said, ‘I wanted to get a flag’ (for interference) or something like that. He made himself look like a fool for us. I have nothing but respect for him.”
The last three games are something Sirianni won’t want to put at the top of his resume, for his decision to have Matt Patricia take over the chief defensive coordinator duties from Sean Desai has been second- and third-guessed. The Eagles are 1-2 in that span, coughing up double-digit leads in all three games.
Sirianni isn’t second-guessing the coordinator decision he said he made after consulting with owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman, who told him, “Hey, do what you feel like you need to do.’
“I talk to those guys about everything,” Sirianni said. “But Mr. Lurie from day one, Howie from day one, have always said to me, ‘you’re tied into this, do what you think is best to do to help us win football games. We’ve got your back and your support. We’re always going to back you for everything. … Anything that you do, we’re going to always back you.’ And I really do appreciate that from both of those guys, and I felt that from day one. I felt that in that decision, and I still feel that today.”
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The Eagles reported that defensive tackle Jordan Davis (ankle), linebacker Haason Reddick (illness) and wide receiver DeVonta Smith (ankle) did not participate in the Wednesday walkthrough.
Linebacker Zach Cunningham (knee) and cornerbacks Avonte Maddox (elbow) and Darius Slay (knee) were partial participants, strange as it sounds. Slay at least added context to his status, saying he doesn’t need a game to show up and play in the playoffs.
“I mean, I’ve been in the league long enough,” Slay said. “I know what I’m capable of doing. I know how to play the game, but it’ll be good always to get back out there.”
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Only the Seahawks and the Dolphins missed more tackles last week than the Eagles, who failed to wrap up on 16 opportunities.
Though the tackling has been lacking throughout the month, particularly against the 49ers and most recently the Cardinals, the coaching staff doesn’t believe it’s an issue.
“Right now, we are third in missed tackle percentage,” Sirianni said of the league rankings for lowest percentage of missed tackles. “We are 10.3. Where Dallas is No. 1, we were 2 going into last week. So, I see that as something we didn’t do well enough in the last game. We’ve had a couple games like that, but I don’t see it as a problem because we’re doing well at it in total.”
Sirianni says the Eagles have a shot to get all their regulars back for the regular season finale at MetLife Stadium against the Giants, and implied that should help in the tackling department.
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NOTES >> Safety Jason Pinnock (toe) and center John Michael Schmitz (shin) did not practice Wednesday for the Giants. Limited at practice were cornerbacks Deonte Banks (shoulder) and Darnay Holmes (foot), quarterback Tyrod Taylor (back), and linebacker Carter Coughlin (shoulder). … Giants returner Gunner Olszewski is NFC special teams player of the week after returning a punt 94 yards for a score with 3:27 remaining in a 26-25 loss to the Rams.The Giants’ bid for two points failed when Taylor threw incomplete for running back Saquon Barkley.
Source: Berkshire mont
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