Can Eagles fans believe anything Nick Sirianni says anymore?
On Monday, the Philadelphia Eagles said "goodbye" to Joe Flacco after seven weeks and sent him back to the New York Jets. Eagles Head Coach delayed his press conference until after 6pm and his explanations the day after the Eagles loss to the Raiders was as lackluster as the team's performance on Sunday.
When Sirianni was asked about trading Joe Flacco, this was his answer:
We feel really good about Gardner (Minshew) being our number two (Quarterback).....As far as [QB] Joe [Flacco] goes, Joe is just a great person to be around, great pro to be around. Had a phenomenal pre-season and was really good for our room. The opportunity arose for him to go and be able to contribute somewhere else. Then also obviously us get a pick for that (trade).
I understand the Eagles Front Office is collecting as many draft assets as possible ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft but this answer by Sirianni feels more like a press release than an honest answer. Are Eagles fans really supposed believe that it's all good to trade away one of the only veterans on the offensive side of the ball and that is going to be of any benefit for a young Quarterback room and their development? Remember the 2020 season when the Eagles QB room was Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts, and Nate Sudfeld - Remember how that went sideways? From 2016-2019 the Eagles had veteran backup QBs for Carson Wentz (Chase Daniel, Nick Foles, Josh McCown).
If that's cookie cutter answers wasn't bad enough, Nick Sirianni tried to answer a question about Sunday's loss to the Raiders being unacceptable and making everyone accountable for the loss - WARNING: This explanation may not make any sense to you or anyone outside the Eagles building:
Obviously losing a game is never acceptable. We always are going to go through and we're going to correct a game the same way regardless of if we're 5-2 or 2-5. That's the message of, ‘Hey, let's get this thing right, get these corrections made.’ That's all it's ever about, is getting better as a team. The accountability -- we've talked about accountability a lot. Accountability is not only making corrections, right? It's also pointing out when things are right as well. It goes both ways there. You want a standard set. When the standard's met, you get excited about it. When the standard's not met, you make the corrections. We're just business as usual right there.
Again another answer that sounds like it was choregraphed by Public Relations with a lot of interesting words but doesn't really make sense. No where in that answer does Sirianni take responsibility for anything from Sunday's loss nor does he say anything that isn't circular reason. This is the same guy who said this after Sunday's loss in Las Vegas:
To me, that sounds like a guy who wants to place all the blame on the Eagles Defense and take no responsibility himself for his poor play calling or putting his starting Quarterback Jalen Hurts into no-win situations. Sirianni talks a lot about "Accountability" but what about him being accountable? Is he actually so oblivious or stubborn that he will not accept blame on himself for what happened in Sunday's game and instead throws the defense under the bus??
I am really concerned that Nick Sirianni was a guy who interviewed great for the job but lacks the ability to apply in real time the loft concepts he spoke to Eagles Owner Jeff Lurie about. He looks and sounds lost more often than not; That uncertainty flows down to the players on the field who also look indecisive and uncertain on the field. I know it's only seven weeks, but am I the only one who is concerned that hiring Nick Sirianni was a mistake? He makes zero sense sometimes and just because he "loves football" doesn't mean he's a great coach or play caller. Whatever is going on in his mind on game day is derailing this team each week.