Eagles recalibrate during mini-bye after a Giant loss
Also: Za'Darius Smith's sudden retirement
From The Morning Call: https://tinyurl.com/m3urae4y
PHILADELPHIA — A brutal Thursday night loss to the New York Giants forced the Eagles into a soul-searching weekend. As they prepare for a critical Week 7 trip to Minnesota, coach Nick Sirianni insists his team is focused on finding answers rather than assigning blame.
In a 34-17 drubbing at MetLife Stadium, the Giants (2-4) controlled the line of scrimmage and dictated tempo — something Sirianni conceded fell below the Eagles’ usual standards.
It was the second game in a row that the Birds were beaten in the trenches. The first was came when the Denver Broncos mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback at Lincoln Financial Field.
“Toughness entails a lot of different things, right?” Sirianni said Monday at NovaCare Complex. “When we speak of toughness, we’re talking about our effort, our physicality, and our mental toughness. I think that at the end of the day, they obviously had more yards than us rushing and they did a good job. You’ve got to give credit to them.”
The Eagles’ run defense was gashed repeatedly as New York’s ground game churned out first downs and dictated down-and-distance.
“We know a strength of our team has been winning at the line of scrimmage,” Sirianni said. “I have so much confidence in these guys, offensive line and defensive line, that we’ll get back to that.”
The defeat dropped the Eagles to 4-2. After starting the season with a Super Bowl-champion swagger, the Birds have spent the past few days reassessing.
The Thursday game offered a mini-bye, which Sirianni and his staff used to review both offensive and defensive inconsistencies, particularly on early downs.
“This weekend was good for us to be able to really dive into a lot of those things,” he said. “Obviously, you don’t have the same amount of time that you have in a bye week, but you treat it as a mini bye week. And it’s also important that everyone gets a chance to rest and recover because when you’re on a short week — coaches, players, everybody — you put yourself behind a little bit in all departments.”
The focus, Sirianni explained, was early-down efficiency.
“We’re not near our standard on third down,” he said. “Why is that? Well, third-and-seven-plus, eight-plus, it’s going to be harder to convert than third-and-shorters. A lot of that is the efficiency. We looked at that. That’s in the run game and in the pass game and coming up with solutions there.”
Predictability has been a growing talking point around the offense. Veteran right tackle Lane Johnson mentioned that opposing defenses seem to have a bead on Philadelphia’s calls.
Sirianni acknowledged the concern: “You never want to be predictable, obviously. As you look at teams, it’s like, ‘How do we make this team one dimensional so we can make them predictable in the pass game?’ That’s what defenses are trying to do.”
Hurts’ deep ball scrutinized
Quarterback Jalen Hurts’ downfield accuracy came under the microscope after he overthrew potential touchdowns in back-to-back games and threw his first interception of the season. Sirianni defended his quarterback’s overall body of work.
“When the ball goes further and further down the field, you’re not going to be a hundred percent on those,” he said. “Jalen’s throwing of the deep ball — we chart everything. I think his deep ball accuracy is one of the better deep ball accuracies in the league, which is why I kind of pushed back on that question.”
Smith retires, edge depth shifts
The Eagles’ edge rotation took a hit Monday when veteran pass rusher Za’Darius Smith unexpectedly walked away from football. Sirianni learned of the decision early Monday morning.
“I wish him the best, and I really enjoyed having him on this football team,” he said.
Smith, 33, signed with the Eagles Sept. 5. On Monday he posted on Instagram, “I knew this day would come — but now that it’s here, I’m feeling so many emotions I never expected.”
With Nolan Smith still sidelined for a couple of weeks, the team will rely on young players like Jalyx Hunt to fill snaps on the edge.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean has returned from injury, giving Philadelphia more flexibility. Sirianni praised the linebacker room, which also includes Jihaad Campbell, Zack Baun, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Smael Mondon.
“Really excited about that group and the things that they bring, both defensively and special teams-wise,” he said.
It’s possible that Campbell could play some snaps at edge rather than inside.
The Eagles also made a pair of roster moves on the defensive side, signing CB Tariq Castro-Fields to the practice squad and releasing CB Eli Ricks.
Next up: Vikings
The mini-bye ends with one of the tougher road games on the schedule as the Birds travel to Minneapolis, a matchup that will test both their physicality and execution.
“This isn’t like you lose this one and then you’ve got to wait again to play for a year,” Sirianni said, referencing the Giants defeat. “No, we get an opportunity to go out, get better from this, continue to come together as a football team and get back to work.”
The Vikings have thrived on disrupting early downs and pressuring quarterbacks, an area where Philadelphia’s offense has faltered recently. How quickly Sirianni’s group applies those mini-bye adjustments will determine whether the Eagles’ skid becomes something to seriously worry about.
NOTES: The Eagles made a pair of roster moves on the practice squad, signing CB Tariq Castro-Fields and releasing CB Eli Ricks.
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.