Nick Sirianni Says Team Talked To Kenneth Gainwell About His Halftime Social Media Response
According to Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, the team had a word with running back Kenneth Gainwell after he responded to some social media smack-talking during halftime.
It happened on Sunday with the Birds taking on the Washington Commanders, a team that has given them some trouble over the last year or so.
Gainwell fumbled in the red zone and soon heard it from fans on social media. However, instead of just letting it go and focusing on the task at hand — y'know, winning the game — he took a swipe at one criticism while in the locker room during halftime.
The fan told him to get off his phone, which was quietly the funniest part of the exchange. Way better than the glue line.
Dude, should've quit while he was ahead.
Sirianni Says Eagles Had Chat With Gainwell After The Social Media Incident
Well, it turns out the Eagles also told Gainwell to stay off his phone while in the middle of a game.
"Of course, we talked to Kenny about that," Sirianni said, per Yahoo Sports. "These guys have some time away from us when we get into the locker room where they sit down at their locker. They do whatever is going to take their mind and just calm it. This is part of these guys' lives, is some of that stuff. He's sitting at the locker. Should he respond to somebody that’s DM’ing him? No, he shouldn't respond to that guy or that girl at all."
Sirianni said that the team had a talk with Gainwell over the incident.
"He knows he made a mistake responding back to that person, who I'm assuming is an Eagles fan and then took a snapshot and posted it. That's a whole different set of issues if he's an Eagles fan. I won't even get into that."
Interestingly, Gainwell's habits of thumbing through his DMs may not have just been a headache for the Eagles but may have gone against an NFL policy. The league sent a memo to teams late last season to remind that they're not supposed to use devices during games unless they were league-issued.
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