A mini-bye weekend well spent for Head Coach Nick Sirianni and the coaching staff was about "looking for solutions and not assigning blame" as the Eagles prepare for a road game on Sunday at the 3-2 Minnesota Vikings.
One of the solutions to find is an edge situation for the defense with the news on Monday of Za'Darius Smith's decision to retire after joining the team for his 11th NFL season on September 5, one day after the regular season opened against Dallas.
"I wish him the best. I really enjoyed having him on this football team while he was on this football team," Sirianni said in his virtual press conference with reporters. "As far as my confidence in the guys there on the defensive line, a lot of confidence in them.
"I like that position. I like the depth we have at that position. The numbers at how they play now will be distributed a little differently."
Everyone shares in the success and challenges of a football team, Sirianni has said many times. So, any specific blame is something the team does not engage in and as the Eagles looked at the tape of Thursday's loss to the New York Giants, individual blame – coaches or players – was not the focus.
Improving as a team and gaining a win at Minnesota is what matters. To do that, the Eagles have a collective mindset. That is the only path forward for the 4-2 Eagles.
"Any time we're in a streak where we are right now," Sirianni said, "having lost two games in a row, we're not here to assign blame. We're here to find solutions and that's what this whole weekend was about. How do we put the guys in positions to be more physical? How is their rest or whatever it is from their bodies, how are their bodies feeling, always look inward first.
"We know what the strength of our team has been – winning at the line of scrimmage. I have so much confidence in these guys – offensive line and defensive line, that we'll get back to that."
Sirianni and his staff used the mini-bye weekend to review the opening six games to "figure things out," and said the group "has a lot of thoughts, a lot of things we want to put into action," but did not get specific. The goal, he said, is to "be more efficient on first and second down because right now we are not near our standard on third down."
The players reported to the NovaCare Complex on Monday after having the weekend off to rest and relax as the Eagles eye a Vikings team that relies on a heavy blitz package defensively and brings a great pass-catching corps and balanced offense to the table next Sunday.
The Eagles won four straight games to open this season and are coming off losses to Denver and the Giants and all three phases of the team contributed to all six games. Win or lose, that's how the Eagles are going to approach moving forward and winning football games. A team that started 2-2 in 2024 turned things around after its bye week, and the Eagles are looking for the same kind of improvement now as they play Minnesota and the New York Giants again before taking the full week off in Week 9.
The offense wants more efficiency in its performance, defense looks for more consistency, and the special teams unit has the same task preparing for the Vikings. At 4-2, the Eagles are still atop the NFC East and working to play their best football.
"Our job as coaches is to put them (players) in the best positions they can be to succeed," Sirianni said. "The players' job is to go execute. We all know we need to do that at a higher level – coaches, players, everything."
