Nick Sirianni opens up on A.J. Brown, Jalen Hurts relationship

Nick Sirianni knew the question was coming, and he was prepared.

Sirianni spoke Wednesday about the relationship between A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts and effectively ended any questions or doubts that have come up since Brandon Graham said on Monday, “They were friends before this, but it's like, man, things have changed.”

That was a pretty shocking statement coming from an unquestioned leader like Graham, but considering the lack of production from the passing game the last two weeks combined with Brown’s clear frustration during the Panthers game – throwing his helmet on the sideline and then saying, “Passing,” when asked what’s holding the offense back, it was natural to jump to conclusions.

Graham apologized on Tuesday, but the comment was still out there, and on Wednesday Sirianni spoke forcefully and convincingly about his star receiver and quarterback.

He said he’s talked to Brown and Hurts and has no doubt their relationship is in a good place.

“I talk to these guys all the time about anything and everything,” he said. “From the game to life to everything. So that's just part of our process, is to go through everything. You work on that every single day. 

“I see guys that are continuously trying to get better and better and better and working. Jalen and A.J., I see them working to get better. I see them working to get better together, whether that's after an install meeting where they gather right here (in the NovaCare Complex auditorium) and talk about how A.J. will run a route or how Jalen will read all those different things. 

“They spend so much time on that.. … You guys get to see three hours every Sunday in the (place where) emotions can play as high as they're going to play in any particular. You get to see three hours of that. I get to see this every single day of how they go about their business and how they interact with each other. 

“I get to see them after practice working on routes together and talking (about) how they're going to go. And so again, I know there was assumptions of things and we get how that goes, but I can only go on my personal experience of how these guys interact every single day, and these guys are so locked in and focused on getting better and getting better together so they're on the same page to go and accomplish the things we want to accomplish. 

“And I witness that every single day and that’s all I can go off of. It’s very similar to when y'all asked me about my relationship with Jalen at the beginning of the year. All I can go off of what I see in my personal interactions, but I understand that there are definitely questions that you guys are going to have based off of the last couple days.”

Sirianni has gotten much better at navigating the team through these sorts of distractions, and it’s something every head coach – in any sport – has to be able to handle.

One of his core values is connecting and you might be tired of hearing about that, but he really believes that strong relationships are imperative if a team is going to win.

And the Eagles are 11-2 and 45-19 in Sirianni’s four years. Only five other coaches have taken their first four teams to the playoffs, and only three other coaches have won more games in their first four seasons.

He’s doing something right.

“Anytime you go through any adversity, you need personal relationships,” he said Wednesday. “Anytime you go through any success, everything comes down to that. 

“I go back to this: You're willing to fight a little bit harder for somebody you care about. You're willing to stick up for the person a little bit more when it's somebody you care about. You're willing to go out, you're willing to work a little bit harder when it's somebody you care about. You're willing to scratch and claw and die a little bit more for somebody you care about. And so I think that's important.”

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