Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni pulled off a masterful troll job regarding the controversial tush push play heading into Week 1.
The play was nearly banned during the offseason as league owners failed to stop the Eagles from using their highly successful short-yardage weapon. The final vote was 22-10 — 24 votes are needed to pass.
The Green Bay Packers originally submitted the ban proposal, citing player safety, despite no data backing up claims that it caused more injuries compared to any other football play.
According to ESPN, the Eagles ran 124 tush pushes since 2022 heading into the 2025 season — 106 for first downs and 33 for touchdowns — converting an impressive 85.5% of the time.
Sirianni’s Perfect Setup and Punchline
Going into Week 1’s matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, Sirianni decided to have some fun during the team meeting, announcing they would no longer be running their signature play.
“We’re going to change our short-yardage play this year. Alright? We’re going to change that, so we don’t need you as much on the quarterback sneak,” Sirianni said while speaking toward Jalen Hurts.
#Eagles HC Nick Sirianni told the team before Week 1 that they would no longer be running the Tush Push in short-yardage situations…
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 11, 2025
Then he looked at Jalen Hurts: “I’m kidding. We’re gonna run that sh*t.” 😂😂
(via @Eagles, h/t @DiBonaNFL)pic.twitter.com/TTr0AjjeB0
Sirianni stared at Hurts for a couple of seconds before breaking into a smile.
“I’m kidding. We’re going to run that s***. We’re going to f***ing run the quarterback sneak,” Sirianni said.
In their season-opening win against the Cowboys, the Birds went 2-for-2 on the tush push. They face the Kansas City Chiefs on the road in Week 2 for a Super Bowl rematch.
