Nick Sirianni on Jalen Hurts: “Just clutch in clutch moments”

The Eagles pulled off the win against the Bills , and turned a really bad first half into an explosive second-half performance. Head coach Nick Sirianni spoke to reporters post-game about how he feels about the team after that type of win, how they adjusted at halftime, and emphasized how clutch Jalen Hurts is for this team and this city.

Despite some of the frustrations from the game, Sirianni was left feeling happy about how the team found a way to win.

“I’m happy. I’m happy. I’m glad that we can learn from this. I think that’s my emotion that I have, I’m extremely happy that we found a way to win this football game. I’m extremely happy that the corrections will be made after a win than after a loss, right?

There’s going to be corrections that have to be made. That’s what we do here. We make our corrections. We hold each other accountable, starting with myself, then with our leaders. That’s contagious, the accountability. That’s how you get better.

We got to get better from this. Yeah, happy is the emotion that I have right now.”

Here’s what else the head coach had to say:

On the second-half adjustments “It couldn’t have been much worse of a first half.

We got the run game really going in the second half. Our guys are really doing a good job at executing in that second half, and that was the offensive explosion in the second half.”

Sirianni went on to explain that they had to be explosive in the second half because the Bills were good, too. He pointed out that there were notions during the week that this could be a high-scoring game, but it didn’t look like it would be heading into halftime, and then it picked up later on.

“Just really excited for our guys on offense, that just put their head down and kept going, and that’s mental toughness.”

The head coach said that he already knew that this Philadelphia Eagles team was physically tough, and their mental toughness grows throughout the year as they deal with ups and downs.

“Our guys know how to win.”

He went on to say that knowing how to win is a product of what they’ve done in Philly the past couple years, having guys on the roster still from the 2017 Super Bowl team, plus guys from National Championship winning teams from Georgia and Alabama. They’ve got a lot of guys on the team who have won a lot of football games, and know how to win.

On Jalen Hurts “Just clutch in clutch moments.

There’s gonna be plays that he wants back from the first half. There’s gonna be plays that we called that we’re gonna want back from the first back.

But really made some big time plays when they mattered the most — none more than the three touchdown passes.”

Sirianni went on to say that Hurts read the defense perfectly on the touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith, and called the throw and catch to Olamide Zacchious for a TD “unbelievable.” Those were clutch plays, along with Hurts running into the end zone during overtime for the win, with the head coach pointing out the good blocking that opened a lane up for the QB.

“I don’t think it’s anything you learn about him, because you just know that he’s clutch. He’s been clutch for us, and clutch for this city, and clutch for this team for the past three years now.”

The head coach later talked about Hurts making big plays late in the game, and making plays with his feet, scrambling around, and running the ball.

“He made some big-time plays. When the pass game wasn’t going well, somehow he found a way to make plays.

You could see him have that acceleration that we’re all used to seeing. We could see the ability to change direction, the power when he makes the cut. You saw all that.”

On injuries Sirianni acknowledged that they learned about Lane Johnson’s groin issue on Sunday morning, and then he and OC Brian Johnson did some different things to the game plan to account for that.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Lane Johnson is one of the best players in the world. And so, we have a ton of confidence in Jack Driscoll — and Jack Driscoll, I haven’t seen the tape, but I have a feeling that he played an outstanding game because of the way the game was going, and the rush, and all those different things —, but when you lose Lane Johnson, Lane Johnson’s special.”

Johnson wanted to play and wanted to tough it out, but ultimately didn’t think he’d be able to, which was tough because he wanted to be out there. Still, guys around him stepped in and stepped up and contributed.

The head coach said that the same thing happened with Zach Cunningham who was sidelined after halftime . Christian Elliss came in at off-ball linebacker, and they knew that it was going to take everybody to win against a team like the Bills, and everyone contributed.

Other notables When asked about the success the Bills had on third down by running the ball, Sirianni was quick to call QB Josh Allen a special player. He explained that there are some players in the league that just find ways to make big plays in clutch moments, and Allen is one of them. Sirianni gushed over Jake Elliott being clutch for the team on Sunday and this season, with the head coach calling Elliott the best kicker in the NFL. No one else he would rather have on his roster than Jake Elliott.