He had tussled with Eagles fans and two Cleveland Browns players and heard faint shouts of “Fire Nick” from a few angry people in the stands as his players stalked into the locker room at halftime. Now Nick Sirianni walked into the postgame press conference room at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday with his three children in tow — Jacob, Taylor and Miles, all adorable, none of them older than 9 — and the only conclusion one can draw from the scene possible was that these children had to be made of Kevlar.

In the final seconds of the Eagles’ 20-16 victory, Fox cameras caught Sirianni refusing to once again exercise any semblance of self-control. There he was, barking at who knows how many fans, putting his index finger to his right ear in an “I can’t hear you” gesture just before leaving the field and reiterating that he was too insecure to let that happen even the most thoughtless public criticism rolls off him.

The Browns are terrible, 1-5 and with a starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson, who hasn’t been competent this season. Still, they almost handed the Eagles the kind of defeat that can ruin a season, and instead of acknowledging that there was nothing good about anything the Eagles had done, Sirianni delivered one tone-deaf response after another. It was as if he believed that no one had paid attention to what had happened in the last three hours – and that no one was familiar with his track record of failing to suppress his emotions and one in the heat of a game to keep a clear head.

“I’m just happy with the win and appreciate the Linc support,” he said. “It’s damn hard to win in this league.”

Come on, Nick. Light up. In Sirianni’s eyes, apparently anyone covering, following or supporting the Eagles is a leg up, and he can drench them all and reassure them that it’s just a temporary rainstorm.

It was impossible to watch him on that podium – his children smiled and squirmed as he dropped one S— and a ass and pounded the table, monologued about the passion of a home crowd whose members spent most of the day sitting on their hands — and not seeing what was really going on.

This was an insult to everyone’s intelligence, an oh-so-cynical maneuver from a coach whose team was lucky enough to beat a bad opponent, a coach who tried to use the smallest and youngest members of his family to keep him ahead of all the targeted, but appropriate questions to protect a coach whose future with the Eagles is still so uncertain.

“Everyone doubts him. Everybody doubts him,” safety CJ Gardner-Johnson said. “I think the only people who don’t doubt him are us. I don’t think you know how much (expletive) he takes on a daily basis, and we need to back it up. I’m just proud that he’s my coach and no one else.”

” READ MORE: Nick Sirianni chirps Eagles fans, Kenny Albert learns a lesson and other highlights from the broadcast

This was the justification for Sirianni’s behavior to the players who were ready to defend him: he should be himself, and the team will be better for it.

“I just told him to be him,” Brandon Graham said. “I need him as Nick 2022 so we can get there.”

However, Sirianni’s behavior had almost nothing to do with the fact that the Eagles went 16-4 and almost won the Super Bowl that season. This team had better players, better coaching and a better, more dynamic version of Jalen Hurts. A coach is not judged by whether his players like him. He will be measured by whether his team improves and succeeds under him, and for all the praise that Sirianni’s current and former players like to give him, the Eagles have been playing for some time like a team that doesn’t give a damn. whether he stays or goes.

The truth is that Nick 2022, Nick 2023 and Nick 2024 turn out to be the same immature guy with bunny ears. The one who yelled at fans in Indianapolis in a misguided attempt to avenge his just-fired mentor Frank Reich. The one who rejoiced in front of Kansas City Chiefs fans as he strutted down a tunnel after a big win Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium last year. The one who needs a cool head on the sideline — Dom DiSandro, the franchise’s chief security officer — to stay focused and calm his temper.

If you’re looking for reasons why the Eagles’ performance is so inconsistent from week to week, you could do worse than set your sights on a head coach who is unable to demonstrate the same discipline, which he supposedly demands from his players. If only Sirianni herself could see the connection.

“When I’m active and having fun, I think it affects the rest of the football team,” he said. “If I want the boys to celebrate after big performances, then I should probably do it myself, right? There is a time for this, and there is a time when I need to have wisdom and discernment about when to do this and when not to do this.”

However, Sirianni’s problem is that he can’t tell the difference. He can’t help it. He can’t hold back. And every outburst like the one on Sunday damages the image it is intended to project and the respect it is intended to convey.

His children sat with him on the podium and he repeatedly talked about his desire to share these wonderful, precious moments with them. And if he talked about family and football long enough, maybe everyone would forget how close his team came to another collapse, how he had caused himself another embarrassing incident, how he had given so much reason to wonder for how long he I will continue to be the head coach of the Eagles.

For the latest time, but probably not the last time, for your future in Philadelphia, for your football team, and for your own good: Grow up, Nick. Grow up.