In four regular games this season, the Philadelphia Eagles have a 2-2 score by now. And as per many, this team has arguably become a disappointing squad to watch unravel for two back-to-back seasons. They are coming off the latest loss to the Buccaneers with 17 points, and as obvious, the locker room isn’t feeling right this season.

However, quarterback Jalen Hurts still has a cold response to the question asked by a reporter post-September 29 game. The 26-year-old was recently asked, “Jalen, you and Nick are obviously big voices on the team as the QB and the coach. As you enter the bye and you want to find an identity, do you two talk about maybe what you want the message to be to the team or how you want to handle [things] as you go into the second part of the year?” To which, Hurts replied, “We have our moments.” Well, it’s not new for Hurts to answer in such a way, as whenever he is asked about the coach, the QB has always a casual answer to give. Nevertheless, Nick Sirianni has a clear answer about his team and the quarterback.

Nick Sirianni doesn’t think it’s all the fault of Jalen Hurts?

The Eagles were one of the best teams till last year’s halfway point. However, since the middle of the 2023 season, everything started falling apart for the Birds. But this year hasn’t started as expected for the franchise, and now, with recurring offensive mistakes – such as tight end Dallas Goedert’s drop on the first play of the second drive in the Tampa game, or Jalen Hurts failing to connect with Saquon Barkley on a long throw that ended up sailing out of bounds – concerns are mounting.

Hence, when coach Nick Sirianni was asked about the players’ errors, especially that of Hurts’, the 43-year-old explained that the Eagles hold players accountable for their mistakes, but they do it privately, behind the scenes. According to reporter Zach Berman on X, Sirianni said, “I get that the quarterback is always going to be the guy that’s scrutinized for the fumble because it goes on him. Same thing as an interception.”

Hence, the coach made sure that he wouldn’t publicly blame Jalen Hurts for errors, even if they were his fault. He further added, “But there are different things that account for it. I thought the protection was good on the play. And sometimes it is his fault, right? But I’m not going to tell you, ‘Hey, on this particular one, this was his, or that.’ I’m not going to do that.” Though it’s normal for a coach to approach this way to a question of errors on players and quarterbacks, the fact that he isn’t openly addressing the fault adds to an interesting dynamic.

This is interesting because, at least he knows there are some problems in the team. Although he isn’t ready to point out the players, he accepted the mistakes made in their loss against the Bucs.

Nick Sirianni admitted that Jalen Hurts and the players weren’t ready

The Eagles traveled to Tampa to take avenge last season’s playoff loss to the Buccaneers. But it didn’t take long for the game to slip away for them. In Sunday’s game, the Bucs quickly scored on their first two drives, while the Eagles struggled, failing to gain any yards in their first quarter. By the time the Philadelphia Eagles finally got on the board, they were down 24-0. This slow and unexpected performance brought the final score of 33-16 for Philly. Hence, it was obvious, the upcoming questions after the loss were about to rip the coach Nick Sirianni.

After the game, the HC took a hard look in the mirror. While speaking in the presser, he said, “We obviously didn’t start well, down 24-0 to start things off. Obviously, no excuse for that. We didn’t come out [well]. We didn’t coach well enough and we didn’t play well enough.” In addition to it, Sirianni pointed to missed tackles and dropped passes in the game, while admitting that both coaching and player performance fell short.

Now at 2-2, the Eagles are hoping to regroup during their bye week. So, this loss to the Bucs was a wake-up call for them. Now, the question is, will they recover their spot after coming back?