After the Philadelphia Eagles’ sixth straight defeat in Week 8, head coach Nick Sirianni faced some serious decisions.
Philadelphia lost starting quarterback Jalen Hurts for the season three weeks ago due to blood clots in his lungs, and backup Tanner McKee has struggled. Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion hasn’t helped the offense adjust sufficiently without Hurts, and the slide has continued for a team that won a Super Bowl less than two years ago.
Questions about McKee’s and Mannion’s futures came up immediately after the Eagles lost to the Washington Commanders, 27–10, on Sunday night. The Eagles haven’t won since defeating the Tennessee Titans, 24–20, in Week 2.
“I’m not making any changes there,” Sirianni told reporters in the first three minutes of Monday’s press conference. “It is on all of us to figure out how to get things going in the right direction. Obviously, right now they’re not.
“But, again, this is the ultimate team game, and we’re in the problem-solving business, and right now we have to find answers to help us get going offensively. That brunt falls on myself, that falls on Sean,” Sirianni added. “We’re going to do everything we can to get ourselves out of this.”
Mannion, a former NFL quarterback, took over as offensive coordinator this season, and the Eagles have averaged 17.1 points per game for 30th in the league. That’s not all due to Hurts being absent for three games—in the first five contests, the Eagles went 2–3 as Hurts completed 57.8 percent of his passes for 933 yards and eight touchdowns with three interceptions, plus 107 yards rushing and a touchdown.
McKee has started three games, and he has a 63.2 percent completion rate for 638 yards and two touchdowns versus two interceptions. He has 26 yards rushing with no TDs. A former Stanford standout, McKee has been with the Eagles since 2023, and had only two career starts before this season.
“Tanner’s our guy. We’re not making any changes there,” Sirianni said after the five-minute mark of the press conference. “Again, how do we find solutions? That could be within scheme, that could be within what our schedule is, practice plays.”
“Everything is on the table for us in that aspect,” he added.
It doesn’t help that the Eagles’ main star offensive skill player, running back Saquon Barkley, has had only 56 carries for 274 yards and two touchdowns in six games. Philadelphia has sorely missed former star wideout A.J. Brown’s production after an offseason trade with the New England Patriots.
DeVonta Smith leads the Eagles in receiving yards with 310, and he has 26 receptions and two touchdowns. Receptions leader Makai Lemon has 31 catches for 251 yards and a touchdown, and Darius Cooper leads in touchdown catches with four among his 11 receptions for 175 yards.
“We have to do whatever we have to do with the guys that are up in each game,” Sirianni said. “We have a lot of faith in all those guys.”
“That goes for Sean too, right? You could have said Sean instead of Tanner there, right? But our job is to figure out ways regardless of what’s going on,” Sirianni added. “In the NFL, there are injuries each and every week. It’s just part of it. Our job is to figure it out as coaches, as quarterback, as players, regardless of who is in.”
It doesn’t help that Philadelphia’s offensive line has been through challenges, and Pro Football Focus ranks the Eagles’ unit 22nd in the 32-team league. But Sirianni expressed confidence that offensive line coach Chris Kuper will do his part to get the Eagles offense on track.
“Chris is coaching his [expletive] off,” Sirianni said. “You guys don’t get to see that, I get it, on a daily basis.
“I know he’s giving players good tools to use fundamentally and helping them be the best players they can possibly be,” he said. “But we all have to be better, and we know that.”
