Nick Sirianni did the easy part on Monday.
He apologized for interacting, in a somewhat heated and confrontational manner, with Philadelphia fans during Sunday’s 20-16 win over Cleveland.
Cameras caught the fourth-year Eagles head coach late in the fourth quarter yelling and gesturing to fans behind the Philly bench. This included putting a hand to his ear, as if he couldn’t hear their taunts. The fans had booed the Eagles’ offense for at least part of the game, even chanting “Fire Nick” at times.
“I tried to convey energy and enthusiasm yesterday, and I’m sorry and disappointed with the way my energy was focused at the end of the match,” Sirianni explained on Monday. “My energy must be completely focused on coaching, motivating and celebrating with our boys. And I need to have better wisdom and discernment about when to use that energy, and that wasn’t the time.
At least he recognized the mistake. Fighting with the fans never works. They will outlive you, especially if you went from reaching the Super Bowl in your second season to outlasting the hapless Browns (and then crowing about it).
Philly is 3-2 but hasn’t scored a single point in the first quarter and is averaging just 18.0 points per game in its last four games. This doesn’t really seem like a good team.
And that’s where the hardest part of Sirianni comes. Being called out for a perceived lack of focus and maturity on the sidelines is nothing new for the 43-year-old. He has interfered with the referees and opponents and seemingly played for the television cameras.
There’s no need to blow this out of proportion. Bantering with the fans is not a sign of an impending collapse; it can even be quirky and endearing.
It works when everything works.
But in the NFL, everything doesn’t work out in the end.
Sirianni’s job is to get the Eagles back to work.
The crime is a special problem. Yes, they lost future Hall of Fame center Jason Kelce, but quarterback Jalen Hurts is still there, AJ Brown is still there and the team spent a lot of money to acquire running back Saquon Barkley.
And yet, despite having a bye where they had to work out some issues, they needed a 45-yard touchdown pass from Hurts to DeVonta Smith in the fourth quarter to break the tie with Cleveland by one win.
“If there was something magical, we would do it,” Sirianni said of the team’s slow start. “We have to put the guys in positions to succeed. We have to be ready, and the guys have to go out and execute. That’s always going to be the case. And we just have to keep trying new formulas.
“It’s not necessarily the same formula against every team,” he continued. “It depends on the defense you play and the opponent you play.”
The good news is that it was a victory. The bad news for Sirianni is that all eyes are on him. Philly has talent, but can’t get out of its own way.
Last year the Eagles started 10-1 and everyone dreamed of a return to the Super Bowl and a rematch with Kansas City. Then the bottom fell out and they lost five of their last six games, blowing up the NFC East and entering the playoffs.
Once there, Philly didn’t seem ready or willing to take on Tampa Bay and were humiliated 32-9.
“We didn’t play well enough,” Sirianni said that day. “And that will always start with me.”
Sirianni kept his job — to the chagrin of more than a few radio callers in Philly — but expectations for something else were clear. He was hired as the offensive coordinator for Indianapolis at the age of 39 and was tasked with replacing Super Bowl winner Doug Pederson in a football-mad city.
The goodwill and patience of his strong start have disappeared. What remains are just questions about how he solves things. Any distraction from that – including barking at fans for any reason – does not inspire confidence.
The next three weeks offer an opportunity. At the New York Giants, in Cincinnati and at home for Jacksonville – three opponents with five combined wins. Just like in the game against the Browns, the Eagles don’t have to be at their best to get the win.
But for Sirianni’s sake, he wants them to look their best before it’s too late.
Once you give oxygen to fans singing “Fire Nick,” they won’t become silent anymore. The apology and promise to refocus is the easy part.
Making it count is the task ahead.
