Nick Sirianni has been here before, and the Eagles may need the same message again.
Back on Oct. 27, 2021, he stood in front of his team with a flower and delivered the now-famous reminder about roots, watering, and growth. The speech came when the Eagles were 2-5 and coming off four straight losses, with Sirianni squarely in the crosshairs in his first season as head coach.
Fast forward to 2026, and the temperature has climbed again. Philadelphia has dropped three in a row and sits at 2-3, back under .500 for the first time since Sirianni’s rookie year on the sideline. Another rough stretch, another round of pressure, another test of whether this group stays connected.
Sirianni’s calling card has always been the same: building the kind of locker room that can hold together when things go sideways. His strength is the culture piece, the bond between players and coaches, the idea that when trouble hits, the team leans on itself.
That’s why the old flower speech still fits. In it, Sirianni talked about how the team had to keep building, keep watering, keep fertilizing, because only then would things truly pop. He also made it clear that he was always planning to deliver a different message when the moment called for it.
Right now, the moment is calling again.
“This is where relationships come into play,” said Sirianni on the day after his team lost a heartbreaker, 19-17, in London. “You're constantly communicating with the guys through messages with the team in a team setting but also checking in with guys on as much as you possibly can throughout the week.”
That relationship-driven approach has long been part of Sirianni’s value as a coach. He arrived with an offensive reputation, but when the offense stumbled early in 2021, he gave up playcalling duties to Shane Steichen. He’s also shown a willingness to make a harder move when needed, including firing defensive coordinator Sean Desai during the 2023 season and replacing him with Matt Patricia.
Not every move has worked. Steichen did; Patricia didn’t. But the bigger point is that Sirianni doesn’t freeze when change is required.
The reaction to that flower speech in 2021 was hardly warm and fuzzy. There were eye rolls, puzzled looks, and plenty of skepticism, with the talk quickly turning to whether he was over his head.
Instead, the Eagles responded. They went 7-3 after that moment and reached the playoffs. Since then, they’ve posted nothing but double-digit win seasons, captured three NFC East titles, and rattled off back-to-back division crowns to end a run of 21 straight seasons without a repeat winner in the division.
They’ve also gone to two Super Bowls and won one, with the other swinging away on a late stretch of heavy-handed officiating that all but sealed it for the Chiefs.
Now Sirianni is back with another direct answer to the moment.
“Right now, we are what our record says we are,” said Sirianni. “We're 2-3.
We know there's a lot left in the season, and I don't think that there is any panic on any aspect of any player or coach in this building. We've had three-game losing streaks before.
Our job is to get up and keep fighting.”
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