Sirianni: ‘When I’m operating, having fun, I think that breeds to the rest of the football team’
Goforitradio Staff
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The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the lowly Cleveland Browns 20-16 on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
After the win, the talk was about head coach Nick SIrianni’s interaction with a few fans at the game. At times, on Sunday, there were chants of “Fire Sirianni,” and maybe that got to him. Sirianni was asked about the interaction following the team’s win over Cleveland.
“Just excited to get the win, yeah. It’s hard to win in this league, so we’re excited to get the win,” he said. “Our fans created a couple of false starts that really helped us win this football game, but I’m just excited to get the win, and I appreciate the Linc’s [Lincoln Financial Field’s] support.”
Jalen Hurts said he heard about the exchange with the fans but likes that Sirianni is being himself.
“I don’t know what exactly happened,” Hurts said. “I’ve kind of been, you know, put on notice on some of it. I didn’t see anything, but I encouraged him to be himself, and so that’s who he is.”
During this first three seasons as Eagles head coach, Sirianni has been animated, and according to the players, including Hurts, they want the old Sirianni back, and we saw that on Sunday.
“I was having fun,” he said. “I was having fun and I kind of got some feedback from the guys of the sense of, ‘We need you back, Nick. We need your energy. We need your focus.’ I got that from a couple players.
“When I’m operating, having fun, I think that breeds to the rest of the football team. If I want the guys to celebrate and be themselves after big plays, then I should probably do that myself, right?
“There are times for that and times that are not for that. I have to have wisdom and discernment of when to do that and when not to do that. I was kind of talking back and forth with 21 and 0. I think [Browns CB Greg] Newsom [II] and [Browns CB] Denzel Ward are phenomenal football players. Denzel Ward made a really good play there.
“I told Jacob [Sirianni] that he’s only allowed to get jerseys of players on other teams that are just superstars. I don’t want to see him with mediocre players. He can get a Denzel Ward jersey. I’ll let him do that. That guy is a phenomenal football player.
“I had played college football with a bunch of guys from Nordonia, where he went to high school. I’ve just got a lot of respect for him. That’s out of fun…
“It was just all out of fun.”
Sirianni’s animated behavior is acceptable when the team is winning. Some may view it as annoying when they are not winning, but the Eagles have to build on this win and get back to being the team many thought they would be when the season started.
