The vibes weren’t good.
Sure, the Eagles snapped their three-game losing streak on Christmas Day and wins shouldn’t be taken for granted in the NFL.
But …
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Late in the game there were some tense moments caught by the FOX cameras on the sideline as Nick Sirianni got into a screaming match with a couple players and coaches, there was a subdued winning locker room where a couple key players declined to speak to reporters and there has generally been a notable lack of outward joy throughout this 2023 season despite an 11-4 record.
The Eagles’ head coach on Tuesday admitted some fault for his actions on the sideline during Monday’s 33-25 win.
“There is that balance,” Sirianni said. “Because the wins in the NFL are hard to come by and you have to enjoy it. And have to have that balance because joy and determination to get better, you can have both.
“I definitely think that starts with me, quite frankly. There were moments in that game yesterday where I felt like I was too tense on the sideline and I need to be better about that. I have to do a better job. If I’m going to ask the players to do a better job themselves, then I have to do a better job myself and I definitely felt that yesterday out of myself.”
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Sirianni, 42, is known for being animated on the sideline. As for that particular blowup late in Monday’s game, Sirianni declined to explain the origin. But he said the relationships between players and coaches allow this team to move on quickly. We’ll see.
On Tuesday, when asked about body language in general, Sirianni said he tends to look more at actions.
“I need to be better in those scenarios when there is some high-pressure areas; they’ve got to see me calm and not tense there,” Sirianni said. “There is a time and place to be tense and there’s a time and place not to be.
“I know that's something that I always have to work on as a head coach, and so that's something I'm constantly working on.”
After the Eagles’ win on Monday, quarterback Jalen Hurts was asked about a sentiment he’s had to share too much this year: About winning vs. the standard and called it a “very manipulative thing to the mind.” Because even though the Eagles have 11 wins, they haven’t played particularly well in many of them. That was especially true in the Giants game, when the Eagles nearly blew a 17-point halftime lead.
There was moderate celebrating, some holiday tunes playing, but it didn’t really feel like a winning locker room.
And that weird locker locker room even showed up in the video clip of Sirianni’s postgame speech, which was seemingly met with subdued excitement from the team.
“I can promise you we're having fun when we win. I know that 1000%,” Sirianni said. “There is a difference between having fun and not being satisfied with what the product was on the field, the standard, not meeting the standard.”
“So, when you don't meet the standard, you're always constantly going through your mind of, ‘hey, here is what we could have done better, what I could have done better?’ It always starts with you looking yourself in the mirror.”
The Eagles seemed freer last year. They seemed to be having more fun. They don’t seem like that this year.
Maybe that’s not fair.
Or maybe it’s true and understandable. It’s hard to put on a Batman mask when you’re scraping and clawing to eke out wins every week.
And maybe all this standard talk is too daunting anyway. The Eagles are trying to live up to a standard from a magical 2022 season, which feels unattainable.
“What is interesting is I think that's always going to be a dilemma,” Sirianni said. “Once you set a standard, your goal is not to stay at the standard, but to get a little bit better from that, so it's always going to be interesting like that. There were definitely some things that – there were some sloppy things that happened, coaching, playing yesterday, that need to be better. So, you think about that to yourself, ‘man, what could have been here?’ But make no mistake about it, I know our guys are excited to win and we’re excited to win a football game.
“But, again, it's that hunger of wanting to be great and be perfect. But there has to be a balance. There’s got to be a balance of having that, ‘hey, getting the win was the most important thing,’ and then also that drive to get better after every time you step on the football field, whether that's practice field or the game field.”
This becomes a bit of a chicken or the egg dilemma. Are the Eagles not having fun because they’re not rolling? Or are they not rolling because they’re not playing free?
It’s probably more of the former. But there is something to be said for relaxing some of the tension with this team. And that starts with Sirianni.
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