The Philadelphia Eagles suffered a frustrating defeat on New Years Eve against the Arizona Cardinals, but head coach Nick Sirianni reassured fans that they are not worried or concerned about the team’s current performance.

“Obviously, we are not playing the type of football or coaching the type of football we want to be right now at this time. Again, we have to go back to the drawing board and think through everything, what we’re doing.

So, concerned? No, I don’t think we think that way. All I think we think is how do we get these things fixed. How do we get these things fixed. How do we put the players in positions to succeed. How do we execute as a team. And so that’s what’s going to be on our minds is how do we get these things fixed.

Worry and concern doesn’t get any problems fixed. It doesn’t fix anything. Getting in there, grinding, figuring out what the answers are, that’s what gets things fixed. Worry and concern does not.”

Sirianni went on to express the following:

On defensive issues

Sirianni admitted that the Eagles defense struggled to stop the run, allowing the Cardinals to control possession. He acknowledged the need for improvement in putting players in positions to succeed and executing effectively.

“I still believe in the guys in that locker room, the players. I still believe in the coaches. I think we’ve got the guys in this place to get turned in the right direction. We don’t have much time, obviously, right. We’ve got one more game before playoffs starts, and we’ve got to do everything we can do to get back on track this upcoming week.

I think there’s been spurts, obviously, the last couple games where we played good ball on defense. Tonight wasn’t one of those times.”

He also suggested that former DC Jonathan Gannon likely recalled Washington’s game plan against the Eagles last year, prioritizing keeping the offense off the field.

On Jalen Hurts’ performance

When asked about Hurts sliding, resulting in third-and-long situations, Sirianni emphasized the importance of the QB protecting himself.

“He needs to protect himself at all times. Obviously, he played an unbelievable game. The ball didn’t touch the ground very often. I don’t know what all his stats were, but I know the ball didn’t touch the ground. He was in complete control of the game, and he needs to protect himself in those times.

He took a hit on one of them earlier but obviously he’s able to get chunks in the run game. So, we still need to be able to use that. But when it’s time to call it quits, he’s got to do that, and we want him to do that.”

On the onside kick

Sirianni explained that after an onside kick, the goal is to score and take time off the clock, while remaining aggressive and attempting to get into the endzone.

“You’re into a four-minute mode but you’re still being aggressive because they still have all the time outs. So, you’re able to pass. You’re able to get out of bounds. You’re able to get the first down. All those different things. Hey, they executed and they got off the field and they held us to a field goal. Just didn’t work out tonight.”

The head coach also admitted that he had no idea an onside kick was coming, and gave a lot of credit to the special teams unit for picking that up.

On game management

Sirianni disagreed with the notion that they were conservative on the final drive, explaining that the play calls were designed to exploit gaps in the defensive scheme.

“We could have thrown it there, too. We chose to go there. Hey, it didn’t hit. But I think that sometimes with the gap scheme stuff that you do, it’s more of, you’ve got to do some different things to cancel out gaps if they are bringing everything out.”

He also took responsibility for the team’s lack of timeouts late in the game, attributing it to communication issues that he should have addressed better.

On his message to the team

“Stick together. Stick together. Everyone’s got to stick together. I think there’s going to be a lot of people trying to point the finger at different things and everybody’s got to stick together, right. We win as a team. We lose as a team. And together is the most important thing that we can be right now.

We are in the playoffs. A lot of teams want to be in the playoffs. We are in the playoffs. We still can do some things here and our goals are still in front of us. Can you get the 1-seed? Can you win the division? I know you can’t get the 1-seed now, but can you still win the division? Yes. Stick together because we still have goals, and we still have things that we want to accomplish.”

Sirianni acknowledged that their path through the postseason will be harder now that they don’t have home-field advantage and can’t obtain the No. 1 seed, but emphasized that there are still opportunities to reach their goals if they address their issues.