Eagles’ Nick Sirianni thinks Falcons star looks like another running back

PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles went to the movies before practice Thursday as preparations intensified to face the Falcons on Monday Night Football at Lincoln Financial Field. On the screen was Atlanta’s star running back Bijan Robinson.

It was during the screening that head coach Nick Sirianni realized who Robinson reminded him of.

“I felt like (Thursday) in the team meeting when I was showing them, I kind of felt like, hey, these are the clips I remember showing when we were getting ready to play the Giants and Saquon,” Sirianni said.

That’s Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week.

“He’s a very good football player who can create for himself,” Sirianni said of Robinson, though he could have been referring to Barkley as well. “Things can go wrong and he can still make a play.”

Robinson was selected with the No. 8 overall pick in last year’s draft, one pick ahead of Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter, whom Philly selected after trading a pick to the Chicago Bears. The two top-10 picks will face off for the first time in their second seasons.

Robinson finished fifth in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting last year after starting 16 of 17 games and carrying 214 times for 976 yards and four touchdowns. He added four more touchdowns in the passing game on 58 receptions for 487 yards.

Robinson had 18 carries for 68 yards with five receptions for 43 yards in Atlanta’s Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“His first touchdown was like the 11th play against Carolina last year,” Sirianni said. “The 11th play of the first game, they throw him a little swing pass and he makes the first guy miss, then he makes another guy miss, then he runs through a tackle.”

Carter was a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year after starting just one of 16 games, recording six sacks, 33 tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble return for a touchdown.

He had just two tackles and one hit on the quarterback in last week’s 34-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers.

Sirianni met Robinson during the pre-draft process. At the time, many Eagles fans and some media (myself included) wanted Philly to draft Robinson.

It’s funny how things work out. If they had drafted him, Barkley wouldn’t be here. It’s the same reasoning that led the Eagles to trade for AJ Brown. If Jalen Reagor had lived up to his reputation as a first-round pick in the 2020 draft, Brown probably wouldn’t be here either.

“I enjoyed my pre-draft process with him,” Sirianni said. “I always enjoy meeting good guys, good football players and spending time with him, and he’s a heck of a football player who’s done a good job so far in this league.”

The Eagles will need to tackle Robinson and the Falcons’ offense better than they did against the Packers. The run defense allowed Josh Jacobs to rush for 84 yards on 16 carries (5.3 yards per carry) and the Packers to rush for 163 net yards. Jayden Reed also broke a 33-yard touchdown run in the Eagles’ 34-29 victory.

“We have to be ready to attack and we have to attack better than we did in the last game,” Sirianni said. “That’s going to be a big issue in this week’s game, like it is in every game.”

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