Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Not Immune to Nick Sirianni's Wrath
PHILADELPHIA – Everybody is fair game when it comes to facing the wrath of coach Nick Sirianni, even quarterback Jalen Hurts, who felt the sting of Sirianni’s words during a practice last week.
During a two-minute drill, and with the clock winding down, Hurts scrambled for what he may have thought was a first down. Instead of giving the ball directly to the official so he could spot it, Hurts held on to it.
That was a no-no.
Sirianni wanted him to give the ball immediately to the official. The coach didn’t let it slide. He screamed at Hurts, in front of his teammates and the hundred or so fans watching on the sideline close by.
Hurts flipped the ball to the coach, said something unintelligible back to his coach, then went to the sidelines, where he began doing pushups. They weren’t required but Hurts did them anyway.
From the moment Sirianni arrived in town, Hurts told him that he wanted to be coached hard. It doesn’t come any harder than being “undressed” in front of his teammates. And Hurts responded, cranking out the unprompted pushups.
There are no favorites on this team, that is clear.
It’s one thing to blow up on Jalen Reagor like Sirianni did two summers ago and another to scream at Kenny Gainwell as the coach did during a joint practice with the Cleveland Browns last summer. Even defensive coordinator Sean Desai made a substitution error during a scripted, 7-on-7 period recently.
The first-year defensive coordinator was asked if his coach yelled at him.
“I think so,” said Desai. “And I yelled at myself. That's what it is. It's accountability. Part of our five pillars is you have to take accountability when you screw up and I'm not immune to that and the players know that. They'll hear from me every day when I screw something up. That's OK.”
But the franchise quarterback?
That resonates with teammates.
Sirianni was asked about it on Sunday night prior to the team’s only open practice at Lincoln Financial Field.
“When you can coach your best player the hardest, that's good for everybody,” he said. “All that's important is that you continue to get better at every different spot. So, Jalen, you know, it's evident by who he is as a person. He craves and wants to be better at all times. I remember when I first got here, he was like, ‘Man, just coach me hard.’
“I've always obviously remembered that and that's my style to coach the guys hard to make sure we're getting better. I also think it's very important, you know, and I don't - like I think it's just the way of the world, right? I think a story is when ‘Oh, Nick got after Jalen Reagor or whoever it was, whoever you say. But I think it's just as important.”
Equally important to the coach is not to always make his point by yelling. Positive reinforcement is also a tool he uses.
“There are two types of accountability, but all accountability is aimed to get better,” he said. “One accountability is you can yell and correct, one you can correct and smack them on the butt and fix it. My favorite type of accountability is when you're like, ‘That's exactly the way it's supposed to look.’
“Then you're confirming exactly what you want. Our job as coaches is to make sure the job description is very clear, and there is no better form of accountability than, ‘Hey, great job. What a play.’ I have sure been doing a lot of that with Jalen this training camp.”
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.
Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.
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