Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox defend Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni heading into offseason
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As cold as it was outside, there was a bit of a somber chill in the air inside the NovaCare Complex Wednesday. Safety Reed Blankenship called it gloomy.
Many Philadelphia Eagles players say having the season end so early after the loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs is still difficult to process, knowing the expectations set for this year and this team.
For the last time, the 2023 Eagles met at the NovaCare Complex to clean out their lockers, meet with staff and say their goodbyes before heading into the offseason.
Many questions remain heading into the offseason, including whether the Birds will keep Nick Sirianni as the team's head coach.
Two veterans – Fletcher Cox and Jason Kelce – both had strong words to keep Sirianni as the team's coach for the 2024 season.
"I think Nick is a great coach, I really do," Kelce said. "I think he's a great head coach. Obviously, nobody was good enough this year. I wasn't, none of the players, none of the coaches were good enough down the stretch, that's the reality of this business. When you're that bad, it's a collective thing, but I'll always have faith in Nick Sirianni.
Kelce, who is reportedly retiring, declined to talk about his retirement on Wednesday during the locker room cleanout.
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On an episode of his podcast, "New Heights" with his brother Travis Kelce, he got emotional talking about his future with the team.
Cox, who will be a free agent this offseason, also had a strong endorsement of Sirianni to be the team's head coach moving forward.
"What is there to talk about? Because, man, he's a winner," Cox said. "He's a winning head coach. Did we have some bumps this year? Yeah, but every team, every organization, everybody goes through it. But we don't look at firing the man who obviously has won 10-plus games two years in a row. That's took this organization to three playoff appearances three years in a row… He's a good leader for this team, he does a really good job. Did we come up short, yeah? Did things happen this year, yeah? But I don't discuss about firing a man, this man got a family, I don't discuss anything about that."
Cox declined to discuss his future with the Eagles and if he'll return next season.
The Eagles had a lot of success with Sirianni, but the team finished the season by losing six of its last seven games.
All eyes will be on Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman on Sirianni's status heading into the offseason.