Despite sitting atop of the NFC East through five weeks, the discourse around the Philadelphia Eagles hasn't been what you'd expect for a 4-1 team. The offense is in shambles, the stars are seemingly beefing with each other and the coaching staff, and now it seems like head coach Nick Sirianni is struggling to deal with the mess.
Finding himself in the middle of it all, Sirianni is desperately trying to keep the team together without assigning any individual blame. Not only did he refuse to throw his offensive coordinator under the bus following the loss to the Broncos, but he defended AJ Brown in the notable play in the second half where he cut his route short, causing Jalen Hurts to overthrow the pass. According to Jimmy Kempski of The Philly Voice, the head coach credited the Broncos defense for the missed connection instead of putting the blame on Brown, who obviously deserved 100% of it.
Nick Sirianni's Refusal to Call Out Mistakes Will Come Back to Bite Him
A head coach's desire not to single out any of his players or coaches in the media is certainly understandable. At the same time, not calling out obvious mistakes can backfire when attempting to create a unified team. For a long time, Sirianni considered "accountability" to be one of the pillars of his coaching style, bringing it up at every opportunity.
Accountability is important, and instilling that approach in your players so they own up to their mistakes is an essential part of that. That is where Sirianni seems to have failed. It's one thing for him to go out there and say it was the Broncos defense that forced Hurts to overthrow the ball; it's another for Brown not to admit that he is at fault.
Plus, even without singling out your star wide receiver, there is a way to publicly talk about execution, effort, and intensity without naming any names. When something is as clear as day as that specific play, there is very little benefit in gaslighting the fans into thinking that it was anything other than a lack of effort from Brown.
Even though OC Kevin Patullo and AJ Brown seem to be under the most fire, Sirianni is facing a ton of pressure and shouldn't be let off the hook. At the end of the day, the buck stops with him, and if the locker room vibes and the offensive production don't improve, he will be forced to make drastic changes.