Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell bounces back with a strong series against the Cleveland Browns
Gainwell recently took some criticism from coach Nick Sirianni and bounced back with a touchdown against the Browns.
CLEVELAND — Kenneth Gainwell kicked off the weekend on a sour note, but made a nice recovery by Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles running back got chewed out by coach Nick Sirianni in the latter part of Friday’s joint practice against the Cleveland Browns. Sirianni screamed at the 2021 fifth-round pick for making mistakes on routes and pulled him from the final team session of practice.
On Sunday, he redeemed himself.
In the Eagles’ 21-20 win against the Browns on Sunday, Gainwell led the team in rushing with 46 yards and scored a touchdown on his one series of action.
“I had a couple mistakes in practice,” Gainwell said after the game. “That’s the way to bounce back: Get in the end zone.”
With most of the starters sitting and Miles Sanders sidelined with a hamstring injury, Sirianni gave Boston Scott the opening series and let Gainwell play out the entire second series. After the first two drives, Scott and Gainwell got the rest of the game off in favor of Jason Huntley, Kennedy Brooks, and DeAndre Torrey.
“Boston had a great first series,” Sirianni said. “A 13-play drive and we got him out of there after that. ... Kenny had a 12-play series, I thought that was good, so I said to get him out after that. Kenny had not his best day on Friday, but then came out and showed out in the game.
“He’s just a tough-nosed kid. He’s a guy that’s going to be really physical with the ball in his hands and go get the yards and we trust him in that scenario.”
» READ MORE: Eagles-Browns analysis: Birds win without their starters, as Cam Jurgens and Devon Allen stand out
Gainwell’s best play came on a third-and-13. He took an inside handoff, got upfield, and made a Browns’ safety miss in space near the first-down marker for a 16-yard gain.
Ten plays later, Gainwell scored from two yards out and had a much warmer exchange with Sirianni.
“I yelled at him on Friday,” Sirianni said. “I said it after he scored his touchdown and came out, I just said, ‘I love you, man’ and he said the same thing back to me.”
Even though Sirianni chided Gainwell in such a public manner, he said the second-year running back out of Memphis hasn’t needed much tough love during his professional career.
“I [told him] ‘Did you know on Friday, that might have been the first time I yelled at you in two years?’” Sirianni said. “He didn’t think anything of it. He likes the hard coaching, and I’m happy that Kenny Gainwell is on our team.”
Gainwell figures to be an integral part of the Eagles’ running back rotation once again this season. He’s arguably the best receiving back in the group and was productive in the red zone as a rookie. Even though he’s just 5-foot-9, 200 pounds, Gainwell has also been effective in short-yardage situations and running between the tackles at times.
Scott also had a productive day, rushing for 33 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts.
“We were just able to pound it a little bit,” Sirianni said. “Maybe it wasn’t always pretty and clean, but we were kind of going, putting our heads down and running it. They made it work. Sometimes it was muddy, sometimes it was clean, but they ran really well.”
» READ MORE: ‘I’m going to go off’: Kenneth Gainwell is in attack mode preparing for Year 2 with the Eagles
Gainwell missed the preseason opener against the New York Jets because of a hip injury suffered during practice, making Sunday’s game his first chance at live action. Depending on Sirianni’s approach with the final preseason game Saturday against the Miami Dolphins, it could be the last time Gainwell takes the field before the regular-season opener against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 11.
“I don’t know,” Gainwell said when asked if he’s done enough to sit next week. “I’m ready, though. Whatever the coach asks me to do.”