Earlier this week, news broke that the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai had been replaced by assistant coach Matt Patricia the team’s defensive play caller. And after Monday night’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni explained that decision a little bit.
During his postgame press conference, Nick Sirianni made it clear that the adjustments came as a result of the team’s struggles on the defensive side of the ball.
“I made the decision,” Sirianni said. “I did what I thought I needed to do in the best interest of the football team. We made some adjustments there. I didn’t feel like we were playing and coaching well enough on defense, so I made an adjustment. It was my decision and that’s what I did.”
The Eagles have struggled in critical situations on defense all season, ranking near the bottom of the league in terms of both red zone touchdown rate and third-down conversion rate. As a result, Patricia will now handle the defensive calls.
“All the final decisions are made by Matt right now,” Sirianni said. “As disappointed as Sean was, I think he handled himself like a true pro. Sean is still helpful to this football team because he has a bright mind and he can help and as I listened in on defense today they were communicating back and forth very similar to the way they communicated with the roles reversed.”
We’ll have to see how the move works out for the Eagles for the remainder of the season.
