They've clinched, they're in the playoffs, and now it's on to the next order of business for the Eagles: Getting through a team-wide hit of COVID-19 (12 players were placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday) and preparing for Saturday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field.
"We're talking through all that still," Sirianni said on Monday at his weekly press conference when asked about who will suit up and play against Dallas. "We haven't decided anything there yet. We don't have to decide right now. We're preparing like we would normally prepare on a Monday for a game. Really, it's like a Tuesday now that we got flexed to Saturday. So, we're trying to get our plan ready, we're trying to rip through that, and, again, like I said, we don't have to make that decision quite yet. So, I know there is a thing about resting and there is a thing about staying sharp. No doubt we're taking everything into account, and we'll discuss that later on today.
"Everything is on the table to talk through all those things. Right now, just focusing on how we get ourselves ready. The tape (from Sunday's win at Washington) is put to bed. When the players get in tomorrow, we'll review parts of it with them. The coaches have reviewed with our guys their part of it and then it's just onto Dallas."
Sirianni and the Eagles found out they clinched a playoff spot on Sunday night when Green Bay defeated Minnesota, ensuring the Eagles' return to the postseason (they missed in 2020 after reaching the playoffs three straight seasons). It was a late night after a long day of playing Washington and then returning to Philadelphia on Sunday evening, but the wait was worth it.
The 9-7 Eagles are in. All that remains now is their playoff seeding, their opponent, and the date and time.
"Exciting. I mean, you come home from a game and you're always exhausted, even though I'm not playing, obviously. But coaching, just emotionally, takes a lot out of you and so you're exhausted when you get home. So, by the time it was actually clinched – I don't let myself get too excited, even though it was 37-to-10 at one point (in favor of Green Bay)," Sirianni said. "You wait until the whole thing – I was ready to go to bed by the end of it. Obviously, we're really excited to be in the tournament, but like I said, we got to focus on beating Dallas and the plan that goes into that. Got to focus on getting better from the game we played yesterday. But obviously, we're all excited to be in this situation, and the goal is obviously to run it out and go as far as we can in this thing."
Sirianni had no specific injury updates, other than to say that running back Miles Sanders (broken bone in his hand) would likely not play on Saturday against Dallas but that he would "hopefully" be ready to play in the postseason.
