One thing everyone has known about Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni over the years is that he can be aggressive in his decision-making, but that is now being called into question.
Last year, the Eagles leaned on running the football on early downs and calling pass plays that are safer for quarterback Jalen Hurts to make. Sports Radio 94 WIP host Tom Kelly called out Sirianni and Hurts for playing it too safe and wants the head coach to step in and change it.
"But I think one of the issues, one of the main issues that— and whether this is a Jalen thing or Nick thing, and I think it's kind of both of them— is I think Nick and his preference to be conservative and not turn the ball over was a massive issue. And I think that's the way that Nick generally leans conservative, don't, you know, take chances with the football. You need to do that sometimes. And not that I want to turn the ball over more— obviously you don't want to do that— but you need to take chances."
Philly radio host wants the Eagles to be more aggressive passing the ball
Kelly acknowledged it before the quote, but he did mention that things did not work out with former Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo last year. It didn't work because Patullo called too many hitch routes and would put the team behind the sticks on third down when he ran the same predictive running plays on first and second down.
Now that Sean Mannion is taking over as offensive coordinator, that should completely change with more motions and RPO plays being called. Mannion has something to prove as a play-caller, so he will be more aggressive with his calls.
Hurts has something to prove since the NFL thinks he's the 17th-best quarterback. Now that he doesn't need to force-feed the ball to A.J. Brown after his trade last month, Hurts is more open to spreading the ball around to the open guy.
There are times whenHurts can 100% be conservative, but that's better than the alternative. Remember 2023 when he was aggressive and threw a career-high 15 interceptions during the season? Let's not revert back to those days.
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The Eagles can be aggressive while being smart about throwing the football. Give Mannion and Hurts time to work it out in training camp, and the two will find the right balance between them.
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