Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni expressed regret about his reaction to a sideline hit on quarterback Jalen Hurts during his team's 27-7 loss to the Chicago Bears on "Monday Night Football" in Week 3.
"Obviously, you want to always fight for your players, and protect your players," Sirianni told reporters during his postgame news conference. "I always come away when I have a moment like that with remorse of, 'Man, I shouldn't have let my emotions get the best of me.'"
The hit about which Sirianni was upset occurred in the second quarter. Hurts was trying to scramble for a first down when Bears linebacker D'Marco Jackson gave the quarterback a strong shove as he was going out of bounds.
Hurts' toe had hit the white of the sideline boundary
a split second before Jackson shoved him. The 28-year-old quarterback was slow getting up after tumbling to the ground and had to exit the game before being checked for a concussion.
Jackson was flagged for a personal foul penalty, but Sirianni was nonetheless irate. The broadcast showed the Eagles coach yelling in the direction of the Bears linebacker, which he acknowledged was not the proper response to the situation.
"It was close on the sideline. It ended up being a penalty. Obviously, you never want to see your quarterback get hit like that," Sirianni said. "But it's in the heat of the moment. I know nobody's trying to hurt anybody out there, and I always have remorse when I act that way."
Hurts missed the remainder of the Eagles' drive after the hit while being evaluated for a concussion. Veteran backup Andy Dalton entered the game in his stead and threw an interception on his lone pass attempt, which came from the 1-yard line on a third-and-goal.
Sirianni was asked what information he received about Hurts' status while Dalton was helming the Eagles' offense.
"I get nothing," Sirianni said, before adding, "I get it. You're not supposed to get the information there. They need to go through their process there. You think about maybe calling a timeout in a situation like that … but if you call a timeout, I have no idea what's going on and when he's going to come out. Like he could come out and have to go in and get evaluated. You just don't know in those situations."
And while Sirianni acknowledged it was "unfortunate" how the series ended, he is a strong believer Hurts' evaluation was properly handled.
"I think that's the right way to go about it, because, again, you don't want to influence anything," Sirianni said. "The health of the player is the most important thing."
The Eagles now sit at 2-1 after their loss to the Bears and will prepare for a Week 4 date with the Los Angeles Rams.
Sirianni will push on hoping to improve after learning a valuable lesson Monday at Soldier Field.
"The emotion of the game probably got the better of me today, and I have to learn from that in that particular moment," Sirianni said, referencing his reaction to Jackson's hit on Hurts. "I have to be more steady in that situation. Like I say to the guys all the time, be able to move on and go to the next play. I didn't like how I handled that."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Nick Sirianni is feeling 'remorse' about reaction to Jalen Hurts hit
