Philadelphia Eagles fans may have turned on Nick Sirianni following the team’s collapse this season, but it appears the coach still has the support of the locker room.
Eagles players spoke with the media on Wednesday as they cleared out their lockers two days after their disappointing 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. One popular question that was asked is whether Sirianni should return as the head coach in Philly next season.
Fletcher Cox did not want to hear it. The veteran defensive tackle called one reporter a “clown” for asking about Sirianni’s job status and said “there ain’t even no f—ing discussion” to be had.
Fletcher Cox and Jason Kelce go to bat for Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni in a big way on Wednesday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/Mme8sPBJ8k
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) January 17, 2024
Cox then gave a strong defense of Sirianni’s body of work.
“What is there to talk about? This man, he’s a winner. He’s a winning head coach,” Cox said. “Did we have some bumps this year? Yeah, but every team, every organization, everybody goes through it. We don’t look at firing a man who, obviously, just won 10-plus games two years in a row and took this organization to three playoff appearance three years in a row.
“He’s a good leader for this team. He does a really good job. Did we come up short? Yeah. Did things happen this year? Yeah. But I don’t discuss firing a man. This man got a family. I don’t discuss anything about that.”
Cox’s feelings were echoed by Jason Kelce and several other Eagles players. Even though the Eagles began the season 10-1 before before collapsing and losing six of their final seven games, the consensus in the locker room seems to be that Sirianni was not the issue.
Sirianni has been the head coach of the Eagles for three seasons. The team went 9-8 in his first year and lost in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. Philly then went 14-3 last season and made the Super Bowl.
A report on Wednesday made it seem like the Eagles have made a decision about Sirianni’s future.
