Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and now-former Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson have a long relationship. That factor became particularly relevant to the decision of the Eagles to fire Johnson.
Early in Wednesday’s end-of-season press conference, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was asked about the decision to fire Johnson, and he was specifically asked whether he talked to Hurts when making the decision.
Sirianni sidestepped the issue then. Later he was asked more specifically to explain Hurts’s reaction to the firing of Brian Johnson.
“Obviously they have a relationship,” Sirianni said. “You’ll have to ask Jalen when you get an opportunity to talk to him. But anytime you have to let people go, we all hurt when we let people go. Every one of us. This is the worst part of the job, having to let people go.
“It doesn’t just affect the person you let go. It affects the families, and it affects -- there’s a friendship there that we have worked together every day for the past three years, and we’ve spent way more time with each other than we have with our families or our loved ones, and you grow close and you grow close bonds.
“I don’t even want to get into what every player -- everyone is going to be hurting from this, not just the guy that got let go but the friendships that are -- they’re not over, but you’re not going to see that person every day like you have in the past.
“That’s the most difficult part of this business that I feel like if I can explain that on the human side of this thing, that’s the most difficult part of this business is saying goodbye to friends, and I can’t -- it’s the worst part. I really can’t explain to you how shitty it feels when you have to do those things, and everybody feels it, coach to coach, player to coach.
“Like I said, Brian did so many good things, and like [G.M.] Howie [Roseman] was talking about, the games that we’ve won, the success that we’ve had, Brian is a big part of that, and we’re all sad for what’s went down and what’s going on right now.”
So if Hurts was upset about the firing of Johnson, Sirianni didn’t say it. And the reporters covering the Eagles won’t have access to Hurts for months in a press conference setting.
What does Hurts this about Johnson being fired? Does he think Johnson deserved it? Did he accept it? Or does he believe Johnson was made to be a scapegoat for the struggles of the offense in 2023?
Until we know how Hurts truly felt about Johnson being fired, it’s impossible to know how Hurts feels about the Eagles moving forward.