Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni made an unusual gesture toward his own team’s fans in the closing moments of their 20-16 win over the Cleveland Browns, putting his finger behind his ear as he appeared to be chirping at fans.
Sirianni apologized for his actions Monday after initially defending himself during Sunday’s postgame press conference, explaining that he was “excited” about the win.
“I was trying to bring energy yesterday. Energy, enthusiasm,” Sirianni told reporters. “I’m sorry and disappointed at how my energy was directed at the end of the game. 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.”
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Sirianni, who has been a frequent target of Eagles fans since their late-season skid in 2023, was on the receiving end of “Fire Nick!” chants and his team was booed during Sunday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field. After going 2-2 through the first four games, Sirianni said that his players told him during their Week 5 bye that they wanted him to bring the passion that showed up on the sideline during their run to the Super Bowl in the 2022 season.
Sirianni added that he had yet to meet with team owner Jeffrey Lurie as of Monday afternoon.
As there have been hot-seat rumors surrounding Sirianni since the team’s collapse in the 2023 season, his antics on Sunday sparked rumblings over the coach’s job security again. Sirianni brought his three kids alongside him during his postgame presser on Sunday, which “The Herd‘s” Colin Cowherd theorized was to shield himself from taking heat from the media.
“I think [Sirianni] thinks he’s a certain level of IQ,” Cowherd said. “But he reminds me of a crypto bro, but the crash is coming. Like, nah. You can’t do that. Say this out loud: Can you imagine Andy Reid regularly jousting with fans?”
In addition to his behavior, Sirianni’s team didn’t look prepared at the start of Sunday’s game. The Eagles punted on their first two drives and found themselves in a tight game against a one-win Browns team that was a heavy underdog.
Cowherd took as much issue with Sirianni’s ability to get his team prepared off the bye week as he did with his conduct toward Eagles fans.
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“He’s over his skis,” Cowherd said. “I don’t know what to tell you. They’re great at running back. They’re excellent at wide receiver. They’re always great at tight end. The O-line is top 10. And this is an offensive coach.
“They don’t have a Carolina issue, where the roster’s bad, or a Cowboys issue, where upstairs is bad. They’re 3-2 completely on how talented their roster is, and they’ve done it with injuries. This is a Super Bowl roster.”
One former Eagles player did come to Sirianni’s defense, though. LeSean McCoy explained on “The Facility” that he didn’t have a problem with what Sirianni did.
“It’s Philadelphia. Everybody’s not built for Philadelphia,” McCoy said. “There’s some coaches and players that can’t play and can’t coach in Philadelphia. I think he has the attitude and the heart to do that.
“I watched players like Ben Simmons, a really good player, you go against the fans a little bit, they say something about you a little and you go hide, you ducking? I watched coaches like Chip Kelly. We loved you when you got here. But when you face some adversity, you go hiding, you go missing and you wanna get out of there? Philadelphia is a special place. Everybody can’t coach there. Everybody can’t play there.”
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Although McCoy liked Sirianni’s “attitude” and “heart” to clap back at the fan base, former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho thought it was disrespectful, saying he “hated” it.
“You’re going on your fourth year in Philadelphia and you still don’t understand your fan base? The Eagles fans are the most passionate fan base in the National Football League because their expectations are high, rightfully so,” Acho said on “The Facility.”
“That passion leads them to stand there in the stands with eight inches of snow against the Detroit Lions in 2013 because they care. They’re passionate, they care,” Acho added.
“So, you can’t mock them for the same passion. Sirianni, you should know the fans by now. They’re not chatting, ‘Fire Nick!’ because they genuinely want you fired in that moment in time. Maybe some do, but they have higher expectations, and you should, too.”
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