Oftentimes we are inundated with useless platitudes from the weekday head coach press conferences, but this was an interesting and rather candid Nick Sirianni quote:

The cameras caught you walking off the field in the tunnel screaming, ‘stop doubting the Eagles.’ Do you feel that your team has been doubted, and why do you feel that way, if so? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think we kind of went into that game an underdog. Again, you try to block out all noise that is being talked about you, whether that’s good or whether that’s bad. I think just the nature of this business now, I don’t think it’s realistic that you can completely block it out. I’m going to talk to (the media on Monday) I’m going to talk to you guys on Wednesday, Friday, talk to the production meeting on Saturday, talk to you all again on Sunday. So, Bob (Lange, Senior VP of Communications), has to get me prepared for whatever is being said, not just by our local media and you guys, but also the national media. Then it’s unrealistic for our players not to be on social media. That’s part of who they are. So, we do have to hear it.

I just think that, yes, you have to block it out. It’s about being mentally tough and being able to block things out, whether good things are being talked about you or bad things. But if you want to use it as your motivation, if somebody doubting us is good motivation for you and not a distraction for you, use it, by all means, right? You feel that. Have we felt like we have played to our standard? No, but we also know that we are continuing to grow. I think you’re seeing that. Different aspects are growing each week.

That was just an emotional thing because I do believe that from what we’ve heard out there that there has been some doubt. That’s okay. We’ve given reason to doubt at times this season, as you guys know. (Sunday) night was a good win for us. Any time you win in the National Football League is big, especially against a really good team… I think we were feeling like the underdog. You know what? Sometimes I feel like we play better when we feel like the underdog. Whether that’s noise that we hear and we use it as motivation or noise that we make up, whatever we need to do, we’ll look for any edge we can get. I think that the big thing is that our guys wanted to play a physical game because that’s what our identity is, and I think we did that.

First things first –

It’s refreshing to hear him say that you can’t block out the noise. These guys get prepped by the PR staff on media talking points, they listen to 94 WIP, and they type their own name into the Twitter search bar. It is what it is. Whenever a coach or athlete tells you that they “don’t read anything” it means they read everything.

Second, I think we’ve jumped the shark with the “you doubt us” or “underdog” general mentality. The Eagles were 5-1 and playing at home on Sunday night. Just because some fans took the Dolphins as +115 road dogs doesn’t mean everybody is totally out on the Birds. They were a betting favorite and they are the defending NFC champion. You aren’t the underdog and will not be the underdog in the vast majority of the games you play this season. In fact, right now, you are tied with KC for the NFL’s best record.

Is disbelief a source of motivation? Sure. It can be channeled and focused. But the existence of doubt is highly questionable here. Sirianni even alludes to this when he mentions “noise that we make up.” It’s like when the Georgia Bulldogs plastered TCU  by 17 touchdowns and then had the absolute audacity to claim that pundits thought they were going 7-5 that year. Not even Turkmenistan state television would attempt that spin. It’s one thing to play with a chip on your shoulder, but more recently the chip is being artificially crafted, under false pretenses. The perception of the disrespect is wildly skewed.

But hey, whatever works? Motivation can come from many sources, and if this methodology gets results, then ultimately no complaints can be filed.

Last, but not least, this is the clip Sirianni was asked about: