After the Philadelphia Eagles destroyed Washington 24-8 a month ago, Nick Sirianni was in a jovial mood and wore a throwback jersey to his post-game press conference. He proudly had No. 82 on his chest in honor of former All-Pro receiver Mike Quick.
It appeared as if he was simply paying homage to a legend at the time. Problem is, Sirianni uttered the names of two Washington Hall of Famers in some hokey, off-the-cuff comments. It wasn’t supposed to be offensive, although one Commanders player took it that way.
“Always was a Quick fan,” Sirianni said on September 25. “He had some great success here in Washington against, I think it was, I talked to him today, it was against Darrell Green. So, and then, uh, I am taking Mike Quick over Art Monk any day.”
No harm in those comments, right? Wrong. Following Washington’s 32-21 upset win in Week 10, Washington receiver Terry McLaurin returned the favor. Shots fired.
“Yeah, you got the insider,” McLaurin said. “Shout out to Art Monk.”
McLaurin went off for 128 yards on 8 receptions last week against Philadelphia. Sirianni’s words appeared to motivate him to defend the honor of Monk, a guy he called a “great man and a great mentor.”
Terry McLaurin on becoming an alpha and taking on more of a leadership role over time.
Said he reminded his teammates, “We don’t have to be anybody’s punching bag.”
Eagles Add Tougjness in Linval Joseph, Ndamukong Suh
The Eagles are on to bigger and better things as they look ahead to Indianapolis. They still own the best record in football at 8-1 — remember, Philadelphia owns the tie-breaker over Minnesota — and a flurry of moves to strengthen their defensive line have shown the Eagles mean business. The additions of Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh give them credible Super Bowl experience, plus intangible toughness. Those guys will fit right in.
“The guys that we have in this building are tough, and they play through things. They are mentally tough, physically tough. These guys just add to that,” Sirianni told reporters. “One thing when you are looking at the toughness of your football team, you are looking at how you’re blocking, how you’re knocking back blocks, how you’re tackling, how you’re protecting the football.”
And Sirianni isn’t worried about disrupting team chemistry by inserting two new pieces this late in the year.
Nick Sirianni isn’t worried about Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh messing up team chemistry: “I’m not.”
Added this about their experience: “That’s a really big thing to have guys with that experience that know how to win.” #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
Eagles Injury Report: Josh Jobe Out, A.J. Brown Full
The Eagles issued lengthy injury reports throughout the week with as many as 13 players on it at one point. Never mind. Everyone appears ready to go for Week 11 against the Indianapolis Colts. Rookie cornerback Josh Jobe (hamstring) was the only player ruled out for Sunday on the final injury report.
Receivers A.J. Brown (ankle) and DeVonta Smith (knee) were both full participants at Friday’s session, while All-Pro center Jason Kelce (ankle) carries no injury designation heading into the game. The Eagles are healthy.
Friday injury report
Will Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh see any snaps this week? That remains to be seen.
“They have been in this a long time,” Sirianni said, “and they know what it takes to get themselves ready, not only their bodies ready but their minds ready to go to go out there and rip it.”
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Commanders Star Fires Back at Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni