Nick Sirianni, Eagles face questions after late-season collapse, playoff exit

TAMPA, Fla. — Eagles coach Nick Sirianni confronted questions on his future following Monday evening’s wild-card playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that capped a shocking late-season collapse wherein Philadelphia misplaced six of its final seven video games following a 10-1 begin.

“I am not eager about that,” Sirianni mentioned when requested if he was involved about his job standing. “I am eager about the blokes. All the blokes in that locker room, each single considered one of them, they put their coronary heart and soul into this. I am not apprehensive about me. As the pinnacle coach, I am simply attempting to be there for our guys and our workers proper now by means of a troublesome time.”

The 11-6 Eagles entered Monday as highway favorites (-3.5) in opposition to the 9-8 Bucs however misplaced 32-9 in a blowout.

Philadelphia went 0-for-11 on third down and fourth down mixed, changing into the primary staff since 1988 to not convert on these downs in a playoff sport. And the 9 factors had been the fewest it had scored since Week 7 of the 2021 season in opposition to the New York Giants.

The Eagles turned simply the second staff in NFL historical past to start out a season 10-1 or higher and end with seven losses, becoming a member of the 1986 New York Jets.

“You see what this staff was, you see how the staff ended and the slide that we had with no stopping, it’s extremely irritating,” Philadelphia sort out Lane Johnson mentioned. “It is a wild enterprise we’re in. No one’s secure.”

Quarterback Jalen Hurts didn’t reply instantly when requested if he needed Sirianni again for one more season.

“I did not know he was going anyplace,” Hurts mentioned.

When requested what his confidence stage is in Sirianni to repair the staff, Hurts mentioned: “I’ve a ton of confidence in everybody on this constructing. It is only a matter of us going on the market and enjoying clear soccer. That’s one thing that we now have not finished.”

Apart from Sirianni, there are questions on whether or not Eagles middle Jason Kelce will return for a 14th marketing campaign. Cameras confirmed Kelce, a seven-time Professional Bowler, getting emotional on the sidelines as the sport was coming to a detailed.

Kelce declined to speak with reporters within the locker room, saying: “No guys, not at this time.”

“I like him. He is among the finest to ever play the sport,” mentioned Johnson, who allowed that Kelce has “hinted” that this was his final yr. “The issues he can do on the soccer subject athletically, I do not suppose we’ll see one other one like him for a very long time.”