The Philadelphia Eagles are 2-0 so far this season, but the team is not immune to drama. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has dealt with complaints about the “Tush Push”, a quarterback sneak with Jalen Hurts. Ahead of a matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia is getting ready for a big test. According to Saquon Barkley, his coach has his players focused on winning.
At the end of the Eagles' 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, Hurts and Chris Jones exchanged words. The Chiefs defensive leader called out Philadelphia's quarterback for his lack of passing yards. Hurts responded, saying that his numbers don't matter as long as his team wins. Heading into Week 3, Barkley said that Sirianni had a similar message for his team.
The Pro Bowl running back spoke with The Athletic's Zach Berman about his team's mindset. According to him, getting wins is far more important that how the Eagles do it.
“The biggest thing this week I took from his message is, a lot of people get caught up in stats. But what's your ‘assists'? In football, you don't really have an ‘assists' category. In basketball, someone can point at the passes to Shaq, and he'd dunk it, and you'd know he's the one who passed the ball. But showing plays of me running down the field and seeing Smitty or A.J. blocking, or Jahan's running off the block, or the O-line is doing this. And the common theme it comes back to is, it takes a team,” Barkley said. “Just continue to fall in love with that, do whatever it takes to win games.”
Barkley set records last season as a runner. However, Philadelphia has taken a more team-centric approach as it defends its Super Bowl title. If the Eagles are going to beat the Rams in Week 3, it will be because Sirianni inspired his team to keep playing for one another instead of their statistics.
