Eagles Went Into Season Opener Against Atlanta With 'Dog Mentality,' Head Coach Nick Sirianni Says
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a victory Monday in Philadelphia and Eagles fans have every reason to be excited for Week 2 of the NFL season. The Eagles put on an exciting season opener with a 32-6 win over the Falcons on the road Sunday.
Jalen Hurts showed confidence in his first game as the Eagles' QB1. He threw for three touchdowns and 264 yards, connecting with rookie WR DeVonta Smith for his first touchdown.
Smith recorded his first NFL career catch and a touchdown on that play. Rookie running back Kenneth Gainwell also scored his first career touchdown on Sunday.
Hurts didn't just impress Philadelphia fans, he also impressed his coach. Nick Sirianni loves what he saw from his quarterback.
"He really showed good instincts and good feel, like 'I see the structure of the defense, I'm not really looking at, but I'm feeling it,'" Sirianni said. "And he got us out of a couple binds. We made a couple of mistakes on yesterday. So I really thought he handled that well. He handled the blitz well and while still, you know, I thought he really did a good job of running it when he was supposed to and throwing it when the defense allowed. Be that passer first and then go and run. I was really pleased with how he handled the pressures they brought a lot of different things at us."
After the game, Sirianni talked about the team going into the game with a "dog mentality."
"The story is a little embarrassing for me, I'll keep the story in-house," Sirianni said. "But the whole message was about having a dog mentality. To have a dog mentality to us means that no matter what happened on one play -- whether it was an interception, a touchdown, minus run, a 20-yard run, a sack, no matter what happened -- play the next play, be in the moment. Our analogy is just like a dog would when you open up the cage and he goes to hunt. So that was the message, the main message."
The Eagles will host the San Fransisco 49ers for their home opener Sunday, Sept. 19 at Lincoln Financial Field
