The Philadelphia Eagles suffered their first loss of the season on Monday night, falling 27-7 to the Chicago Bears after quarterback Jalen Hurts took a late hit.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni apologized afterward for his on-field reaction to Bears linebacker D’Marco Jackson, who drew an unnecessary roughness penalty for hitting Hurts as he crossed the sideline in the second quarter.
“You want to always fight for your players and protect your players,” Sirianni said. “I always come away when I have a moment like that with remorse. ‘Man, I shouldn’t have let my emotions get the best of me.’”
The broadcast showed an angry Sirianni directing some words toward Jackson. Hurts got up after the hit, but an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant called for a concussion evaluation, leaving the quarterback out of the game momentarily.
Hurts missed four plays while backup Andy Dalton entered the field and threw an interception to rookie Dillon Thieneman on third-and-goal from the Chicago 2.
“Those guys are out there trying to make a play,” Sirianni said. “It was close on the sideline. It ended up being a penalty. Obviously you never want to see your quarterback get hit like that. But it’s in the heat of the moment; I know nobody is trying to hurt anybody out there, and I always have remorse when I act that way.”
© Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Hurts cleared the evaluation and returned, scoring on a 1-yard quarterback sneak before halftime to make it 10-7 Bears. Philadelphia, however, failed to score again throughout the remainder of the game.
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Sirianni acknowledged that his emotions overtook him as the Hurts hit took place on the field.
“The emotion of the game probably got the better of me today, and I have to learn from that,” Sirianni said. “In that particular moment, I have to be more steady in that situation. Be able to move on and go to the next play. I didn’t like how I handled that.”
Philadelphia fell to 2-1 after committing three turnovers and 10 penalties in the lopsided road loss, and will next host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
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