'He's the best': Eagles coach Nick Sirianni has fond memories of Browns QB Jacoby Brissett

BEREA − Nick Sirianni can still see the play. In fact, he can virtually recreate it himself.

Sirianni, then the offensive coordinator, and Jacoby Brissett are together with the Indianapolis Colts in 2019. They're playing in Denver, and they're down 13-12 with the ball at their own 11 and 1:48 remaining.

"We’re in a two-minute drive to win the ballgame and Von Miller comes through on a stunt, free," Sirianni, now the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, recalled Friday as his team was in Berea for the second day of joint practices with the Browns. "And we’re backed up. We’re on about the four-yard line and Jacoby just … Von Miller is one of best players of all time and Jacoby gets him off him, scrambles to his right and throws a tight rope 40 yards down the field to T.Y. Hilton, which helped us win the football game in that sense."

The play, which was actually a 35-yard strike, was upheld upon review. It set up a 51-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri with 22 seconds remaining to give the Colts a 15-13 win.

Brissett also has a memory of his former offensive coordinator. It's an entirely different one, though.

"I remember he was trying to fight fans, one time they were booing us," Brissett, now the Browns' quarterback, said with a laugh.

Sirianni laughed when he was told of the comment by Brissett. He also didn't necessarily deny the truth of the statement.

"He's teasing," Sirianni said. "He's making that up. A little bit."

It wasn't a total fabrication on Brissett's part but Sirianni did want to set the record straight.

Or, at least straighten it out a bit. That's because, to Sirianni, there's something much more deep-rooted to the statement than what it sounds like at face value.

"I think one thing, to a fault maybe even with me, and I've been this way since I've been a little kid with my brother," Sirianni said. "We're a family. My brothers, my dad and my mom, we're a family. I'm the youngest. One's nine years older than me and the other brother's six years older than me. And, when they would have a bad game or somebody would say something bad about them, or talk bad about them, I was quick to be defensive of them, right, because I loved them.

"Shoot, now as a coach, I feel that I have that. I was like that as a teammate, I would like to think, and as a coach, I definitely know that I have that, like, protective … I know these guys are the biggest, strongest men in the world, and I know they can protect themselves. But I love these guys and it's like, that's just an instinct that you have. That's just how I was raised. This is our family and I just have that protective instinct to defend them, that's been like that with every team that I've coached."

Sirianni and Brissett spent just three years together, from 2018-20. Those three years also included arguably Brissett's all-around best season in 2019, when he came in after Andrew Luck's sudden retirement and threw for 2,942 yards and 18 touchdowns with just six interceptions.

That time together didn't just resonate with the coach. It also did with the player.

"A great friend, great coach obviously," Brissett said. "I'm extremely happy for him, the opportunity that he's been presented. I think he did a great job last year and excited to see where where he goes and I'm a big fan of him."

It's a mutual admiration society between the two. It also speaks, to Sirianni, to the familial feelings that he holds for his players, current or former.

Even now, Sirianni admits that Brissett may be as much a favorite amongst his own family as he is with him.

"He’s the best," Sirianni said. "My kids still asked, ‘How’s Jacoby doing?’ My wife still asks about him. He’s just a great leader and a great guy to be around, and so and I always thought this about Jacoby and I guess I’m not supposed to be talking about … I don’t really want to talk about other people’s teams. But Jacoby and I are close. Jacoby is special to me so I don’t mind doing this with him, and so I always thought of him as such a good leader. Such a good teammate. Such a great guy to be around every day."

Something that, at least for the last two days − and the next two as well − there'll be some truth to once again for the two.

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nick Sirianni recalls fond memories of Browns' Jacoby Brissett