Nick Sirianni relishes the challenge Thursday’s quick turnaround presents: ‘We can sleep a little later in the week’

Nick Sirianni loves football. He loves telling you how much he loves football, almost rising to abnormal levels of corniness along the way. He loves coaching football and teaching football and talking football.

Consider this week a pseudo sleepaway camp for a football geek. The Eagles, after arriving home from Dallas in the early hours of Monday morning, take on the Washington Commanders on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field for NFC East supremacy. And because the turnaround is so quick, the work on Washington started late Sunday night on the team plane. Jalen Hurts said after the 34-6 Eagles win that he planned to spend some time on the plane talking with coaches.

The Eagles are trying to cram every component of game-week preparation into a mere three days.

“No steps are ever skipped,” Sirianni said Monday afternoon. “It’s just that everything gets crammed into a shorter amount of time. So that’s what we’re working through right now, is I think a lot of guys will have big bags under their eyes at the end of the week, but we’ve got to do what we need to do as coaches to get the guys ready.”

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Sirianni joked that he’d probably see passing game coordinator and associate coach Kevin Patullo, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio more than he will see his wife and children this week. He said it with a smile, but it’s probably true.

“I always think it’s a cool bonding thing for the coaches,” Sirianni said of Thursday games. “There are always cool stories that come out of that. That’s the cool part of the journey, that you’re grinding together for a common goal, and you’ll remember those things. These are the things that are so cool about being part of a football team. So, we’ll make some memories this week, but ultimately have to go out there and play a good game against a good opponent.”

Sleep? Who needs sleep? Players, yes. Coaches, no.

“What’s important is that the players are ready to go, that they’re rested as much as they possibly can be,” Sirianni said. “It doesn’t matter how our coaches feel. We’ve just got to get the work done and get these guys prepared as much as we possibly can and be thinking sharply. We can sleep a little later in the week.”

The Eagles on Monday opened the 21-day practice window for injured left tackle Jordan Mailata, who is on injured reserve recovering from a hamstring injury and has missed the minimum four required games.

Given the short week, and since the Eagles will not have traditional practices, Sirianni said Monday that the Eagles would “have to be creative,” in order to get Mailata ready to return.

“If Jordan is not ready, he won’t go,” Sirianni said. “If he is ready, he’ll go.”

The Eagles did not practice Monday but were required to release an estimated injury report. A first clue might be there, where Mailata was listed as a full participant.

The Eagles estimated that four players were non-participants Monday: Nakobe Dean (groin); Dallas Goedert (ankle); Darius Slay (ankle); and DeVonta Smith (hamstring).

Bryce Huff (wrist) was also listed alongside Mailata as a full participant.

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The Eagles interviewed current Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury for their open OC position this offseason before ultimately hiring Moore.

Both coordinators have found instant success with their respective teams. Kingsbury, with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, had Washington ranked fourth in the NFL in yards per game entering Monday night. The Eagles were sixth. Both teams are doing damage on the ground. The Eagles were second in rushing yards per game (176.1), while Washington was fourth (153.5).

“Yeah, a lot of respect for him,” Sirianni said of Kingsbury. “He’s been a really good coach at different levels for a long time, and then I respect him being the former player, quarterback. I’ve got a lot of respect always for former quarterbacks that become coaches. You know, with how they have seen the game and how they can relate to the game. Thought he was outstanding in the interview. Obviously chose Kellen in our particular case, but both guys were great possibilities. So, a lot of respect for Kliff and the job that he’s done to date in Washington and his career as a whole.”