How Failing Sean Desai Could Spark Philadelphia Eagles Defense

The Philadelphia Eagles can only hope an atypical trading of job descriptions between Sean Desai and Matt Patricia creates a spark.

PHILADELPHIA - To date, everyone has said the right things at the NovaCare Complex when it comes to the atypical late-season trade of job descriptions between deposed Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai and current play-caller Matt Patricia.

With Week 2 of the experiment on tap Christmas Day against the limited Tommy DeVito and the evergreen-struggling New York Giants offense, the Eagles are likely to get some fool’s gold in their stocking for the holiday.

The real impact of Nick Sirianni’s decision will not be known until the postseason, however.

The Eagles' head coach hasn’t faced much adversity since finding his footing as a rookie head coach and his response to a two-game losing streak that has now been extended to three will be debated heavily unless the Philadelphia defense can find a way to stop the bleeding against the kind of test that is far greater than manufactured Sopranos tropes.

The spin has been consistent when it comes to Desai, painting the young coach as a team player and class act who has put his head down and tried to help in any way possible since being exiled upstairs to the coaches' box.

“[Patricia] and Sean continue to work really well together,” Sirianni told SI.com’s Eagles Today on Saturday. “I walk by their offices quite a bit. They're talking and chatting, very similar to how it was when the roles were reversed.”

The decision was hard for Sirianni and dated back weeks as the coach mulled what was happening with his defense.

“Those [decisions] are hard,” he said. “That's tough, because you get to know these guys. You get to work with these guys. So, to make a change that you know is going to be hard for people is tough. It's tough on the human side of it, your emotions and everything like that.

“... I did what I felt was best for the team. Sometimes when you make decisions on behalf of the team, you're going to hurt somebody -- I don't want to say hurt, but it's a hard thing to go through.”

Nick Sirianni's decision to move away from Sean Desai was a difficult one :: John McMullen/Eagles Today

While Desai hasn’t spoken publicly since his demotion was revealed, you can feel comfortable Sirianni didn’t need to walk back the “hurt” comment.

However the 2023 season finishes for Philadelphia, Desai isn’t coming back with a newly defined role.

Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay, who is currently sidelined after arthroscopic knee surgery, blamed himself and the secondary he leads.

“I feel as players, I feel it’s our fault. We failed him,” Slay said. “And that’s the sad part about it because I don’t like to see a man get demoted because of performance. But this is a production business, and we weren’t productive for him.

“... We failed that man.”

Perhaps the realization of that failure and taking accountability sparks something.

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For Sirianni, it was worth rolling the dice.

“It's not a decision that I thought was going to be easy to do,” Sirianni said. “Again, like I said, I did what I felt like was best for the team. That doesn't make the decision any easier.”