Nick Sirianni Wished Drastic Decision From Eagles Owner for Jalen Hurts and Locker Room

The Philadelphia Eagles will raise their Super Bowl LIX banner inside Lincoln Financial Field when the 2025 season officially begins on Thursday night against the Cowboys. While the Cowboys once again flood headlines across the league, Nick Sirianni remains focused on the season opener. As he put it bluntly, “We’re not talking anything about a title or anything. We’re talking about the Dallas Cowboys.” And Dallas Goedert revealed more of that mentality, as the banner drop remains the point of contention for Sirianni.

A few months back, while appearing on RG NFL WEEKLY, the tight end reminded the Philly faithful, “It’s going to be, you know, the first game of the NFL season. It’s against one of our biggest rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. And it’s the night that our banner gets dropped.” But here’s the catch—Goedert admitted Sirianni wanted no part of that banner moment on opening night. Instead, the coach pushed for it to be done earlier to keep his locker room laser-focused on the road ahead.

“It’s going to be interesting to hear what Coach Sirianni has to say before that game, leading up to the week of it, because I know he wishes they would drop the banner today and then we wouldn’t have to worry about it ever again, because he doesn’t want us thinking about that, thinking about last year. He’s all about this year.” In other words, the coach wants Jalen Hurts and co to forget the confetti and focus on the grind. Sirianni wanted his players focused on the game, not last year’s celebration and glory. Jeff Lurie, the Eagles owner, would want to do it like he did last time on the game opener, where all the fans can come together and take part in the celebration.

7 years back, the Eagles opened September 6, 2018, against Atlanta as defending Super Bowl champions for the first time in franchise history. A 50-minute weather delay couldn’t dampen fans’ excitement for this historic moment. At 8:45 p.m., the victory ceremony began with Brian Dawkins introducing owner Jeff Lurie and the Lombardi Trophy. The Eagles’ fight song played before the Super Bowl Champions banner was unveiled at Lincoln Financial Field. A massive Lombardi Trophy replica sat at midfield. The Eagles won the game 18-12.

The Eagles will look plenty familiar to the group that crushed the Chiefs 40-22 in February. Saquon Barkley is back, eyeing history after his monster campaign. While A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith still form one of the league’s nastiest wideout duos, on defense, those Bulldog roots remain deep. And yes, Jalen Hurts enters as a Super Bowl-winning quarterback despite modest passing stats—2,903 yards and 18 touchdowns in 15 games. What matters more? His 14 rushing scores give him four straight seasons in double digits.

Adding to that, Hurts himself made it clear his partnership with Sirianni has grown stronger. Speaking about their mindset, the QB said, “We obviously, both of us, love to work, love hard work; have a ton of grit to ourselves. We’re passionate about that. We express that through our work. So I think it’s been able to grow and evolve.” And with the league keeping the infamous “tush push” alive, no one stands to benefit more than Hurts.

Still, the opener won’t be without its concerns. Landon Dickerson’s back injury puts his status in doubt, while Tanner McKee, Joshua Uche, and Andrew Mukuba are all battling their own setbacks. For Dallas, only Perrion Winfrey sat out practice, as Trevon Diggs and Guyton returned fully. Despite that, Sirianni looks confident and assured about the team. In the offseason Sirianni had one reminder for his guys.

Nick Sirianni’s Super Bowl-winning message before Week 1

While the city of brotherly love celebrates its latest Lombardi, Nick Sirianni is already working behind the scenes to keep his locker room grounded. The Eagles may be gunning for a repeat, but the head coach isn’t letting his players get too comfortable. And according to Saquon Barkley, Sirianni delivered a message in the offseason that has been echoing through the NovaCare Complex ever since.

As he shared in a post flagged by Eliot Shorr-Parks, “Saquon said earlier this offseason Sirianni had a message for the whole team: ‘If you think you are why we won the Super Bowl, you are exactly right. If you think you are the only reason we won it, you are exactly wrong.’ Saquon said team is buying into Sirianni’s message.” That one line sums up Sirianni’s no-nonsense approach—praise the individual effort, but never forget the collective.

Not only that, but Barkley himself is charging into 2025 with serious momentum. Last season, he put up jaw-dropping 2,283 scrimmage yards and 15 touchdowns, even while missing Week 18. He topped the NFL with 345 rushing attempts and 2,005 rushing yards, and he did it with efficiency, too. Sharp Football Analysis clocked him at a career-best 42% success rate, with 13.4% of his carries breaking for 10-plus yards.

 That’s dominance. No wonder Barkley admitted he’s itching to get back in the huddle. “The last time I played was February 9, so I’m super excited to get back on the football field,” he said. And if Sirianni’s message holds, Barkley and the Birds might just be flying even higher this year.