Inside the Eagles’ dejected locker room, some don’t quite know what to say about their struggles

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — As the Eagles’ fearless leader, Jason Kelce, held court in front of a crowd of reporters, a sense of mystery swirled across the visitors locker room at MetLife Stadium.

Sunday evening marked the merciful conclusion of the regular season, which saw the Eagles finish with an 11-6 record. At the end of November, the team stood atop the league with its 10-1 mark. But the Eagles then experienced a humbling 1-5 stretch over the final six weeks. During that span, they dropped from the NFC’s No. 1 to No. 5 seed, losing the division crown to the Dallas Cowboys in the process.

The Eagles are still playoff-bound, but they more than stumbled across the finish line. Their embarrassing 27-10 defeat to the New York Giants on Sunday only piled on to the team’s laundry list of lingering concerns.

“It [bleeping] sucks, the way we’ve played these past six games,” said Kelce, the five-time All-Pro center.

» READ MORE: Fire Nick Sirianni and all his coaches after this Eagles humiliation against the Giants? OK.

Several feet away, a defeated Josh Sweat planted himself onto an undersized stool. The 26-year-old defensive end failed to register a sack over the last eight games. His frustrations, and those of his teammates, became evident as he spoke bluntly.

“God damn,” Sweat said. “[Shoot], I don’t know. At this point, I don’t know what to say…We just didn’t make the plays we should’ve been making. We practiced all week. We came out here. We just weren’t in the right spots. We just didn’t get it done.”

With the Eagles slated to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Monday in the wild-card round, is there enough time to fix the myriad of issues that continue to plague the reigning NFC champs?

“I don’t know,” Sweat replied. “The only thing we can do is go back to practice. Try to get on the same page.”

As tight end Dallas Goedert described, the Eagles have been on “cruise control” over the past two months. The offensive execution hasn’t been crisp. The Brian Johnson-led play calling failed to produce 20 points in five of its six losses. On Sunday, the hobbled Eagles starters struggled to produce any type of continuity. By the half, coach Nick Sirianni had already waved the white flag, electing to sit a majority of his starters, including quarterback Jalen Hurts, for the remainder of the contest.

» READ MORE: Will Jalen Hurts be healthy for the playoffs? The loss left the Eagles injury-riddled and a QB’s finger disfigured

Sirianni’s reactionary mid-season decision to switch defensive play callers – from coordinator Sean Desai to senior assistant Matt Patricia – was rooted in hopes of sparking a struggling unit. However, over the past six weeks, the Eagles have appeared lifeless in their attempt to contain sub-par passers in Drew Lock and Tyrod Taylor. The same defense that once built its foundation in the trenches as one of the league’s top run-stopping units, gave up a combined 738 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns over the team’s last five defeats.

As players filed toward the exits Sunday night, some kept the mood light by cracking jokes with one another. Johnson huddled for several minutes with Hurts and backup Marcus Mariota, the trio sharing smiles and laughs. Simultaneously, others, including Kelce and left tackle Jordan Mailata departed in deep dejection.

“We fell short by a lot,” Mailata said. “I can’t find a way to [say] it. We played bad today. We didn’t execute. To be in the playoffs, whether we earned it or not, we’re still here.”

Over the next several days, the Eagles will turn their full attention toward the Buccaneers, whom they’ll meet in a win-or-go-home stage next Monday night. The Eagles previously defeated the Bucs in Week 3. Whether Sirianni can find the perfect balance to rally his team from its epic skid will serve as either the turning or breaking point of the season.

“There’s not really an explanation, we just didn’t do the things we needed to do to be successful, and that starts with me,” Sirianni said. “We’ve got a lot of belief in that locker room. There are a lot of teams that want to be in our position in the playoffs. Everybody’s got to give everything they’ve got this week.

“Everybody in that locker room, we need all players, all coaches, all hands on deck, leaving everything they’ve got in this locker room. Because everybody is 0-0 going into this week.”