Nick Sirianni stood at the podium minutes after the 24-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field and explained his perspective on a football team that has now dropped two consecutive games and his decision-making late in the fourth quarter with the Eagles ahead by 10 points.
Battling with so much heart and effort in the face of extensive injuries throughout the roster, Sirianni spoke on a variety of subjects with his football team now 2-2.
On the decision to go for the touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line with the Eagles leading 20-10 as the offense picked up four first downs and ate 6 minutes, 40 seconds off the clock, Sirianni said: "I wanted to make it a three-score game right there. Fourth-and-2 from the 2, you leave them in a true backed-up scenario. I'm very well aware of how the fourth-down decisions go as the head coach. You go for it and you get it, great. You go for it and you don't get it, that's on the head coach. And we didn't get it, so that's on me."
On the absence of right tackle Lane Johnson, who was listed as questionable for personal reasons on Sunday morning and then was on the team's inactive list, Sirianni said: "He's dealing with a personal matter and that's really all I'm going to say."
On the team's injury picture, which worsened on Sunday when running back Saquon Barkley (hamstring), cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (knee), outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard (ankle), and running back Tank Bigsby (hip) left the game with injuries, adding to a list that included wide receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring), linebacker Zack Baun (concussion), tight end Dallas Goedert (knee), safety Marcus Epps (groin), wide receiver Hollywood Brown (ankle), and offensive tackle Fred Johnson (knee), Sirianni said: "You could ask me that question if we had 30 guys down. I'm never going to use anything as an excuse. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror. We have to pick ourselves back up. Life hands you a lot of different scenarios. Football hands you a lot of different scenarios. You got to be accountable to who you are and what you do, each and every one of us. And you'll never hear me say a word about an injury. I have a lot of faith in everybody on this football team. There's a reason they're Philadelphia Eagles. I got to do a better job. We got to play better. We got to coach better. All of us have things to get better from. I don't care who's on the field."
On the offense, which put up 20 points in the first half and none in the second half, Sirianni said: "It hasn't been good enough. You're trying to make sure as you find out who you are that you're playing with detail and that you're playing together and you're playing with toughness and we still got ways to go there and it's obvious that we're still trying to figure that out."
