The second half of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ 2023 campaign rocked the franchise to its core.
In the aftermath of losing five of the final six games of the regular season and falling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card round despite starting the season 10-2, the Eagles fired offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, defensive coordinators Matt Patricia and Sean Desai, before flirting internally with the possibility of hiring Bill Belichick to replace head coach Nick Sirianni.
Former Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell, who signed a free agent deal with the Los Angeles Rams this offseason, opened up during a recent appearance on the Javien University Podcast on what triggered Philadelphia’s backslide last season.
“I think it was a connection piece. Teams like KC are well-connected, upstairs and downstairs,” Gainwell said. “Front office and locker room. When you have a connection, everything just clicks. But when you got guys that aren’t talking to each other, you never know what’s going on.”
Gainwell’s revelation that there were locker room and culture issues seems to jibe with what sources in buildings across the league observed from afar about the Eagles’ fall from their perch atop the NFC East to having to go on the road in the postseason.
There was a belief among NFL executives, according to league sources, last season that the Eagles’ disconnect seemed to stem from Sirianni’s decision to bench Desai and promote Patrica as the defensive play-caller.
Gainwell says that communication breakdowns ultimately were the Eagles’ undoing.
“If we all sit down and talk to each other and find out what’s going on, or we find out what we need to do on the field to get this thing going, then we’ll be good,” Gainwell said. “Because if we played really hard at the beginning of the season, we need to continue to play hard at the end of the season because at the end of the season is what really matters.
“If we get to the playoffs and we’re not playing good, and we still got our head down because we just lost five games, what do you think we’re going to do in the playoffs? It’s scientific, bro. If you’re moody every day, you’re going to be moody tomorrow and tomorrow. You’ve got to work on it. You’ve got to continue to work on how to get better each and every day.”
This offseason, the Eagles have been among the more active in the league in free agency adding both talented playmakers but also strong veteran leaders. Philadelphia brought in running back Saquon Barkley, linebacker Devin White, and reuniting with former safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, to name a few marquee arrivals in hopes of fortifying a culture that can stave off whatever disconnect triggered last season’s collapse.
Eagles’ Veteran Leadership Stepping Up
In the hours leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft, the Eagles made A.J. Brown the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL, and Brown seems to be expanding his leadership role in the weeks after putting pen to paper on his new extension.
During the Eagles’ rookie minicamp, Brown attended to show support.
“What was really cool in my mind was that A.J. [Brown] was out there today and that (offensive lineman) Jordan Mailata was out there today,” Sirianni told reporters. “A.J. giving out coaching points. Jordan Mailata, I got in here this morning, he was in here for the team meeting and went to the O-line meeting this morning, just to be there with those guys.
“That’s special. That’s a connection that these guys are willing to put that time in to be around our rookies, see what they’re made of, and just be there for them. So I’m excited for these guys to all get immersed into the culture. It was cool to see our veterans do that today.”
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