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Nick Sirianni says the Eagles have some studying to do during the bye. There’s a lot to evaluate.

The Eagles, Sirianni said, have a lot to look at this week as they hit the bye with a 2-2 record and some uneven performances. What's at the top of the list?

Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers first quarter touchdown on Sunday, September 29, 2024 in Tampa.
Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers first quarter touchdown on Sunday, September 29, 2024 in Tampa.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

The Eagles are on their bye week, but Nick Sirianni and his coaching staff are going back to school.

The Eagles are 2-2 after Sunday’s demoralizing 33-16 defeat in Tampa. A day later, Sirianni said the Eagles will spend the week analyzing a variety of issues that have culminated in the uneven start to the 2024 season.

“You study everything,” Sirianni said. “Everything is on the table. You study anything you deem yourself insufficient at as an offense and defense. You study everything you think that you’re good at to make sure you’re finding your identity and doing what you do well, and so everything will be on the table.”

Right now, it seems the insufficiencies are outnumbering the things the Eagles are good at. Here’s a look at a few of those insufficiencies and what Sirianni had to say about them Monday.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Bucs takeaways: Saquon Barkley and the identity search beckon the question: What’s the offense’s ceiling?

Hurts’ turnover problem

If you’ve been tracking how many times Sirianni has used the word (un)sustainable to describe the Eagles’ turnover problem — specifically when it comes to quarterback Jalen Hurts — you can add another one to the tally from Monday.

After Hurts turned the ball over in a key situation in the red zone late in the third quarter Sunday, the Eagles fell to minus-6 in the turnover margin category.

“That’s not a sustainable stat,” Sirianni said. “I’m not sure you’re 2-2 when you’re minus-6 many times. Somehow we are. But we got to make sure that makes a big change, both taking the ball away as a defense and protecting it as an offense.”

As it relates to Hurts, the issue doesn’t seem to be one that’s going to go away easily. Sirianni likes sample sizes, and there’s a growing sample size that this isn’t just a blip. Hurts leads the NFL with 27 turnovers since the start of last season, an average of more than one turnover each time the Eagles take the field. This, after being a quarterback who rarely turned it over during his first two seasons as a starter.

Sirianni after the game Sunday said Hurts’ fumble wasn’t on him and he again reiterated the different factors that went into the turnover after watching it back.

“I get that the quarterback is always going to be the guy that’s scrutinized for the fumble because it goes on him, and the same thing as an interception, but there are different things that account for it,” Sirianni said. “I thought the protection was good on the play.

“Sometimes it is his fault, but I’m not going to tell you, hey, on this particular one this was his … you know I’m not going to do that.”

But one of the different things that accounted for the play was on Hurts, as Sirianni later acknowledged.

“Does he have to have that clock in his head ticking? Of course,” Sirianni said. “That’s part of his job, too, as the quarterback. But there are so many different things that account for a turnover.”

That may be true, but Hurts will always be the common thread as the one with the ball in his hands on every play.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts falls on the sword after another turnover plagues another Eagles defeat

Missed tackles

The Eagles missed 16 tackles Sunday. You can probably replay a few of them in your head, like the time early in the game when Avonte Maddox whiffed at Chris Godwin’s feet out in space.

The missed tackles added up. The Bucs, according to Next Gen Stats, racked up 105 yards after missed Eagles tackles.

“You’re going to miss a couple tackles each game, but that wasn’t to our standard,” Sirianni said.

Sirianni has made a point recently to point out that his team’s fundamentals are lacking in some spots, a reflection, he has said, that the coaching staff needs to do a better job. Tackling is a simple defensive fundamental that the Eagles aren’t doing well enough right now.

Part of this week’s deep dive, Sirianni said, is to look at some of the drills the Eagles are doing in practice.

“You try to do as many drills as you possibly can do that simulate tackling as much as you possibly can,” Sirianni said. “Tackling is something that’s difficult for the entire league to simulate how you do that because you’re not doing the thing live.

“It’s a long season and I think what you have to do is put your guys in position to simulate while also protecting your guys to make sure you have your guys every Sunday.”

» READ MORE: The Eagles are ill-prepared on offense and defense. After Isaiah Rodgers’ punt return blunder, add in special teams, too.

Putting the ‘I’ in a team

Do the Eagles have an identity crisis? It’s a phony football cliché, but one worth diving into because a few Eagles brought up the word “identity” unprompted Sunday in the visitor’s locker room.

What is the Eagles’ identity right now?

“It is still a small sample size and all you’re trying to do is repeat the things that you do well and hide those things, complement those things,” Sirianni said. “You’re trying to not do the things that you don’t do so well.”

It’s hard to pinpoint what the Eagles do well right now beyond Saquon Barkley’s ability to change the game (when they’re giving him the ball). They have been banged up, another element that this bye week will feature — getting healthy. They have had some decent defensive showings, like in New Orleans, and some downright disasters, like Sunday. Vic Fangio’s unit hasn’t seemed up to snuff yet, and Kellen Moore’s offense has just one game under its belt with a full complement of players.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Bucs takeaways: Saquon Barkley and the identity search beckon the question: What’s the offense’s ceiling?

There’s a lot to look at, Sirianni said, and some correcting that needs to be done both in terms of coaching and playing.

“I’ll stand on it’s the greatest team game whether it’s a win and I’ll stand on it’s the greatest team game whether it’s a loss,” Sirianni said. “That’s how you continue to come together, through the tough times, through the good times to become a team. I know scenarios like yesterday, getting beat the way we got beat, will bring this team closer together.

“You’re either continuing to come closer together or you’re falling apart. Our goal is to make sure we’re staying together through the adversity that hit us yesterday and just move on and get better from it.”

» READ MORE: Eagles’ defensive players are honest after collapse: ‘We let ourselves down’