Eagles’ Nick Sirianni clears COVID-19 protocol and will coach Sunday vs. Giants
Sirianni will be back on the sideline on Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni cleared the NFL’s COVID-19 testing protocol on Saturday and will be back for Sunday’s home game against the Giants, according to the team.
Sirianni spent the past four days in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday following the team’s victory over Washington. The first-year coach experienced mild symptoms and proceeded to isolate himself away from the team, conducting all of his meetings virtually from inside his hotel room.
By Friday afternoon, he was in much better spirits.
“I feel great,” Sirianni said. “As far as everything goes virtually, it went really well. No problems here. I was just doing everything I do from my hotel room.
“I need to probably go out and get a walk a little bit because I’ve been in this hotel room, but I’ve been watching a lot of tape and feel good about where we’re at right now.”
In the event Sirianni wouldn’t clear protocol by Sunday, the Eagles had prepared for passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo to fill in for him.
But Sirianni now has the green light to coach from the sideline.
The 7-7 Eagles have three regular-season games remaining. According to FiveThirtyEight, they have a 41% chance of making the playoffs.
It also appears the Eagles avoided a potential outbreak among the coaching staff. No additional assistants had tested positive, and Sirianni indicated his entire staff is “feeling good.”
The team has four players — offensive linemen Le’Raven Clark and Andre Dillard, defensive end Ryan Kerrigan, and newly added linebacker Shaun Bradley — on the reserve/COVID-19 list. To replace Bradley on the roster, the Eagles elevated defensive back Jared Mayden from the practice squad.