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The Eagles managed to get a win against the Commanders on Sunday, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. They had a couple of fumbles around he goalline, and one of them was by running back, Kenneth Gainwell.
The problem was, instead of forgetting about it, Kenneth decided to starting answering social media trolls during the game at halftime.
Because Gainwell’s fumble cost the team points, fans were in his DM complaining and trolling him. One particular fan by the handle ‘phibirdsrecap’ wrote him “Hold on to the football you f—-bum.”
Gainwell apparently couldn’t resist the urge to clap back, while the Eagles trailing 17-10, he fired back with, “Lil boy don’t text me.” That seemed to put an end to the Instagram exchange.
Nick Sirianni says the #Eagles spoke to Kenny Gainwell about this interaction with a fan at halftime of the WSH game: pic.twitter.com/qOA4oCo1fW
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) October 30, 2023
By the time the clock ran out, Gainwell had logged two rushes for a disappointing minus-4 yards and five catches for 30 yards. His fumble led the Eagles to lean more on their starting running back, D’Andre Swift.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni didn’t let this slide. He mentioned that they had a chat with Kenny Gainwell about the whole thing, saying on Monday, “We definitely had a conversation with him. We do have some time at halftime, and he knows he made a mistake. We just reminded him to ignore the outside noise. He knows he made a mistake.”
Nick Sirianni says the team did speak with Kenny Gainwell regarding him DMing back an Eagles fan critiquing him on IG during the game: “We definitely had a conversation with him. We do have some time at halftime, and he knows he made a mistake. We just reminded him to ignore the… pic.twitter.com/7mpSryG9su
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) October 30, 2023
Certainly not something you expect to see from a professional athlete.