July 28, 2026
You may not believe this but apparently the docile media covering Nick Sirianni agreed to embargo his comments at the end of OTAs for more than a month before rolling them out last week, a few days before the official opening of training camp today.
Wow. These crack reporters waited five weeks to release gems like the Eagles coach is excited about his new receiving corps (minus A.J. Brown), he’s thrilled over new cornerback Riq Woolen, and he is over the moon about his new offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion.
I can’t believe the world has had to wait all this time for those riveting observations. I must commend the lemmings who chronicle the Eagles for their remarkable restraint.
On the beginning of the sixth season of Sirianni’s improbable success story here, this seems like an appropriate time to offer a primer on the coach’s unique way of communicating with the same fans he often feels so entitled to criticize. (Remember when he decided to tell the paying customers when they should boo? Hilarious!)
It takes a grump like me to point out that Sirianni’s main goal at every news conference is to say nothing newsworthy, and above all, to stub no toes in his locker room. To this day, beat reporters think it’s news when the coach heaps praise on a player, whether the acclaim is worthy or not. My background in journalism is that a dog biting a man is not news, while a man biting a dog deserves a headline, for sure.
By the same token, it is only real news if Sirianni ever chose to express something less than exhilaration about his team. I mean, can anyone remember the coach saying a negative word about anyone associated with the Eagles – ever? In a world glutted with yes men, Nick Sirianni is king.
Look, I’m not asking for vintage Buddy Ryan here. It’s just that I was born with a cynical side that cringes at all of the pabulum Sirianni shamelessly dispenses every time he steps in front of a microphone. If any journalism were still happening on the Eagles beat, someone would point out all of the contradictions and leaps of logic Sirianni makes with nary a single question challenging anything he says.
A case in point is DeVonta Smith, the diminutive receiver who moved up the depth chart to No. 1 when Brown was traded to new England.
“I’m excited for all of the extra opportunities DeVonta is going to get his way,” Sirianni said in mid-June, before the embargo.
Huh? If the coach is so rabid about Smith, why did he wait until the receiver’s sixth season to fully explore his potential? Sirianni has been the head coach the whole time, no? And it took the trade of A.J. Brown to open these new vistas? Remember all of those stupid plays called last year for lesser talents like Johan Dotson, Darius Cooper and Britain Covey? You think maybe there was a bigger opportunity there to dial up Smith?
Shouldn’t somebody – anybody? – ask the coach why it took five years and a big trade to open up the future for DeVonta, whom Sirianni referred to as “a special player”?
Don’t hold your breath.
And with Woolen, well, reports out of minicamp and the OTAs is that he’s been a revelation, a shut-down corner who ran roughshod over Sirianni’s exciting new receiving corps during the offseason drills.
“Riq works his butt off, and you’re not supposed to look like that at corner,” Sirianni said. “He just looks the part.”
Again, maybe it’s dementia, but I’m confused. Does Woolen look the part or doesn’t he? I may need another five weeks to figure out what the hell that quote means. Of course, there were no follow-up questions.
Nor were there any inquiries about the baggage Woolen has been carrying with him throughout his NFL career. Riq fell out of favor in Seattle because he took impulsive penalties at inopportune times. No one is throwing flags during OTAs.
Isn’t part of telling the whole story about Riq Woolen explaining why the reigning Super Bowl champions allowed a 27-year-old shutdown corner to leave on a free-agent deal with the Eagles? And is it being too cynical to emphasize that this extraordinary ballhawk agreed to a one-year contract in the prime of his career?
One of many fawning headlines about Woolen since he signed here was Everybody Loves New Eagles CB Riq Woolen that appeared in Philly Voice last week.
Well, not everybody. There were no reports of crying in the streets of Seattle after Woolen left. There were a few reports that resembled what we heard and saw here in the final days of A.J. Brown. The guy was a headcase in Seattle. Just ask Seahawks fans. Hell, you can even ask his teammates.
As for Sirianni’s gushing appraisal of Mannion, well, I’m relieved that the coach has had five weeks to regain his equilibrium since his exhausting expressions of love for the new play-caller.
“Sean has this obsession to get better, this obsession with his craft,” Sirianni said. “Which is why he’s excelled in this profession.”
Excelled? Doesn’t he have to call his first play before we start writing the Hall of Fame speech? Shouldn’t someone have pointed out that Sirianni said many of the same things about work ethic and commitment last year at this time in reference to his old pal Kevin Patullo, who turned out to be one of the worst coordinators in Eagles history?
Is it rude for a journalist to remind Sirianni that he said Patullo was literally working around the clock – sacrificing hours of sleep every night – to fix the problems with the offense late last season? Is it too obvious to mention to the coach that willingness to work hard was never the problem with the coach’s BFF.
The problem was that Patullo sucked at calling plays. He was putrid at it. (See: the final play-call of the 2025 season.) Not everybody is good at it. And nobody knows how Mannion will fare because he hasn’t ever done it either.
“I’m not at all concerned as far as inexperience on (play-calling) because he’s worked his ass off,” the coach proclaimed.
Follow-up question, please. So you’re saying Kevin Patullo didn’t work his ass off? If you’re arguing that work ethic is the key to play-calling effectively in the NFL, then aren’t you implying that Patullo didn’t work hard enough?
We will never get answers to obvious questions like these because no one covering the team wants PR bully Bob Lange to call his or her boss to express the deep disappointment everyone in the Eagles organization has in their intrepid reporter.
Initially, I was irritated that the media agreed to a ridiculous request to hold innocuous quotes five weeks before releasing them. Now that I’ve gotten all of the bad feelings out of my system, I am actually appreciative. It is five less weeks I have had to ponder this nonsense.
And because I’m always looking for a silver lining, I have a good one here.
Even before training camp opens later today, it does appear that Nick Sirianni is in midseason form when it comes to BS.
Also on my mind. . . .
- Hey, maybe I was a bit premature in my indictment of the World Cup. It actually got exciting right after the final match, when the bad-sport losers, the Argentina players, turned their backs on the far superior Spanish players during the closing ceremonies and then started a brawl. Imagine that. Argentina took no shots on goal in 120 minutes of play, and then actually connected with a few after the final whistle. Maybe the past six weeks in the US had a positive impact on this boring sport after all.
- Anyone hanging onto grandiose visions for the 2026 Phillies got a jarring reality check when the Dodgers visited here last week. The reigning champs are better in every phase of the game, for an odd reason in these big-money times. They actually know how to play baseball. They emphasize hitting the ball consistently and running the bases intelligently. Imagine that.
- It seems only fair since we bludgeoned Kevin Patullo for the lousy Eagles offense last season that we apply the same standards of criticism for Kevin Long, the hitting coach on a Phillies team that has forgotten how to hit. It is unimaginable that a lineup with so many established stars can be 24th in runs and 30th (dead last) in on-base percentage. Kevin Long has failed, spectacularly, at his job this season. There, somebody finally said it.
- Am I the last dinosaur who misses the time when baseball broadcasters could manage to work all 162 games in a season? Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn did it for decades; there would have been a fan revolt if anyone else was in the booth. Now the Phillies need three TV color analysts – John Kruk, Ruben Amaro and Ben Davis – to get through the schedule. As for workaholic Tom McCarthy, well, he’s there for just about every game until the stretch run, when he takes off weekends to do NFL games. Has analytics crept into the broadcaster booth? Are these guys on word counts now?
- Not that he needs my endorsement, but there’s a very good reason why the Phillie Phanatic is the best mascot in sports history. What it all comes down to, in the end, is entertaining the fans. Take a moment and Google the Phanatic’s bit on the field Friday night after the Sixers signed LeBron James. In a matter of a few hours, that big furry goof had the entire LeBron powder routine down, with just enough fun twists to make it unique and comical. Can you ever imagine Mr. Met pulling off something like that? Or the San Diego Chicken? Or even Gritty? Not a chance. The Phanatic is the Phillies MVP every season.