Nick Sirianni Understands Jalen Reagor's 'Revenge Game' Mindset
PHILADELPHIA – It’s not like Jalen Reagor went out of his way to say it was a revenge game when he returns to Philadelphia to play the team that drafted him 21st overall in 2020.
He was asked if he had revenge on his mind by a reporter and he didn’t deny it. It’s not like he went out of his way to bring it up and expound on it.
“Of course,” he responded. “Why not? But I’m not going into the game pressing. Just going to let the game come to me.”
Nick Sirianni certainly understands revenge-style thinking.
“Any time we play a team that I used to coach on, I'm like, ‘Hey, let's go,’” the Eagles coach said on Saturday morning. “I love those guys over there, but I really want to get the best of them because it's just a continuation of all the times I used to go against them in practice.
“I think that's a normal reaction for anybody to have that is coming back to play at their old place. I just think that's normal. Like I said, I go through it as well.”
The Eagles will host the Vikings on Monday night in their home opener and look to win a Week 2 game for the first time since 2106. Not even in their Super Bowl season of 2017 did the Eagles win Week 2, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs at home that season.
They won nine in a row after that loss to finish 13-3 and beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
The Chiefs, of course, had former coach Andy Reid paying a visit that day.
Reagor doesn’t have as much cache as the longtime Eagles coach.
He will be remembered more for his failure as a first-round draft pick. Reagor had just 64 catches for 695 yards and three receiving touchdowns in 28 games with the Eagles. He also had a 72-yard punt return in Green Bay during his rookie season.
Returning punts is how the Vikings are using him now. He didn’t play any offensive snaps in his Minnesota debut and returned only one punt for seven yards.
Another former Eagles player is on the roster, who figures to have a greater impact and that is linebacker Jordan Hicks, who made 14 tackles with a sack in the Vikings’ 23-7 season-opening win over the Green Bay Packers.
Hicks, though, has been gone for five years. Picked in the third round of the 2015 draft, Hicks’ final season in Philly was 2018, when he led the team in interceptions with five.
Aside from some ill-advised social media posts during his short tenure in Philadelphia, Reagor wasn’t a malcontent.
He never went public with his unhappiness over how he was being used, and even came out of the locker room to talk to reporters after a crucial drop in one game.
So, how will fans treat him when he returns, will Lincoln Financial Field quake with boos, or will it be just a smattering?
Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press asked Reagor how he expected to be treated on his return.
“Who knows?” Reagor said. “It could be good, bad, indifferent. Those things I really don’t worry about because it’s out of my control.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
