PHOENIX — A New York high school just celebrated Nick Sirianni Day, but the love for the Eagles is more forgivable than a green-and-white-lit Empire State Building.
Sirianni’s alma mater, Southwestern Central High School in Jamestown, N.Y., dedicated Wednesday to their 1999 graduate who will coach the Eagles in Super Bowl 2023.
“They better do that!” Sirianni quipped, noting that two family members teach at the school before switching into serious mode. “I’m honestly flattered.”
Sirianni’s father and brother are former head football coaches at the school. Nick went on to played receiver at NCAA Division III Mount Union before getting into coaching.
“I put a lot of hard work in at that school in my athletic career,” Sirianni said of his high school days, “probably a little bit more than my academic career.”
Mahomes ‘moving … better’
Patrick Mahomes gave his daily update on his injured right ankle.
“I don’t think you’ll know exactly until you get to game day,” Mahomes said Wednesday. “I’m definitely in a better spot. I definitely am moving around better than I was moving last week or two weeks ago, and so, it’s just trying to continue to get the treatment and rehab and get to as … close to 100 percent and then rely on some adrenaline to do a little bit extra when I’m on the field.”
Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain in a the Chiefs’ AFC divisional round win over the Jaguars. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Mahomes can do “just about everything in the game plan.”
“He’s been doing really well with his ankle,” Reid said. “We had a fast practice a couple of days ago, and he moved well.”
What a joke
Former Jets and Giants wide receiver Brandon Marshall showed up at Andy Reid’s press conference as a member of the media. The two had a funny exchange.
Marshall said, “Do you need a wide receiver, or are you good?”
Reid responded: “Just come with me afterwards. I’ll find something.”
Marshall then asked Reid to name his three favorite rappers.
“Do The Fat Boys count as one rapper?” Reid asked.
A matter of six degrees
The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon are nothing compared to the Six Degrees of Journeyman Quarterbacks. For instance, Patrick Mahomes owes Chad Pennington a debt through Chad Henne, who was teammates with Pennington on the Dolphins from 2008-10.
“I learned so much from Chad,” said Henne, who is Mahomes’ backup. “Going into the season I was going to be a rookie starter there, and then we obviously traded for Chad after the Brett Favre [trade] happened with the Jets. But him coming in, teaching me little things that I kind of teach Patrick now — little nuances of the defense, the same things that I learned — and I couldn’t appreciate it more.”
Hurts so good
Hall of Famer Michael Strahan feels that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts would have been harder for him to defend than Mahomes.
“He runs like a running back half the time,” Strahan said of Hurts. “You have to pick who you’re going to try to stop. The Eagles just play with a level of intensity and physicality that a lot of teams have trouble matching.”
