Three straight losses... All have been disappointing. All have found new ways to break the hearts of the NFL's most loyal fan base. The Philadelphia Eagles' offense has become a growing concern, but head coach Nick Sirianni isn't interested in pointing fingers at anyone in particular, except maybe himself.
Offensive coordinator Sean Mannion is among those under fire as Philadelphia searches for answers. Coach Sirianni was asked Monday to assess Mannion's progress in a media chat. His response made it clear that he views the offensive struggles as a collective failure, not one coach's problem.
“I think that right now, offensively, we all have to be better. Players, coaches, myself — all of us have to be better. We’re not worried about gauging where this person is or where that person is. We’re worried about growth.”
His response comes after Philadelphia's 19-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, a game in which the offense struggled to sustain drives before putting together a late possession that produced a go-ahead field goal. The Eagles have also dealt with significant personnel losses, making it difficult to evaluate the offensive operation without considering the circumstances.
Still, Sirianni did not use those injuries to excuse the team's performance. Instead, he described an ongoing process in which the coaching staff must identify what works, eliminate ineffective elements, and improve the concepts that remain. In short, Sirianni wants collective improvement, not individual blame, as this next statement suggests.
"We’re worried about growth... because obviously it hasn’t been good enough. We’re worried about growth. We’re worried about what we do well, what we don’t do well, how we maximize those things that we’re doing well... How we try to eliminate some of the things that we’re not doing well, whether that’s you take things out of your playbook or whether that’s something that is completely fixable that you continue to work on."
Sirianni's comments don't necessarily signal a lack of concern about Mannion's performance. They do, however, make clear that he isn't interested in publicly assigning responsibility to one coach while the offense struggles as a whole.
That approach puts responsibility squarely on the entire offensive operation, including Sirianni. But accountability only goes so far without results. The Eagles enter Week 6 at 2-3, and the coaching staff needs to turn its evaluations into tangible improvement. Sirianni may not be willing to single out Mannion, but the offense will ultimately be judged by what it produces on Sundays.
This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Nick Sirianni stresses shared accountability for Eagles' offensive struggles