Kenny Gainwell Responds with Solid Game After Nick Sirianni's Friday Blowup

The Eagles head coach told his second-year RB that he loved him after Gainwell scored a TD in win over Browns

After notching their first preseason win on their second try, beating the Cleveland Browns, 21-20 on Sunday at First Energy Stadium, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni hopped into a time capsule to 48 hours earlier.

It was on a steamy, late Friday afternoon in Berea, Ohio, at the Cleveland Browns' training facility, when Sirianni ripped into his second-year running back for a couple of mistakes in a team drill.

“Two mental errors in a two-minute drill? Get out,” Sirianni barked at Gainwell.

Gainwell responded with a solid game on Sunday, gobbling up chunks of yards on the ground to end his one series of work with 11 carries for 46 yards and a 2-yard touchdown.

Would it have been nice to see a ball thrown his way?

Yes, considering Gainwell has struggled somewhat catching the ball so far in camp and especially since he returned from a hip injury a week ago. He’s had five drops in four practices since then.

Still, it was an encouraging performance and one much-needed considering how Day 2 of joint practices between the teams ended prior to the weekend.

“Kenny had not his best day on Friday,” said Sirianni after the Eagles’ win, “but then he came out and showed out in the game.”

The coach then went dived deeper into the blowup.

“I yelled at him on Friday,” said Sirianni, “and really I said after he scored his touchdown and came out, I said to him, ‘I love you man.’ And he said the same thing back.

“I said, 'You know on Friday I think was maybe the first time I yelled at you in two years.' He didn’t think anything of it. He likes the hard coaching and I’m happy that Kenny Gainwell is on our team.”

Gainwell’s most impressive run was a 16-yard pickup on a draw play that came on third-and-13 and kept the Eagles’ TD drive alive that he ended with 2-yard run.

“He’s just a tough-nosed kid,” said Sirianni. “He’s a guy that’s going to be really physical with the ball in his hands and go get the yards, and we trusted him in that scenario. Sometimes it’s what the defense plays and you feel good about it, and he did a good job.”

Perhaps it was comforting to see both Gainwell and Boston Scott impress in their one series each. Perhaps now, some of the talk about trading for Browns RB Kareem Hunt will die down. Probably not, though.

It was a solid display of running the ball against Cleveland, as the offense churned out 144 yards on 43 rushes.

Scott contributed 33 of those yards on 10 runs, also scoring a 1-yard TD.

The rest of the running back breakdown:

• Jason Huntley 22 yards on eight runs

• Kennedy Brooks 16 yards on six attempts

• DeAndre Torrey 13 yards on three rushes

Quarterback Reid Sinnett chipped in 16 yards on three runs.

“(He) made a couple of nice plays with his feet, that was nice to see,” said Sirianni about his third-string signal-caller. 

“It’s hard to go in when you sit out the whole first half and come in the second half. I’d like for him to get in and start fast, but I think once we settled in I thought he did a nice job again.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.