Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts endured perhaps one of the most disappointing endings to a season in recent memory. After coasting through the first two-thirds of the season, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ Super Bowl hopes hit a brick wall as the team ran out of gas in December.
Losing in such a fashion can unravel any working relationship, but despite rumors and reports setting the state of a potential divide brewing between Hurts and Sirianni, the head coach denied any friction.
According to Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter/X, Sirianni cautioned against taking the reports as facts.
“Judge your relationships on personal interactions with people not any report that comes out,” Sirianni said.
He went on to claim that his relationship with Hurts was “good.”
Of course, similar reports surfaced surrounding Bears head coach Matt Eberflus and Justin Fields last season. Now, Fields and Eberflus have gone their separate ways.
Considering Hurts’ massive contract still on the books, it would appear that if anyone were to exit the relationship, it would be Sirianni.
However, as it stands, the two have a hold on their jobs with two hands as training camp gets underway. If the Eagles win at a high clip and head for a deep playoff run to close the year, one would believe both jobs are safe. That said, if the team starts as cold this year as it did to end the 2023 season, the ice then may get thin.
As of now, the two beating hearts of the team appear to be on good terms, and winning quells most of these kinds of reports. On the other hand, losing increases their quantity and volume.
“Tush Push’s” life expectancy uncertain in 2024
One of the biggest questions surrounding the team in addition to Hurts’ relationship with Sirianni is the fate of the Tush Push. Last year, the play took the league by storm. However, with Jason Kelce retired, it is unclear whether the near-automatic goal-line play will live on.
Teams across the league attempted to duplicate the play last season. They failed in their attempts. With Kelce now gone, Eagles fans can only hope that he wasn’t the silver bullet for the play.
If Jalen Hurts or Nick Sirianni’s design was the source of its success, the play is strongly likely to return in effectiveness. However, if it was Kelce’s magic trick alone, the Eagles will have to find a new way to run their short-yardage offense.
