Nick Sirianni says he’s not concerned by Bryce Huff’s Eagles debut or Jalen Hurts’ turnovers

Nick Sirianni took umbrage with a question Monday afternoon, his first time meeting with reporters since the Eagles opened their season Friday night with a victory over the Packers in São Paulo, Brazil.

The question revolved around the team’s edge rushers and what went into the decision for Brandon Graham and Nolan Smith to get more snaps than $51 million man Bryce Huff. The coach’s gripe was that Graham had only two more snaps than Huff and Smith just one.

“When it’s that close, when it’s one more or two more … that can go different ways each game,” Sirianni said, pointing to that being important context.

But the important context here isn’t in the literal snap numbers. It’s in this season being the last for the 36-year-old Graham, who last season played his lowest snap percentage (34%) since 2013, and this being the second season for Smith, a first-round pick in 2023 who is still developing, and the fact that Huff, 26, was brought in to fill the gaping hole left by the departure of Haason Reddick.

» READ MORE: Eagles desperately need more from Bryce Huff, their biggest Week 1 bust since Ricky Watters

Eagles edge rushers, outside of a few moments from Graham and Josh Sweat, struggled to get pressure on Green Bay’s Jordan Love on Friday night. It enabled the Packers to devote more resources to slowing down Jalen Carter inside while allowing their players to win their one-on-one matchups with edge rushers. Huff didn’t register a pressure or a hurry, according to Pro Football Focus, and received the lowest PFF grade for any of the 13 Eagles who rushed the passer Friday night.

Huff played 30 of the 67 defensive snaps, Graham played 32, and Smith 31.

Huff, who is in a new scheme, didn’t see a ton of work on early downs, suggesting that the Eagles still aren’t comfortable with his ability to be productive on rushing downs. New defensive coordinator Vic Fangio indicated when training camp started in July that Huff wasn’t an every-down player yet. Right now, it appears the Eagles still feel that way.

There are necessary caveats needed here, like it being Week 1 and the field at Corinthians Arena not being in good condition, but the Eagles struggled mightily to get after opposing quarterbacks in 2023 and will need their edge rushers to produce in order to turn around that trend.

Asked if he was concerned by Huff’s performance, or the snap totals, after one game, Sirianni said: “No, not at all. It’s just the way sometimes it goes and you want to keep guys fresh throughout the game. Sometimes that’s very similar to how the touches on offense go as well.”

The 34-29 Eagles win featured a lot of good from Jalen Hurts, but also some bad, most notably two poor decisions that led to interceptions, and a few miscues on snaps, one leading to a lost fumble.

Hurts’ fourth-quarter interception was particularly concerning, considering the time and score. A field goal on that drive would have upped the Eagles’ lead from five points to eight.

“In those scenarios, being able to take what the defense gives us is probably going to be the main coaching point that we talk to him about,” Sirianni said.

» READ MORE: The new Jalen Hurts is the same as the 2023 version in the Eagles’ opener, but shows glimpses of positive change

But Sirianni also noted that Hurts was in control and composed on the final drive that sealed the game.

“He’s going to definitely want plays back,” Sirianni said. “We all do. But he was solely in the moment of, ‘How do we go close this game?’”

The Eagles’ four-minute drill turned into seven-plus minutes and took the game out of Green Bay’s hands. Sirianni pointed to a pair of second-down throws Hurts made to DeVonta Smith for a first down before the two-minute warning that showed Hurts’ composure.

“Not concerned,” Sirianni said of the turnovers. “He made a lot of good plays in this game.”

» READ MORE: Eagles stats: Moore motion, less Huff, and a head-scratching decision highlight a win over the Packers

Sirianni said he knew he would be asked about not playing Hurts and the bulk of the first-team offense during the preseason.

Given that Sirianni himself acknowledged that Friday’s game featured some sloppiness, he was asked Monday how he balanced the sloppiness with the competitive advantage and health factors of not playing starters.

“Obviously the availability of our players is highly important,” Sirianni said. “We’ve got a lot of special players ... so you want them to be as fresh as they possibly can going into the season because we know it’s a long season.”

Sirianni said the team’s “highly intense” practices were treated like games and sufficed. The Eagles, of course, are now 4-0 in openers under Sirianni.

Plus, the Eagles weren’t alone in their sloppiness, Sirianni said.

“Week 1 of the season, I think you could probably look around the league and see sloppy play all around,” Sirianni said. “I don’t think it matters who played their starters in the preseason. … I saw sloppy football out of both sides yesterday.

“I’m pleased with how we kind of went out and performed ... But, a lot of things to clean up.”