Eagles' coach downplays notion he's fighting for his job in playoffs
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Nick Sirianni tried his best to do what he does so well — even when it seems Philadelphia has turned on the Eagles coach — and put a positive spin on an epic collapse.
“It wasn't too long ago that we beat Tampa up there,” Sirianni said.
Not too long ago?
Try the third game of the season in September. Back when the Eagles had that fresh, defending NFC champions feeling and the “tush push” was about to take over the NFL. Back when Jalen Hurts was healthy and had another run at an MVP season in sight.
Back before it all went wrong.
The Eagles (11-6) are a shell of the team from that game in the wake of an epic 1-5 collapse that has them on the road to play Tampa Bay in an NFC wild-card game. Hurts threw for a touchdown, ran for another and the
Week 3.
Hurts heads into the rematch with a mangled middle finger suffered in Sunday's 27-10 loss to the New York Giants. Wide receivers A.J. Brown (knee) and DeVonta Smith (ankle) are hurt. Cornerback Darius Slay hasn't played in weeks since he had knee surgery.
The biggest ache of all may belong to bruised ego.
The third-year coach — nearly 11 months removed from leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl — could be coaching for his job in the playoffs. If the Eagles won 12 or 13 games this season (they won 14 last season) and still lost a playoff game, there's little chance Sirianni would be on a hot seat.
Instead, player after player after player was asked in a somber locker room if he still had faith in Sirianni.
Eagles dominated the Buccaneers 25-11 in
Sirianni's
“I think everybody in the locker room has faith in Nick Sirianni,” center Jason Kelce said. “It hasn't been pretty the last month. But we've had a lot of really, really successful football with Nick. I think he does a lot of really, really good things organizationally.”
Sirianni tried to downplay talk that the locker room no longer believes in him.
“I know I felt in that locker room that we've got a lot of belief in that locker room,” he said. “We know everybody, there are a lot of teams that would want to be in our position of making the playoffs. We're in the playoffs, and we're moving onto Tampa Bay, and everything.”
That is the good news. The Eagles still have a chance. And if they can find the groove that got them to 10-1 — when they were the best team in the NFL — then they can find a way to beat Tampa Bay.