Eagles HC Nick Sirianni addresses Dre Greenlaw, Dom DiSandro incident
Philadelphia Eagles (10-2) head coach Nick Sirianni spoke with the media Monday and addressed the sideline incident that took place during Sunday’s 42-19 Week 13 defeat involving San Francisco 49ers (9-3) linebacker Dre Greenlaw and Eagles chief security officer Dom DiSandro.
Sirianni, who issued an apology to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan on the field after the game, said he doesn’t believe it was DiSandro’s intentions to further escalate the situation.
“Dom is as good as they get in this business,” Sirianni said, via Pro Football Talk. “I’m so thankful for him. He is always going to try to defuse situations. That’s what he does, that’s his job. Obviously, unfortunate yesterday. I know in Dom’s heart he truly was trying to defuse the situation right there. I am sad it came to what it came to that anybody got thrown out of the game.”
Both Greenlaw and DiSandro were ejected from the game with 9:27 remaining in the third quarter, when the former tackled Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith near Philadelphia’s sideline after a 13-yard completion. Greenlaw slammed Smith to the ground and was flagged for unnecessary roughness. Players from both teams began jawing at each other before DiSandro stepped in and put his hands on the former Arkansas standout. Greenlaw extended his hand and appeared to make contact with DiSandro’s face.
NFL reviewing altercation between 49ers LB Dre Greenlaw and Eagles security chief Dom DiSandro
DiSandro has been with the Eagles since 1999. He also works as a senior adviser to general manager Howie Roseman, per ESPN. Walt Anderson, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating, said a review took place in New York after the incident which determined DiSandro was “contributing to the escalation” of the argument. DiSandro was ejected as a result.
The NFL is reviewing the sideline incident. There is expected to be a follow-up with the Eagles later this week, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan gave his take on the ejections after the game.
“I didn’t get to see it all from where I’m at,” Shanahan said. “But when I started hearing people explain it to me and stuff… I just can’t believe someone not involved in a football game can taunt our players like that and put their hands in our guy’s face and from what I was told, Dre did it back to him and [I] was told that he kind of mashed him in the face a little bit so he got ejected. But it was a very frustrating play.”