Eagles defend Reid after ‘Fire Andy' chants

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It began with a murmur and quickly gained steam, growing louder and louder until it seemed like everybody left in the stands at Lincoln Financial Field was chanting it.

Fire Andy, Fire Andy, Fire Andy.

The Eagles are 4-7, theyre on their way to a third consecutive season without a playoff win, theyve lost eight of their last nine home games and on Sunday, during the third quarter of the Eagles 38-20 loss to the Patriots (see story), the fans showed their frustration and anger in a way they never have during Andy Reids 13 years as head coach.

The Fire Andy chant started after a miserable fourth-and-one play from the two-yard-line, a Vince Young pass that sailed high over Brent Celeks head and really had zero chance of working.
Fire Andy, Fire Andy, Fire Andy.

It continued for about 15 or 20 seconds and rose up again in the fourth quarter, after the Patriots scored their fifth touchdown of the game.

Theyre upset and I understand that, Jason Babin said. Theyre entitled to their opinion, and we didnt give them anything to feel happy about.

Weas in the players.

Its horrible. You know what type of coach Coach Reid is, Brent Celek said. You never want to hear that. And I know he doesnt want to hear it, but its us players that are out there putting a bad product on the field. Weve got to pick it up. I mean, we love him as a coach, but we as players have to put the product on the field.

I know the fans are frustrated. I mean, I guess they dont know what else to do. Theyre paying a lot of money to come to these games and watch us play, and weve got a talented team, and were just not playing that way.

The Eagles are now tied for last place in the NFC East with the Redskins. Only six NFL teams have fewer wins. Only the Colts have won fewer home games. Theyve blown three 10-point leads.

And the fans have had enough.

I didnt hear it, Reid said after the game. The way we played, I can understand.

Reids players came to his defense after the game, pointing out that the coaches arent the ones dropping passes, committing penalties and missing tackles.

Its tough, you know, because coach Reid has taken a lot of heat for a team game, and theres a lot of stuff were doing out there -- effort, missed tackles, dropped balls, missed assignments -- and those things are on us as players, so its that were not doing good enough, Cullen Jenkins said.

It flat out comes down to it. You can put us in the best position out there, but if you cant make a tackle, cant catch the ball, if you cant do your assignment, it doesnt matter. It doesnt matter who your coach is. Its on us as players to pick it up.

Fans at the Vet started chanting Kotite Sucks at the Vet as early as 1991, his first year as head coach. They also once rained a We Want Buddy chant at Kotite during one of his awful losses that first year.

There were Ray Must Go cheers back in 1998, referring to Ray Rhodes. But that was 13 years ago.

I definitely hear it, definitely aware of it, Riley Cooper said. Andy Reids not out there playing, hes not suited up, hes not out there making plays. Were ultimately the people that are supposed to get the job done. Its the players responsibility to make the plays and make the adjustments and win the ball game.

The game plan was great. It has nothing to do with Andy or the play calling. Its the players. Thats our guy. Thats the head coach. Everyone loves Andy. Hes been doing it a long time, and hes one of the best. It definitely frustrates us when we hear that stuff, but as long as were behind him, thats all that matters.

Even LeSean McCoy, who entered the game as the NFL rushing leader but got only 10 carries, defended Reid.

Andys not going nowhere, he said. Hes a good coach. Everybody knows that. As players we need to fight for him a little more, a little harder. We just have to make plays. Coach cant go out there and play. You know hes not going anywhere. Thats just kind of fans talking.

E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com

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