Another round of discussion regarding the Philadelphia Eagles' famed short-yardage play is heating up at the Spring League Meeting, where club owners are expected to vote on the revised tush push proposal.
The Eagles' position on the matter remains the same. Moreso, it sounds as though even they are tired of talking about it.
"No, that's not up to us," Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata told reporters on Tuesday. "We can't control what they rule it or not. What, they're ruling the push? … I guess we just do it with no push then. That's the solution.
"In terms of them banning the tush push, I hate that name, so I hope they do ban it. Stupid name. But I can't control that. We can't control it, so we don't even worry about that. Right now, we're just installing our schemes. Whatever (new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo) is installing that day, that's what we're focused on, because worrying about if they're going to ban the tush push or not ain't gonna win us another championship. What we do every day here matters."
The play has been debated ad nauseam, with opinions flying in from every corner of the pro football world. Philadelphia has understandably staked a defiant position on the matter, noting it isn't the only team that runs the play -- it's just the best at executing it.
In short: Don't like it? Find a way to stop it.
Now, though, a resolution could come in 24 hours. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is prepared for one.
"We'll see. We'll see where that goes," Sirianni said Tuesday. "We're not waiting for very long to figure it out. It's gonna be, you know, public tomorrow, and you know how I feel about it. I think we obviously were at the owner's meetings, we talked about how we felt about it, and I don't think anyone would question what my sentiment is on it, so we'll see. We'll see what happens with it tomorrow."
No coach wants to spend hours, let alone weeks, on a specific play, be it defending its legality or devising a new strategy in short-yardage situations. They have greater tasks to complete, especially considering the Eagles are gearing up for a Super Bowl title defense.
Such an effort comes with a new contract for Sirianni, who agreed to a multiyear extension on Monday. He expressed gratitude on Tuesday for the vote of confidence that comes with an extension and the support of the players who made it possible for him while also acknowledging adversity continues to await not only him, but every NFL coach.
In order to overcome such anticipated challenges, Sirianni knows resting on the Eagles' laurels won't help them. So, he's already turned the page, promoting a new offensive coordinator in Kevin Patullo to replace Kellen Moore, who left to take the top Saints job, and building out a master plan for the new season ahead.
"I know this sounds crazy, but right away," Sirianni said when asked how quickly he moved onto 2025. "Of course, I enjoyed the parade, and of course I enjoyed the flight back home, but, you know, then Kellen (Moore) got the job, and then you're right back into filling coaching spots. Your calendar is always completely full, and you're just constantly trying to get better at what you did the year before. Like, how do you hire coaches better and then go through that process? And then it's on to the draft and free agency, and then it's into players' phase one. You got to turn the page.
"You can enjoy it. You can enjoy it for a little bit, but you got to turn the page, and you got to turn the page quickly because we'll have a high standard for ourselves. I know you all will have a high standard for us but we know how high our standard is for ourselves, and it takes steps. And that's mental toughness. I talked about this with the players today. I think sometimes when I tend to talk to them a lot about mental toughness and I talk to them about overcoming adversity -- and that's a big part of mental toughness -- but another part of this mental toughness thing is going through the same monotonous things over and over and over again and having the same attitude and effort no matter what the circumstances are, right?"
Such a process breeds consistency, an attribute essential to success at the highest levels of life. The Eagles reaped the rewards of such consistency in 2025, but might face a brand new world in 2025 -- including one that might require them to devise a new short-yardage play.
Luckily, Sirianni believes he and the Eagles are built for it.
"For all the things that I've been through, whether it's on this job or whether it's in my life, I've been able to get better from all those things and I'm grateful," he said. "As crazy as that sounds, as bad as it is when you go through those things, I can look back at it and be grateful, and you hope that the next adversities you go through, you remember, 'hey, there's you're going to be grateful from this one, as well.' "
