The Eagles kicked off their season with a 24-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys, but Head Coach Nick Sirianni made sure expectations were set before the opener.
In what has become a yearly conversation, Sirianni met with the entire team in the NovaCare Complex auditorium and took each of the players through their role for the 2025 season. Of course, everything is fluid and things can change, but Sirianni wants to let everyone know their job ahead of Week 1.
"Roles change, talks change, you try to keep things fresh, but I think that's an important meeting for multiple reasons," Sirianni said before the season. "One, I think it's very important that everyone's job description is very clear, and it's very clear of what we expect from our players.
"It is tough to hold somebody accountable if it's not clear. I want their teammates to hear what that is, too, so they can encourage them and hold them accountable as well within their role."
In the most recent episode of All-Access, presented by Lincoln Financial, Eagles Entertainment takes viewers inside the auditorium for Sirianni's message to key players.
The head coach is clear about what he expects and is transparent that players like A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert might have quiet games because of the offensive flow. That happened in the season opener when Brown only saw one target, but Sirianni lauded Brown for staying locked in when the ball wasn't coming his way, something he harped on during the role meeting.
"This is something that we constantly talk about in the roles talk is, 'Yeah, A.J., DeVonta, Dallas, the pass game runs through you, but there are going to be games like this where you might not get the touches that we want you to get and we know that you want to get because it can help us win the football game. In those moments, what are you doing to change the football game without the ball in your hands?'" Sirianni said on Monday. "On the touchdown run by Saquon (Barkley), you get two great blocks by A.J. and DeVonta that allowed him to get to the third level of the defense."
Safety Reed Blankenship is someone who has seen his role change each season under Sirianni. He made the Eagles initial 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and has developed into a starter and team captain this season.
"It's very unique. I've never been around a coach that specifically gives people their roles," Blankenship said. "It's cool to see and it's cool to see how people react to it, whether it's negative, positive whatever, but I feel like we got the guys in the room to react as positive as possible, because they know that their opportunity is coming and they got to start somewhere. That's how it started with me. I got a start somewhere, just give me that one chance and then roles can change." — Written by Matt Ryan
