The Philadelphia Eagles are taking their title defense more seriously than most.
The defending Super Bowl champions are set to have their 2024 banner raised into the Lincoln Financial Field rafters before their Thursday night clash against the Dallas Cowboys in Philadelphia, Pa. The fans are more than ready to soak in the moment, but the same can’t be said of the players and coaching staff.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters Tuesday that he was not even aware that their season opener coincides with the banner ceremony.
“I didn’t know it was banner night,” Sirianni claimed. “We won’t be out for that.”
Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown stayed aligned with his coach when asked about the decision later in the day.
“I think from the outside, I think the city and everybody that’s been talking about it,” said Brown. “But this building has been locked in. We put that to bed long ago. We just ready to go. That’s over with. A lot of the players didn’t even experience that, so, that’s over.”
It’s hard to imagine an NFL coach not being aware that a team’s Super Bowl banner gets raised during the reigning winner’s first game of the season. Sirianni may have just been purposely ignoring the event, given how he’s approached the offseason with the Eagles thus far.
From the moment Philly won the Super Bowl, Sirianni was already thinking about the next one. He has operated under that mentality all offseason by constantly reminding his Eagles players that their Super Bowl win was in the past.
