Eagles won’t bench Jalen or fire Nick Sirianni

Nick Sirianni won’t get fired during the bye week. Jalen Hurts won’t be benched either.

These are the two biggest overreactions stemming from a very poor performance by the Eagles in a 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Hurts, for better or worse, will continue to be the quarterback. It has flaws, yes, and maybe after five years they can’t be fixed. Yet he wins.

Something to consider: If Hurts had AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith on Sunday and the Bucs didn’t have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, is the outcome of the game different?

As for Sirianni, firing a head coach after just four games isn’t owner Jeffrey Lurie’s style. Yes, he fired Chip Kelly with one game left in the 2015 season, but there were more reasons than wins and losses. He let Doug Pederson finish the 2020 COVID year with a 4-11-1 record. He let Andy Reid limp along with an 8-8 record in 2011 and 4-12 in 2012 before firing him.

Even last year, when the Eagles were hovering around the drain, losing six of their final seven games, Lurie brought Sirianni back for another season, this season right here.

Perhaps it’s best to remember what Lurie said about the decision to return with his head coach when he spoke at the NFL owners’ meetings on March 26.

“I was very encouraged by his analysis of where we are, no excuses, basically a fundamental understanding of what needs to be better than the last five or six weeks of the (last) season. Not just a return to our performance and our championship-caliber execution, but also an improvement on that. Not just getting back to where we were, but being better than we were in the very recent past.

He then talked about how every team goes through tough times, especially the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers and how they bounced back. He appreciated the hands-on approach taken by Sirinni in using experienced coordinators.

“All coaches are in a high-pressure situation,” Lurie said. “Nick has had a pretty spectacular first three seasons and has shown all the ingredients for exceptional success. So I’m just looking forward to it.

“There is no coach who doesn’t feel pressure to perform. That’s how it is in the National Football League. But wow, I think Nick has all the ingredients, and I’m just really excited about this upcoming season.

Lurie also spoke about Hurts and his leadership style. He has a longer leash than Sirianni, but even if the QB doesn’t fix some of the things holding him back, the Eagles could enter the 2025 NFL Draft looking for another quarterback. Or maybe they like Kenny Pickett enough to at least open the door to competition for the tartlet job.

The season is only four games long, but there’s a resume that goes beyond that. In their last 11 games, the Eagles are 3-8 with Sirianni and Hurts.

Another thing to consider when it comes to parting ways with Sirianni is the immediate availability of Bill Belichick, who could come in and give the organization a fresh set of eyes to evaluate everything.

Now, could Lurie break with tradition and make a move if things continue to heat up over the four games coming off the bye – Browns, Giants, Bengals and Jaguars? If the Eagles are 1-3 in this period and sit at 3-5, then maybe Lurie goes in another direction.

Maybe. But not now.

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