Sirianni Playing Coy About Using Starters In Pre-Season
Since Nick Sirianni got here, the starters have hardly seen the field in pre-season. Jalen hurts and a few other select guys haven’t seen it on the field at all. It is the way he runs things. He will tell you he gets more out of joint practices than he does a pre-season game. The Eagles philosophy is also to protect their star players from injury by holding them out of an exhibition game.
In 2022, it was seemingly the right thing to do. They were healthier than any team in the league. They had some bumps along the way but went into the Super Bowl with all 22 starters healthy. Last season things went less well. There was a complete collapse.
Some people will tell you that easy practices and lack of preseason snaps play a part. Whether that is true or not, we don’t know. But it led to some major changes, including Nick Sirianni being stripped of Offensive Play Design. The question is will they also change how they handle Pre-Season games?
They have already made some changes. They held a Mandatory Mini-Camp for the 1st time. Something that has already been credited for implementing the new offense so fast. But will they play the starters in the pre-season?
Nick Sirianni Gave No Clear Answers
Before the Eagles open practice this week, Dave Uram of KYW News radio asked Nick Sirianni about playing the starters. In typical Sirianni fashion, he dodged the question. Here was the exchange.
Dave Uram: “You don’t have to make a decision yet about next Friday, but considering there is only one…“
Nick Sirianni: “Bob told me you were going to ask this question. I’m not ready yet.“
Dave Uram: “What do you think the likelihood is because there is only one joint practice that ones may play in these preseason games?“
Nick Sirianni “Yeah, that’s a good question. We’ll take it day by day and see where we are next week.“
So for now, we don’t know. We might not know until they play the first pre-season game next weekend. My guess, they still barely play, if at all.
Is that the worst thing in the world? I think it’s impact in both 2022 and 2023 was overblown. Staying so healthy in 2022 was more luck than it was anything to do with the pre-season. And the Eagles looking so out of sorts had nothing to do with the pre-season considering they got worse as the season went on.
The one thing I can say, is seeing guys get hurt in games that don’t matter sucks. We see a few big injuries every year in games that don’t matter. If it was up to me, I would let my starters get a few reps, and then sit them.
We will see what Nick Sirianni wantsa to do next week though.
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