Eagles Fire Coach Nick Sirianni? A.J. Brown Reveals Loyalty Over Laughable Rumor
From a Super Bowl appearance and a 10-1 start the following year to ... being fired?
That's the question out of the Novacare Complex after the Philadelphia Eagles have dropped four of their last five games with concerns of "locker room fractures" beginning to seep out to the public.
Should Eagles ownership even think about letting go of a coach in Nick Sirianni who is 34-16 and the only coach in Philadelphia history to reach the playoffs in his first three seasons?
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Is the question, in itself, absurd to even fathom despite the recent stretch of poor play?
For those who think it's laughable to assume Sirianni's job status is in question, don't worry - you aren't alone.
Speaking to reporters for the first time in recent weeks, All-Pro wide receiver AJ Brown made it very clear that reports of his frustration with the coaching staff, or Sirianni himself are overblown.
"I can tell you that there may be things that Nick probably wants to fix about himself, but one thing I can respect: Loyalty is not one of them," Brown said. "I say that because he takes up for it when it has to doing with him. And he gets the blame — that comes with his job. ... But the coaches played zero snaps this year. It's not the coaches. It is us."
Brown also made it clear that while he didn't want to speak to reporters to add more negative energy around the building, he also wasn't sure why he was being singled out for "body-language concerns" with the team's recent struggles.
“Everyone in this locker room is frustrated," Brown said. "Why are you singling me out, because I was shaking my head and showing emotion? Everyone in that stadium had bad body language, they’re frustrated. It’s not about me.”
Brown's comments Wednesday seemed to breathe a sense of relief to a franchise desperately looking for answers. They have dropped four of their last five games - the last of which came at a 35-31 upset loss to the then-three-win Arizona Cardinals.
While the team lost their standing as NFC East front-runner with the loss, they are still heading to the playoffs for the third straight year - a feat that hasn't been seen many times in Eagles history.
That makes recent conversations surrounding Sirianni's tenure even more perplexing.
Why would a team going through a second straight 11+ win season change their head coaching staff because of a late-season slide? What happens if the team ends up winning a playoff game or two - does the narrative suddenly change? Why would a narrative around a coach change after just two games anyway?
Other NFL teams would kill to have the kind of success Sirianni and his team have had over the last three years. A single month of poor play does not take away from any of that.
Philadelphia has one final regular season game against the New York Giants to try and right the ship before the playoffs. Should each standing position hold in the NFC, the Eagles will be heading to Tampa Bay for the wild card round of the playoffs.
Win or lose though, it's laughable to think that a head coaching change would be underway for the Birds.
