The DiCecco Daily: "Unprecedented Situation" Puts Nick Sirianni In Tough Spot

Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome in to another episode of DiCecco Daily. It's Andrew DiCecco, Eagles beat reporter for insidethebirds.com. And we have an update on the scary situation concerning Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. His agent, Nicole Lin, released a statement in conjunction with the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a joint statement and it reads, Over the last few days, Jalen Hurts has received comprehensive medical evaluations by physician experts. In the interest of transparency, we are providing additional information on the diagnosis and treatment plan related to his condition. Jalen was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis. After further testing and monitoring, the current diagnosis is a deep vein thrombosis, as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli. He is clinically stable and has no significant functional limitations. His treatment should only involve anti-coeligulation, i.e. blood thinners during this time. He will not be allowed to participate in any contact activities including football. Jalen's prognosis is very good, and we expect a full recovery. We anticipate that he will have the opportunity to resume contact football activities when off the blood thinners. In the meantime, he will remain active around the team and continue to condition. More importantly, we anticipate that he will have no long-term effects. We are thinking of Jalen and looking forward to a strong recovery. And that was a statement on the health status of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts from the Philadelphia Eagles and Jalen Hurts' agent, Nicole Lin. So clearly, a really scary situation that's continuing to develop and we're gathering more information. I know Geoff and Adam did a podcast on it earlier today. So I'm not going to pile on and discuss it a whole lot further. But the priority here is Jalen Hurts the person. This is not a football situation. This is a life situation. And what you're hoping right now is that Jalen is one, in good spirits, and is able to continue to persevere through this. And the most important thing is the note here that says, we anticipate that he will have no long-term effects. So that is certainly encouraging. And if you've been keeping an eye on social media, there seemingly are reports coming out throughout the day. This is the biggest story in sports right now, quite frankly, and rightfully so. It's an unprecedented situation. And you heard from Nick Sirianni today. And Nick Sirianni was really clear, I guess. And I should say, he was very, he went with the same line that you would expect. And he mentioned that he's not a medical expert. He talked about supporting the medical team there. And he said, the health of our players is always at the forefront of our minds. And we leave that up to the medical experts. But we always, always care deeply about our players. And then he talked about completely focused on together and connection. So that was kind of a prevailing theme from Nick. He didn't offer much in terms of adding some more clarity and information to the forefront. And that's where things leave. That's where things stand right now. But I want to get to a football-related topic as we segue. Because Nick Sirianni was asked whether or not Sean Mannion is still calling plays going forward. And Nick Sirianni said yes. Now, it's important to remember that after the game, Nick Sirianni said that everything's on the table. And what could be different there? Now, and he said, not going to get too much into that. Obviously, we're looking at everything. And there are conversations that I've had with the staff this whole morning and everything's on the table. Oh, but we've done this. Yeah, well, maybe this isn't working quite as good. All right, so this is on the table. Without getting too much into scheme, I'm saying to you, obviously, it hasn't looked the way we wanted it to look. And we're not scoring enough points. So everything is on the table. Again, I'll do everything we can do. Our coaches will do everything we can do to help us win football games. If I said, hey, this is all on the table, but this isn't, everything's on the table. As far as who's coaching the positions and who's calling the plays, that will remain the same. We're looking for answers and we're looking for solutions. Nick Sirianni has often said that he's not looking to assign blame, he's trying to find solutions. Well, we're entering week seven and there don't appear to be any clear cut solutions here for the offense. And I wanna reemphasize something that I said on the Post Game Podcast and that is the alarming rate of three and outs and how they have not been able to yet rectify that at this stage of the season. And what you're seeing is a defense, which I believe is elite or damn near close to being elite. And they're now being put out there for 70 plus snaps, 78 snaps against the Carolina Panthers. And really, with the exception of week two against the Tennessee Titans, the defense has been out there for 70 plus snaps, which is not sustainable. And it doesn't matter how much of a star-studded cast you're fielding, how good of a coordinator Vic Fangio is, naturally, when you're out there as long as you are, the dam will eventually break. And I think that what you're seeing is they come out fairly strong early in games, they're getting off the field, they're getting the football back to their offense, and their offense is sputtering, and they're putting the defense right back on the field. And then later in the games is where you see them most susceptible. And then all of a sudden, the strongest point of your team is now leaky, and you're not seeing complimentary football. So not only is the offense hurting itself, they're now starting to affect what they're not starting, they have affected this defense. And I mean, I don't know how much longer that can continue before you start to see a clear drop-off in play. Fatigue will set in. And when fatigue sets in, that's where details and fundamentals tend to waver a little bit. And that's not something that happens, you know, I mean, that just comes with it. That comes with the territory. That's not something you plan for, but fatigue, you know, that's a byproduct of that. And now all of a sudden, we're seeing leaks on all levels there. And so what can they do offensively to make changes? Well, maybe, maybe one of the solutions could be having Sean Mannion call plays from the sideline. He's been calling plays from the coach's box, maybe that changes. And that would be sort of a move on the smaller scale to see if that impacts things in any meaningful way. But I think that you may eventually see a more collaborative approach if the offense doesn't get rectified or at least improve even marginally. You haven't seen the steps taken in a positive direction. It's mostly either flatlined or you've seen regression in many regards. And I look back to the protection schemes and they're having difficulty blocking up the zero blitzes and a lot of the pressure that teams are throwing at the Eagles. And I think when you look at that, that doesn't necessarily solely fall on the shoulders of the offensive coordinator. Chris Cooper, the offensive line coach, he needs to be able to adjust on the fly as well and make the most of the personnel that he's working with. Because what I've noticed from the players who are out there, a lot of times, Willie Lampkin, Markel Bell, Jake Majors over the last two weeks, they've handled their individual responsibilities. I look at the blocking scheme and some of the lack of answers that they have in terms and just handling pressure as being a prevailing theme, that that in and of itself should be able to head things in the right direction if you can do that. Hey, football is heating up and everyone's pulling up because PrizePix has all your picks in one place. New users, get yourself a head start with PrizePix's best offer yet. If you win your first $5 lineup, you'll get $150 in lineups. That's right. New users get $150 in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. PrizePix is available nationwide. So what are you waiting for? Lock in for kickoff with PrizePix. What you want, I'll tell you what I'm on. It's the Bengals wide receivers, T Higgins, Jamar Chase. They're unbelievable. And Joe Burrow is healthy and he's finding them. So go to PrizePix, find Higgins, find Chase, look at their projected stat and hit them more on it. 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I think they did it maybe a half dozen times and it wasn't successful. It is slow developing. They're not able to block it up well and Tanner McKee, I think was sacked once or twice on those. But that doesn't mean that you can't execute it better. If that is a hallmark of your offense or is expected to be a hallmark of your offense, you have to find a way to execute it better and not simply say well we're not doing it well so we're going to scrap that. If you have conviction in your scheme, which is something that Nick Sirianni mentioned time and time again about Sean Mannion, that he has a lot of conviction, then stay with it and work through those challenges. I understand that you don't have the personnel and there's always so many ways you can go with this thing, but you owe it to yourself. This is Sean Mannion's crack at being an offensive coordinator. You want to make sure that you're leaving no stone unturned and giving yourself the best opportunity to be successful. Now, what can you do to acquiesce to Tanner McKee and tailor it around his strengths? Because the reality of the situation is, and I think the report said that, that Jalen Hurts is done for the year. So Tanner McKee is going to be your guy. So, find out what he does well, what he's comfortable with, and really lean into that. That is your best chance of trying to capitalize or maximize the opportunity in front of you, which is a lackluster NFC East, if we're being frank. So, the season is not over. However, if they come out Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys and they fall on their face or they come out flat or they're not able to answer the bell at home, that's where you start to question whether or not things spiral and whether or not it is a lost season. So, right now, it may look bleak and it certainly does. And it doesn't seem like there's a lot of answers or reinforcements coming because if you haven't seen it through the first six weeks, what leads you to believe that there will be in week seven, week eight and there on? I mean, all I can tell you is this is a really critical part of the stretch. This will determine the Eagles season, the NFC East. And they're still alive. So you need to make some drastic changes. And I think right now the running game isn't working. What I liked yesterday is that they leaned into the screen game a little bit more, which is an extension of that. You can't just say we can't run so we're not going to. You have to find creative ways to try to offset that and create it, manufacture it on your own, in your own way. Andy Reid did a lot of that with the screen passes, you remember with Brian Westbrook and Deuce Daly and Karel Buckhalter. And it's not traditional, but it is something that have traditionally been mainstays in a West Coast offense. So of that game that we just saw on Sunday, some of the things that I like was that they were able to get the ball out to the running backs in the flats. And that is sort of an extension of the running game. But maybe work in Jaden Blue a little bit. He's explosive, he gives you a different dimension as a running back. I understand he's new. But you know what you have in Damian Pearce. He's more of a plotter, he's a downhill runner. But you gotta try to find a way to kickstart things. And I was asked on 97.5 The Fanatic whether or not I believe that the offensive line will improve at any point this season. And I said, well, right now, their in-house options are limited. The best chance that the Eagles can hope for is that Landon Dickerson has a great week of practice. They feel comfortable where he is from a health perspective. You put him in there at left guard. That gives you a muller that can help move bodies in the run game. Drew Kendall, who was active as the eighth lineman, didn't play and that was more of an emergency case where you don't want to go into a game with seven offensive linemen. That was a break glass in case of emergency situation. But maybe after another week of mending from the knee injury, he's able to step in and then all of a sudden you have a different left guard and a different center. So I'm trying to present all of the alternatives here, that are all of the options or the reasons why the offense could improve somewhat. And look, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that these changes are gonna be drastic and that all of a sudden you're gonna see them score 28 points a game. But if you're talking about trying to kickstart things and get this run game going, protect a little bit better, all I can tell you is that you have Landon Dickerson who had his 21-day practice window opened. Nobody loves grilling more than me. 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I think Tanner McKee is a quarterback that should theoretically thrive with the quick game. Not only does he get the ball out of his hands faster, but it also limits the amount of time that you're leaving the offensive linemen out there to handle their assignments. And you're giving the offense or the drive a fighting chance of being successful. So I don't think you need to complicate it. I think you need to go back to the basics and figure out what works for this group of players that you're working with. And Sean Mannion just needs to try to continue to implement his scheme and not move too far away because I honestly don't know what this offense is right now. I've said that many times before. They don't seem to quite know. They're searching for their identity. Well, now would be a good time to get with Tanner McKee this week. He'll have a full week of practice with the ones, excuse me, something got caught in my throat there. And that should be able to help him become more prepared for this Monday night matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. So, that's where things stand right now. Nick Sirianni was clear that Sean Mannion is still calling plays and I would expect that to be the case. But the season can quickly unravel depending on how this upcoming stretch against the NFC East goes. And he said everything's on the table. So we'll see how things transpire in what should be a really interesting week there at the Jefferson Health Training Complex. That's gonna do it for this episode of the DiCecco Daily. I'm Andrew DiCecco, and I'll catch you all on the next one.