Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said on February 25th that it is “a little unfair” that some teams are trying to get Philly’s “Tush Push” banned by the league. This comes just two days after the Green Bay Packers proposed a rule to the NFL’s competition committee that would ban the specialized quarterback sneak.
While speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine, Sirianni added that it is “insulting” that some teams think the Tush Push will result in an automatic first down or touchdown.
“I can’t tell you how many times we’ve practiced the snap, we’ve practiced the play – it’s not a play that’s easy to practice, so there’s different ways we’ve figured out how to practice it – the complements that come off of it that can create explosive plays,” he said. “The fact that it’s [portrayed] as an automatic thing, we work really hard, and our guys are talented at this play, and so it’s a little insulting to say we’re good at it so it’s automatic. We work really hard at it.”
Nick Sirianni with an incredible answer when asked about the Tush Push, the nuances and skill of it, and the level of detail that goes into executing the play.
He said some of the backlash to ban it is “insulting.” pic.twitter.com/3CeOt1E8CD
— Chase Senior (@Chase_Senior) February 25, 2025
According to research conducted by ESPN, the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles have either scored a touchdown or picked up a first down on 87% of their Tush Push attempts. The rest of the NFL has only been successful 71% of the time when attempting this play.
“Obviously, I’m protective of it because we’ve had success with it,” Sirianni explained. “I think the competition committee will do a good job of looking at everything, but I do feel that way a little bit, a little bit insulting in that sense of, the guys work hard at it, we work hard at it… Just because it’s a successful play for us doesn’t mean that it should go away.”
— Lane Johnson (@LaneJohnson65) February 24, 2025
Sirianni also shot down the idea that the play is detrimental to the health of opposing players.
“I think if you look at that – because we’ve looked into that, too – there wasn’t a lot of injuries there. I think that’s a little made up, to be honest,” he said. “Now, the numbers will tell the truth, but I don’t think there was many injuries with it this year. I can’t remember one injury we had on that play, and we ran it more that everybody else.”
NFL owners are expected to vote on the rule proposal next month at the annual league meeting in Florida. If the proposal goes to a vote, 24 of the 32 owners would need to vote in favor of the rule for it to be approved.
