Careful, Nick | Sports Daily Newsletter

Nick Sirianni faced his share of criticism about his late-game decisions in the Monday night meltdown against the Atlanta Falcons. The Eagles coach stood his ground and doubled down on his calls two days later.

That’s who Sirianni is. He does things his way. He is on the hot seat, for sure, but as Mike Sielski writes, Sirianni has dropped sign after sign that his tenuous job status won’t stop him from doing what he thinks is best for the Eagles. He has puffed his chest and insisted he was right, and you have to admire his audacity, if not his management of the closing minutes of that Atlanta loss.

Ah, but how do Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman view how Sirianni asserts himself? Remember that Chip Kelly and Doug Pederson were dismissed after they seemed to get too big for their britches. Sirianni is not wired to defer to his bosses, but he’ll need to start winning to stay in their good graces.

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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The Eagles play in Week 3 against the Saints in New Orleans. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Caesars Superdome.

After back-to-back playoff runs that ended short of a parade down Broad Street, the Phillies set the mission in spring training: World Series or bust. So, they will leave no stone unturned in preparing to meet that challenge. No strategy debate is too trivial, no roster minutiae too small. Here, then, with nine regular-season games remaining are three of the bigger questions that the Phillies will try to answer.

Buddy Kennedy started working out with fellow Millville native Mike Trout when he was 13, and they developed a bond that endures as each tries to get back on a major league field.

Outfielder Austin Hays took a major step Thursday in his recovery from a kidney infection.

After reclaiming the fifth starter role, Taijuan Walker had a forgettable start against the Mets Thursday night, allowing eight earned runs in the Phillies’ series-opening loss. The Phillies still need one win to clinch a playoff berth and their magic number to win the NL East title remains at four.

Next: The Phillies continue their series against the Mets at 7:10 tonight (Apple TV+). Cristopher Sánchez (10-9, 3.24 ERA) will start against Mets left-hander David Peterson (9-2, 2.85).

Quinyon Mitchell has had a bright start to the season, but a few of his mistakes late in Monday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons proved costly.

While the rookie took the mistakes and defeat hard, he has turned the page with Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints quickly approaching. Veteran Avonte Maddox has been impressed with Mitchell’s ability to move on to the next play and not dwell on the mistakes.

“I feel like he took that well and his mindset has been great,” Maddox said. “He’s still been smiling, being the Q he is. That’s a good sign to see, because it’s a new week, new team and, you know, put that behind him and we move forward.”

Speaking of the Eagles defense, coordinator Vic Fangio says don’t expect many major changes despite the defense’s early-season struggles.

How bad is it for the Birds? Not as bad as it seems, writes David Murphy, who dismisses what he sees as a few myths from the loss to the Falcons.

Next: The Eagles visit the New Orleans Saints at 1 p.m. Sunday (Fox29).

Day 1 of Flyers training camp featured 50-plus players, John Tortorella with a whistle, one well-broken-in yellow rope, zero pucks, and a whole lot of skating.

It was rope test day at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, as Tortorella put his players through what many of the Flyers classified as their toughest test of the season. The conditioning drill is designed to challenge the players and push them past what they believe to be their limits. It also is a great exercise in camaraderie as the players must all bond together amid the suffering and help one another get across the finish line.

The good news was that Sean Couturier, Jamie Drysdale, and Rasmus Ristolainen completed the challenge, a sign that they are indeed heathy after undergoing offseason surgeries.

Next: The Flyers open preseason action Sunday at 3 p.m. against the Capitals in Washington.

The Savannah Bananas will bring their wacky brand of baseball to a sold-out Citizens Bank Park on Saturday. Matt Breen caught up with Ivan Traczuk, the team’s creative content director, who has his own compelling Philadelphia story to tell.

The Penn Quakers will get their football season underway Saturday with a 6 p.m. nonleague game at Delaware. The potent passing combination of Aidan Sayin to Jared Richardson is back in action for the Quakers.

We asked for your Philly sports-centric photos, and you have continued to deliver them. Here are our Philly fan photos for this week as part of our Friday lineup. To keep this feature going, we’ll need you to keep submitting photos with a Philly sports theme. Send your photos here for the opportunity to be featured.

In this week’s episode of unCovering the Birds, Jeff McLane analyzes the Eagles’ heartbreaking 22-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in their home opener. With the team now at 1-1, he explores the troubling underperformance of the defensive line — did GM Howie Roseman and his team make critical missteps in assembling this talented unit? Plus, McLane revisits a pivotal “what if” moment from Nick Foles’ career as he returns for his retirement ceremony at Lincoln Financial Field. Listen now.

Here’s a place to access your favorite Philadelphia teams’ statistics, schedules, and standings in real time.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Mike Sielski, Olivia Reiner, EJ Smith, Jeff McLane, Jeff Neiburg, Jackie Spiegel, DeAntae Prince, David Murphy, Scott Lauber, Alex Coffey, Jonathan Tannenwald, Gabriela Carroll, Matt Breen, Conor Smith, Aaron Carter, and Ariel Simpson.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Thank you for reading. Another week of Sports Daily is in the books. See you on Monday. — Jim