Getty New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh on October 31, 2021.
In case you missed it, New York Jets linebacker Quincy Williams carried out a late hit on Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts during the early stages of the August 12 preseason outing between the two franchises.
After the game, Jets head coach Robert Saleh even admitted that the out-of-bounds tackle from Williams was “egregiously awful.”
Needless to say, the Eagles weren’t too pleased with Gang Green breaking the unwritten rule of summer football, and a video of Philly head coach Nick Sirianni’s explosive sideline reaction went viral after the game.
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Choice Words From Sirianni
Philly Nation shared the clip on Twitter, which featured a pissed-off Sirianni screaming expletives across the gridiron. “SALEHHHH, WHAT THE F***????!!!” Yelled the Eagles coach with the fire of 1,000 suns.
“That’s f****** bull****!” He continued in his tirade.
Nick Sirianni right after the hit on Jalen Hurts:
“SALEHHHH, WHAT THE FUCK????!!!”🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Two days later on August 14, the video clip already has 9,500 likes and counting. NFL coaches get fired up sometimes but rarely do you see one call out his counterpart mid-game with curse words mixed in.
Heavy on Eagles reporter Michael Greger tweeted out a video of the play in question, calling it “dirty and unnecessary.” He added: “Nick Sirianni understandably lost his cool.”
Here’s the play in question, dirty and unnecessary hit on Jalen Hurts in a preseason game. Nick Sirianni understandably lost his cool. #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
Williams and the Jets were penalized 15 yards and an automatic first down for this hit.
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Cooler Heads Prevail After the Game
Sirianni did speak after the game and he calmed down a bit after talking it out with Saleh on the field.
“I wasn’t mad at Coach Saleh, I was mad at the situation,” Sirianni told reporters. “I was more mad at the player, than Coach Saleh. Coach Saleh is a great guy. I have so much respect for him. It was just [the] emotions of the game. I was just sticking up for Jalen [Hurts]. I’ll never apologize for sticking up for my players. I should have handled it a little bit better than I did.”
Hurts also chatted about Williams’ penalty during his press conference, displaying a cool and collected water under the bridge mindset.
“I’m very pleased to be talking about this hit if this is the biggest takeaway from the night,” Hurts joked. “You definitely don’t want to come out here in these games and take hits, let alone a late hit like that. But it happened. I’m not tripping about it. It happens. I’m healthy. I’m fine. I got right back up and played the next play.”
There doesn’t appear to be any bad blood between the Jets and Eagles, who don’t share the same rivalry in football as their fanbases do in another sport like baseball.
Coach Saleh even noted that Williams “knows better and those are the plays that Quincy has got to get out of his game if he wants to become the linebacker that we all think he can be.”
A firm public scolding and a supposed face-to-face apology with Sirianni after the game. The combination of those two Saleh-led responses appears to have done the trick in defusing a very tense situation on a boiling hot summer night.
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