Nick Sirianni isn’t pointing the finger at Chris Kuper.
With the Eagles mired in a six-game losing streak and sitting at 2-6, the head coach made it clear Monday that his offensive line coach is not the problem he’s willing to single out. Sirianni offered a forceful defense of Kuper, who was hired this offseason to replace Jeff Stoutland.
“Chris is coaching his [butt] off,” Sirianni said on Monday. “He's fighting his [butt] off, he's coaching his [butt] off on a daily basis.
You guys don't get to see that. I get it on a daily basis.
“You get to see that for three hours on Sunday, but he's coaching his [butt] off and he's fighting his [butt] off and I know he's giving the players good tools to use fundamentally and helping them be the best players that they possibly can be. But we all have to be better and we know that.”
Sirianni doubled down the next morning on 94WIP, again backing Kuper when asked about Stoutland’s departure from the organization. He also said the players trust Kuper and that they can tell you that themselves. Maybe so, but the scoreboard keeps the louder conversation going.
Through eight games, the Eagles rank 30th in points and 32nd in total yards.
That’s the backdrop for the scrutiny around Kuper, and it’s hard to separate the line’s issues from the chaos around it. The Eagles opened the season expecting Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens to anchor the group. Instead, Johnson retired after three games, Jurgens was traded to the Ravens and Dickerson has appeared in just 3 of 8 games.
The weekly lineup has been a moving target ever since. Week 1 featured Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen and Lane Johnson.
By Week 2 and Week 3, Drew Kendall had replaced Dickerson at center. Week 4 brought Markel Bell in at right tackle.
Weeks 5 and 6 saw Willie Lampkin and Jake Majors join the mix. Then in Weeks 7 and 8, the Eagles were back to Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Drew Kendall, Tyler Steen and Markel Bell.
That instability has come on top of injuries elsewhere, with Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, Saquon Barkley and others all missing time. So no, the offensive line wasn’t going to fix everything by itself. But the Eagles have also made life harder than it needs to be with breakdowns in assignment and communication.
The numbers tell the story. Philadelphia has the 27th-ranked rushing offense in the NFL in 2026 and has allowed a pressure rate of 42.65, which ranks 29th.
Blitzes have been especially brutal. The Eagles entered Week 8 allowing the highest pressure rate on blitzes in the NFL this season at 57.7%, according to NextGen Stats, and Sunday night against the Commanders was even uglier.
Washington produced 10 pressures on 12 blitzes, an 83.3% rate that ranks as the second-highest pressure rate on blitzes by a team in the 2026 season.
Overall, the Eagles have faced 109 blitzes this season and allowed 66 pressures, a rate of 60.6%. They’ve also given up a free rusher on 18.2% of their passing plays, the most in the league, according to Ryan Paganetti.
A big part of the offensive focus this week is cleaning up those communication mistakes. Sean Mannion also stepped up in support of Kuper.
“I think Koop's been doing an outstanding job,” Mannion said. “I know, like I said, everything ultimately starts with me and making sure I'm charting the right course for us in terms of our protection plan, in terms of how we're getting it taught, in terms of our install meetings and everything like that.
But Chris is doing a great job. He's a tremendous teacher of the fundamentals.
He's great with those guys in the room.”
Kuper wasn’t retained by the Vikings after the 2025 season, and the Eagles brought him in hoping his familiarity with the system would help smooth Mannion’s transition. Instead, nothing on offense has come together.
That has raised the pressure on Kuper in recent weeks, but for now the Eagles appear committed to him. Sirianni made it plain that the issues run far deeper than one coach.
“Again, we all have to do better,” he said. “I think, again, we want to zero in on one thing.
We're not coaching well enough right now and we're not playing well enough right now. I know we're speaking offensively and right now we're not doing all the things we need to do to win football games, and that falls on everyone's shoulders.
It's not just one thing. We have to dig deep as coaches, as players, and again, find solutions, find answers.”
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