Clearly, it’s not unusual for a football coach and his player to swap angry platitudes on the sideline in the heat of a game when emotions are raw and disagreements get out of hand quickly. That’s what happens when your opponent has some success at the expense of your team’s defense.
But it is unusual when the public disagreement involves Eagles coach Andy Reid and one of his defensive players.
That, however, is exactly what we got Monday night when the Eagles were in the process of beating the Patriots 27-17. In the video posted below, Reid gets into a sideline confrontation with defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, and though it’s over quickly, it’s a testosterone-raising moment for a coach who's usually calmer than that.
Reid yells at Jenkins, who immediately stands up from the bench and begins arguing back to his head coach. Defensive line coach Jim Washburn steps in between Jenkins and Reid’s mustache, and Reid continues to jaw at Washburn as Jenkins is led away. It’s not necessarily a pretty scene.
Not that this is a big deal, however.
“It’s an emotional game, he was fired up, I was fired up,” Reid said after the game. “Those things happen. Cullen’s my primary leader on the defensive line, so I count on him for a lot of things. He was upset, I was upset, we talked about it afterwards and we are okay.”
After their outburst, Reid sought out Jenkins to end the mini-feud. But he still wanted to make it clear that he wasn’t happy with his defensive line.
“Listen, it’s an emotional game,” Reid said. “This isn’t the first time that I’ve… I was born with red hair, I know I don’t have much of it now. Sometimes it flares up once in a while. It’s always for the good of the football team.”
The flare-up occurred after the Patriots completed an 80-yard drive which ended when Patriots quarterback Ryan Mallett hit tight end Alex Silvestro for a seven-yard touchdown. Red hair or not, Reid thought the drive was inappropriate.
“He comes at you,” Jenkins said referring to Reid, via the Philly Inquirer. “He wants to get the best out of you. He wants to make sure you’re focused and the right stuff is going on, that’s all. You have to respect that and you can’t fault that as players. Obviously, that’s not the way I should have handled it, but you just get emotional.”
The worst part of it all is that some of our Olympians had to witness such a vitriolic argument.
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