NEW YORK (Audacy) — Earlier this week, Philadelphia Eagles first-year head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters that, during a team meeting, he compared their growing pains to a flower in a garden, growing underneath the soil.
Former Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner imagines that a decent amount of players cringed when Sirianni oddly shared the kindergarten-esque message in an attempt to motivate and inspire.
"I think there were a whole lot of eyerolls that occurred during that speech," Joyner said on CBS Sports Radio Friday night. "And when I heard about it, it's almost like you go back to the rock, paper, scissors analogy [during the NFL Draft]. I like Nick. There's a part of him -- unlike most head coaches in the league -- he wears his emotions and everything on his sleeve.
"But is Mike Tomlin, Andy Reid, or Bill Belichick making comments like that? Even if you had that conversation with your team, that's not a conversation you bring out to the media and you tell the entire public. And I get what he was trying to say. That was just a bad analogy -- throwing flowers into the context of professional football. C'mon."
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If the Eagles are a flower, as Sirianni says, they're in desperate need of more water and fertilizer. Philadelphia owns an underwhelming 2-5 record, currently tied for second place (or is it really last place?) in the NFC East standings. Through seven games, Sirianni's offense ranks 21st in the league in average yards, 18th in average points, and 23rd in point differential.
Philadelphia will visit the winless Detroit Lions (0-7) in a Week 8 matchup on Sunday afternoon. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Eagles have just a 14-percent chance to reach the playoffs and a 4-percent chance to win the division. Perhaps fans can find solace in the fact that the team could potentially own three first-round draft picks next spring.
The entire NFL conversation between Joyner and Gelb can be accessed in the audio player above.
