The Philadelphia Eagles' week went from bad to worse after veteran defender Za'Darius Smith announced his retirement out of nowhere. The Eagles, who were already struggling in pass rush depth and quality, lost one of their better and more reliable options, leaving them scrambling ahead of Week 7. Pass rush is one of the most difficult positions to upgrade, especially mid-season, deepening the issues the team is facing ahead of the Vikings clash on Sunday.
While we await more details about the reasons for the surprise retirement, the Eagles organization has been wishing their best to Smith. On Monday afternoon, head coach Nick Sirianni said that he found out this morning about Smith's decision before wishing him the best, and adding "I really enjoyed having him on this football team," per The Athletic's Zach Berman.
Nick Sirianni Addresses the Surprise Za'Darius Smith Retirement News
Perhaps the more interesting part of Sirianni's remarks came later when he said, "as far as my confidence on the guys on the defensive line, a lot of confidence in them." On one hand, this could be interpreted as coachspeak that doesn't say much about the team's plans. On the other hand, specifically emphasizing your confidence in your defensive line instead of talking about looking into potential reinforcements suggests that the Eagles may not pursue a replacement immediately.
Regardless of which direction Sirianni and GM Howie Roseman ultimately choose to go, this will put a lot of pressure on the rest of the EDGE rotation and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. With Nolan Smith Jr. on the injured reserve list, it will be Josh Uche, Azeez Ojulari, and Patrick Johnson taking on larger roles opposite Jalyx Hunt.
More importantly, however, is what this news says about the overall atmosphere within the team. Following the abrupt decision, there naturally was speculation about it being related to the locker room drama. The Athletic's Dianna Russinni reported that this was an entirely personal decision by the 33-year-old defender and it had nothing to do with what's going on with the team. While we have no reason to doubt this reporting, we can speculate that the suboptimal vibes within the team likely didn't help the situation.
Sirianni's comments are as professional as expected about a respected veteran who made an impact in his short stint in Philadelphia. Whether more is revealed about the process that led to this decision remains to be seen.