February 06, 2026
Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images
Jeff Stoutland left the Eagles this week. He might not be the only one.
The Eagles sound like they're devolving into a dumpster fire on the inside.
The Flyers have been playing like a low-event dumpster fire on the outside.
The Sixers gave away Jared McCain for no real reason.
And the Phillies are just kind of there right now.
This is the Philly sports vibe check for February. It's a f***ing disaster.
The Eagles hired Sean Mannion as their next offensive coordinator. He has no experience playcalling, but seems to be a creative and on-the-rise mind within the NFL. The organization even brought on Josh Grizzard from Tampa as the pass game coordinator, and in a way, a safety net of sorts...Cool.
Then word got around that Vic Fangio, whose defense basically saved the Eagles from total disaster this past season, was considering retirement and needed to be persuaded by the organization to come back. He's expected to now, but there also isn't 100 percent certainty that it's a lock...That's worrying.
Then, out of the blue on Wednesday night, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, a longtime staple of the team and a legend in Philly, tweeted that he made a decision to leave the Eagles. The word "retired" was never mentioned, and his message was addressed to Philadelphia, with no thanks issued toward the Eagles....What is happening over at NovaCare?
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane followed up quickly with an upload of his "unCovering the Birds" podcast, which is worth a full listen that you can check out HERE, but has the cliff notes summed up by Patrick here (@PhillyPMC on Twitter) below:
A ton of info in here, including:
— Patrick (@PhillyPMC) February 6, 2026
1. The Eagles wanted Stoutland to stay, the divorce was “messy”, and Stoutland put out his tweet earlier then agreed upon so he could show he was “not on the same page” with the Eagles
2. Lane Johnson has a better chance of returning than Landon… https://t.co/QhcJ0QU9TO
Lane Johnson's career status being up in the air isn't much of a shock. It's in the open that he's in the home stretch of his career, never made it back this season from his Lisfranc injury, and only ever had Stoutland as his O-line coach in the NFL.
But Landon Dickerson? What? How hurt really is he?
This is before even mentioning A.J. Brown, who is generally believed to be on his way out of Philadelphia after frequently displayed frustration throughout most of this past season and then killer drops against the 49ers in the Wild Card loss.This team won the Super Bowl just 12 months ago. Now they sound like they're imploding from the inside.
How does Nick Sirianni explain this one away? Certainly, with Kevin Patullo out and now Stoutland, too, there's nowhere for him to hide.
The Flyers had their last game before the Olympic break on Thursday night. They played like a team trying to get a head start on their vacation.
Jamie Drysdale fired a shot that snuck past Ottawa late to give the Flyers a lifeline in overtime, but it only really bought them a couple extra minutes as they lost immediately into an extra frame with a point in the standings that, frankly, they didn't deserve.
The Flyers did next to nothing to get to the net against the Senators on Thursday night. They didn't even register a proper shot on goal until well past 15 minutes into the first period, when a puck fell to Denver Barkey's feet right in front and just had to give Ottawa goalie James Reimer some kind of work by that point.
By the end of the second period, they were trailing 1-0 from Nick Cousins tapping home a backdoor rebound, were getting outshot 21-8, and the only one who skated like he was genuinely interested in doing anything about it was Matvei Michkov, who generated probably their two best chances, not that there were many. He turned the puck over a few times Thursday night, sure, but granted, he didn't exactly have anyone else hustling to keep up with him and take in a pass either.
Speaking of Michkov, he's been the root of a disconnect that grew out of control in the larger hockey landscape this past week.
He's been positioned as the future star of the organization, but he hasn't been having a good sophomore season, which was pinned mostly on falling behind in training during the summer.
Michkov came into camp out of shape. That's been known for months, head coach Rick Tocchet has said it openly, and Michkov himself even owned up to it with a vow to correct his offseason plans so this never happens again.
But then Tocchet cut Michkov's ice time down to that of a fourth liner, got pressed about it during an interview with AllPHLY during the Flyers Charities Carnival, and couldn't help but fall back on Michkov not reporting in shape, while alluding that maybe he isn't showing up for treatments on time.
That ended up a PR firestorm, which general manager Danny Brière had to step out and put out before Tuesday night's game against the Capitals.
Brière also did this, mind you, during a spiral the team has been on since early January, where they've gone on to lose 12 of their last 15 games with mostly uninspiring play that has effectively taken themselves out of a playoff race that, before the new year, they looked like they were serious about taking a run after.
Not now, though, and all the while, the prospect pool save for Porter Martone hasn't exactly been making major waves on the horizon either.
So Brière sits here in Year 3 of his stated rebuild, with a team stuck in the mud and having to assuage concerns about the relationship between his top core piece and the coach he just hired.
The Flyers sit here looking at Year 6 without playing any meaningful hockey.
And the fans, whether they want to see the Flyers tank for a top pick or compete to try and see if they can sneak into the playoffs, they're all sitting here angry and upset now.
And ultimately asking: Where is all of this even going?
Paul George got tagged for a 25-game suspension on a league anti-drug policy violation. He won't be back until late March.
The Sixers traded Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, which handed the backcourt fully to Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, but was a move that really only makes sense if there was another one coming ahead of Thursday's trade deadline.
All they did was trade Eric Gordon to Memphis, convert Dominick Barlow, and throw out a couple of 10-day contracts to ensure the roster was full and that Barlow could stay available as a result.
The Sixers have Maxey continuously ascending into super stardom, a rookie Edgecombe who has stormed out of the gate, and a Joel Embiid who is managing to stay on the floor and thrive as a more complementary piece.
You don't know how long you have that combo for, so give them a chance while they're there.
The Sixers did not. But hey, they saved a few bucks!
Daryl Morey spoke to the media on Friday about the deadline. You can check out what he said HERE. Chances are, it won't make any Sixers fan feel any better.
Oh, by the way, the latest Epstein file dump includes owner Josh Harris' name and more than a few back and forths between the two...
Yeah, that one's just another conversation entirely.
How are the Phillies in the best standing from not really doing anything?
I mean...sure...
Pitchers and catchers report next week. That's cool, I guess.
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