The Eagles won a close game on Monday night and the offense struggled, but they’re back to work on Wednesday preparing for the Lions. Head coach Nick Sirianni spoke to reporters ahead of practice and talked a lot about A.J. Brown’s production, A.J. Brown’s comments being a distraction, and the fourth down kill shot call to A.J. Brown against the Packers. He also talked about Jaire Alexander stepping away and the implications for the secondary.
Sirianni had a lot of good things to say about the pass
rush on Monday, saying they rushed as a group, and he’s been happy to see how those guys have gelled and come together. He also noted that all of his interactions with Jaelan Phillips so far have been great, and he loved what he brought to the defense.
Here’s what the head coach had to say:
On A.J. Brown’s public comments
There have been many comments made and posted by A.J. Brown throughout the season, and with more revealed on Wednesday, Sirianni said that he doesn’t think the WR is a distraction. The head coach reiterated previous comments saying that he can only go by what Brown does in the building, how he interacts with everybody — which are things media doesn’t get a chance to see.
“It’s business as usual.”
Reporters pushed back, saying that Brown’s comments would suggest that things aren’t just business as usual, but Sirianni was done talking about the topic.
“I’m close to being done answering these questions with this. He’s working hard and he is a big part of this game plan and he’ll be a big part of the game plan going forward. And, he’s working like crazy when he’s here, and I’m excited to have him.”
On Jaire Alexander stepping away
Sirianni said that he respects Alexander and really enjoyed his brief time with the cornerback, but as the decision to step away was a health-related one, he didn’t want to speak too much about it — or speak much about what they knew about his health prior to making the trade for him.
As for how that changes their thoughts on the cornerback room, the head coach noted that he was pretty happy with how the secondary played on Monday night in Green Bay.
“I thought Adoree’ [Jackson] played really well. I think that we were able to watch practice this week — thought Michael Carter did an excellent job this week, starting to get confidence and build confidence in him. Was really excited about Jakorian [Bennett] before he got injured, really happy to have him back, and then Kelee [Ringo has] given us really good reps. And obviously, you have Q [Quinyon Mitchell] and Coop [Cooper DeJean] back there as well. So, feel really good about the depth at that [position].”
On the kill-shot play call
Sirianni doubled down and said he still likes the play call on the deep pass to A.J. Brown on fourth down at the end of the game. When asked if he called the play, he immediately stood behind making the call to go for it on fourth down. He was pressed a little further and asked specifically if he called for that pass, and he again said yes, but with less emphasis.
“Anytime you go into a game, you know the plays that we’re running on fourth down — obviously, you know what plays are being run the whole game, but specifically fourth down — because when you go into that fourth down decision, if it works, that’s great it continues drives and in that case it would’ve ended the game, and if it doesn’t work, you understand as the head coach, it’s all going to be on you.”
The head coach went on to say that he knew what play they were calling, knew everything that went into it, and it just happens that on that one, it didn’t work.
When asked about his reaction to the play that was captured on camera — showing Sirianni said “Why” twice — he joked about not being able to explain every single reaction he has on the sideline because is that what he said, how did it time up, and it “Why” could’ve been about so many different things.
He reiterated that he has utmost confidence in the players, which is why they run that play, and he trusts the guys to make the right decisions when tasked to. Sirianni also pointed out that they’ve always been aggressive on fourth down, and many times it’s been advantageous for them and resulted in more points.
When asked specifically about player comments suggesting it was Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown went rogue and chose the play, Sirianni was stern in his reply.
“I knew exactly what the play was that we were calling and that was run in that moment.”
On A.J. Brown’s production
As for why Brown was targeted for a majority of the game, Sirianni explained that the stat sheet only tells so much of the story, because on DeVonta Smith’s touchdown, that play is actually a pass to Brown, but the Packers defense took away that option so Hurts went over top. Some games will go that way, which is something he’s repeated a lot this season.
Sirianni was later asked about the season as a whole and why Brown’s production has been down. The head coach said that he feels the WR has been moving around well, and he’s still getting out breaks well, he’s still physical, strong, and quick.
