Nick Sirianni vows to have ‘better wisdom’ after chirping to Eagles fans in their win vs. Browns

Less than 24 hours after the conclusion of Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, Nick Sirianni apologized for his postgame antics on the Eagles sideline.

In the immediate aftermath of the Eagles’ narrow 20-16 victory over a lowly Browns team, the Fox Sports cameras captured Sirianni appearing to jaw with fans in the stands at Lincoln Financial Field. While the precise details of that particular exchange are unknown, some fans throughout the stadium booed the team during the game and broke out in chants that called for Sirianni’s job, particularly when the offense sputtered at times.

When asked multiple questions about his end-of-game interaction with the crowd during his postgame press conference, the fourth-year coach said repeatedly that he was just “excited to get the win.” However, on Monday, Sirianni expressed regret for his actions while explaining that his intention was to try to bring “energy” and “enthusiasm.”

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“I’m sorry and disappointed on how my energy was directed at the end of the game,” Sirianni said. “My energy should be all-in on coaching, motivating, right? And celebrating with our guys. And I have to have better wisdom and discernment of when to use that energy, and that wasn’t the time.”

Sirianni had revealed in his postgame press conference that some of the players during the bye week and during the game itself had encouraged him to bring his “energy.” That energy manifested itself both in Sirianni’s postgame sideline shenanigans and his back-and-forths after the whistle with Browns defenders Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome.

Just as Sirianni self-evaluates his own game management, his preparation of his players leading into the contest, and the team’s play calls, he also assesses “other things,” including incidents on the sideline like Sunday’s. Following his self-review, Sirianni acknowledged the importance of being passionate and having energy at the helm of the team, but he also stressed the need to have a better sense of when it’s appropriate to display those characteristics.

“I wish there was a playbook on stuff like that,” Sirianni said. “Make the job a little bit easier to do. But it’s not.”

Instead, Sirianni said there are other avenues where he can inject his passion in a more productive manner, both throughout the week and on game day.

“Are you coaching your butt off throughout the week and coaching your butt off during the game?” Sirianni said. “Are you motivating and pushing the right buttons? It’s not necessarily motivating. It’s wiring. Sometimes I think it’s wiring the guys in the right way. Not inspiring them. Your habits. And then it’s just celebrating with them.

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“Some of the best memories I have of this game is the celebrations that you have in-game. Celebrations you have in the locker room after the game. Stuff like that. I think that can be the baseline of everything.”

In contrast with his apparent taunts toward the crowd on the sideline, Sirianni praised the Philly faithful on Monday, calling them the “best fans in the world.” He spoke highly of their influence in the game, particularly in creating a loud environment at the Linc that he said caused the Browns to commit a pair of false-start penalties during their attempt at a comeback late in the fourth quarter.

As a result, the Browns settled for a field goal to pull within four points. The Eagles never relinquished possession for the remaining 3 minutes and 48 seconds to seal the win.

“I thought it was really loud, energetic, and those two false starts that the Browns got that forced the field goal instead of [a fourth-down conversion attempt], who knows [what would have happened]?” Sirianni said. “They’re fourth-and-8 at the 8-yard line and then they get a penalty and they don’t go for it on fourth-and-13. Who knows how that goes? So our fans brought the energy, brought the passion, brought the juice.”

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Sirianni met with the team on Monday to go through film from their game, a standard activity on the Eagles’ schedule. He said he brought his energy to that session, and he also brought a sense of accountability.

“I’ll start every meeting with the things that I screwed up,” Sirianni said. “So it’s just being honest and taking accountability and having honest conversations, whether that’s with the team, or in private. That’s what we talked about today. So like I told you guys, literally, everything on that field is my responsibility. And that’s from actions and behaviors and plays and everything.

“And I take a lot of pride in that and when it doesn’t go the right way, [you] put yourself through the mud for that. Everything has my name on it and that’s why the self-reflection at the end is critical, because the only way you get better is if you look yourself in the mirror and say what you could’ve done better.”