Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni received backlash among team supporters and pundits after he was seen barking at fans following his team's 20-16 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, seemingly a response to being jeered throughout the game.
His actions reportedly weren't well received among team officials either.
"For as loud as the critical voices were outside of the Eagles, I found a similar sentiment within the organization. 'Embarrassing' is how two team officials labeled it to me when asked specifically for their reactions to Sirianni's behavior," the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane reported on his unCovering the Birds podcast on Tuesday (1:20 mark). "The two sources each voiced their support of the head coach, and said they understood how toxic fans can be at times."
Sirianni—who told reporters on Sunday the Eagles "thrive off the crowd when they cheer for us" when asked about crowing at the fans but added "we don't necessarily like it" when they boo, suggesting the jeering from the home crowd wasn't productive—apologized on Monday for his actions.
"I was trying to bring energy and enthusiasm yesterday, and I'm sorry and disappointed at how my energy was directed at the end of the game," he told reporters. "My energy should be all-in on coaching, motivating and celebrating with our guys. And I've got to have better wisdom and discernment of when to use that energy and that wasn't the time."
His actions quickly earned the ire of a number of media personalities and became a bigger talking point than the game itself:
