Nick Sirianni feels he was ‘too tense’ on the sideline. Are the Eagles still having fun when they win?
There was arguing on the sideline as the Eagles finished off the Giants. The mood seemed to carry over into the locker room. But Sirianni still feels that after wins, the team is enjoying winning.
The Eagles have corrections and adjustments to make following their 33-25 victory over the New York Giants on Monday, starting with their head coach.
In his news conference Tuesday, Nick Sirianni admitted that he was “too tense” at times on the sideline during the game, a characteristic that he aims to work on going forward. The Fox Sports cameras caught one of those moments with just 26 seconds left in the game when Sirianni called a timeout before the Giants snapped the ball on fourth-and-8.
Edge rusher Haason Reddick ran toward defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Jeremiah Washburn on the sideline. Sirianni, apparently upset, approached Reddick and yelled at him, gesturing toward the field. After safety Kevin Byard ushered a visibly frustrated Reddick back to the field, Sirianni continued to appear agitated during exchanges with Washburn and wide receiver DeVonta Smith.
“The wins in the NFL are hard to come by, and you have to enjoy it,” Sirianni said. “And have to have that balance, because joy and determination to get better, you can have both. And I think that, definitely, 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. And 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.”
» READ MORE: Eagles won, but Nick Sirianni’s sideline eruptions and the locker room tenor still suggest a team that is tense
In the locker room after the game, some players seemingly mirrored Sirianni’s tense — albeit not as expressive — demeanor captured on the sideline in that moment, Smith being one of them.
“We’re not playing good football right now,” Smith said. “As an offense, we’re not where we want to be. I’m not satisfied. Yeah, we got 11 wins. I’m not happy. It needs to be better for what I want to do, what everybody else in here wants to do, what we want to be.”
That lack of satisfaction isn’t inherently a bad thing, especially when the team has shown that it iscapable of playing to a higher standard. Sirianni said Tuesday that’s what makes some of his players special, and he pointed to Smith as an example.
“Why is DeVonta continuing to get better and better and better?” Sirianni said. “Because he has this inner drive amongst himself that is never satisfied. I said something to him yesterday. I’m like, ‘Hey, congrats on 1,000 yards. I know I took you out early in that Dallas game in 2021. Looking back, I wish I hadn’t.’ He just wants more, and he wants more, and he wants more.”
However, Sirianni asserted that there must be a balance of not being satisfied with finding joy in the game, especially in the wins. Even as they strive toward their standard, Sirianni said that the Eagles are“1,000%” having fun when they win, and they’ve won plenty this season at 11-4.
» READ MORE: Eagles-Giants takeaways: Birds’ struggles no longer appear to be ‘uncharacteristic.’ Still, there’s time to fix it.
Some players, including defensive tackle Jordan Davis, reflected an understanding of that balance in their postgame comments. Davis also called the energy on the sideline “electric” in the first half, although it “stumbled a bit” in the second half when the Giants attempted a comeback.
“I know we stressed some people out at home, but at the end of the day, man, just to pull out the W here, we needed it bad,” Davis said. “I can’t emphasize enough we needed that W. To get it on Christmas, man, it’s just the cherry on top.”
Sirianni said that the Eagles have mistakes to clean up following their victory, but he wouldn’t allow those errors to overshadow the good that came out of the game. Smith hit 1,000 receiving yards for a second straight season, running back D’Andre Swift pulled within 12 yards of 1,000 rushing yards on the year, and quarterback Jalen Hurts notched over 300 passing yards for the first time since Week 8 against the Washington Commanders.
» READ MORE: Eagles’ Jalen Hurts overcomes shaky moments to make winning plays vs. the Giants
In any case, Sirianni reiterated that when the pressure’s on, he has to remain calm in those scenarios as to not rattle the players that look to him to set the tone.
“When there’s some high-pressure areas, they’ve got to see me calm and not tense there,” Sirianni said. “There’s a time and place to be intense 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 am constantly working on.”