As the Eagles plunged to their fifth straight loss, questions emerged regarding effort, or lack thereof.

Or, more fundamentally, whether the defensive line was even bothering to get into their stances.

To no surprise, then, effort was a theme of the week, specifically when reporters had a midweek chance to pose questions to coach Nick Sirianni.

Asked whether there was an issue with effort on Monday night against the Cowboys, and how the coaching staff gauges whether effort is an issue, Sirianni said this: “We grade every play based off of what they did, we grade every play based off of their assignment alignment and we grade every play off of effort. That’s not only in games, but that’s also at every practice, because if we were just grading it in games and not emphasizing it on every play in every practice, then we wouldn’t be doing our job.

“I did not see an effort issue on Monday night. Obviously, it was other things, which I’m sure you guys will ask me about. There were other things, but effort in no way, shape [or] form was an issue there.

“The plays -- now, do you bat 100% on effort? No, you don’t play a perfect football game. The plays, anytime there is an effort stand out in a positive way, we show it to the team and show what the standard is. Anytime there’s one that we feel like there was a loaf, we point that out and show that to the team. But I didn’t think that we had -- I didn’t look at the tape and say, ‘Hey, this was an effort issue, and this is why this play happened or that play happened.’ That’s how I graded the film.”

He later was asked whether players get grades on a weekly basis regarding topics like assignment, alignment, and effort.

“That would be crazy not to tell them what they’ve done and what they haven’t done,” Sirianni said. “We go over that with them. We watch the game with them, and everything is discussed with these guys. I guess I’m a little confused by the question. If we want them to get better, we’ve got to go over all the mistakes and everything with it.”

The reporters eventually attempted to address the confusion by explaining to Sirianni the perception that effort was an issue. So what does Sirianni think about the questions in that regard?

“I think in that situation, everyone’s going to look to find answers in a five-game losing streak,” Sirianni said. “Just because the result -- If we win that game, do they still question the effort? I don’t know. I can’t -- I’m not them. My job is to look at the daily process of it and the daily work and what objectively happened in that game and not react based off of the outcome. I get it. I would understand [that] everyone’s looking for answers. I don’t give you a lot of answers up here. I get that. I understand that. I do respect the job that you guys have to do, but I’m always going to probably keep it tight to the vest.

“But again, it’s not about the outcome. . . . We’re outcome-aware -- but it is about the process that goes [into] it, what happens Monday through Saturday. What happens Monday through Saturday is usually what happens in the game in my experience. That’s why you need great week of preparation, but I’m not letting the outcome dictate how I grade the film. I’m grading the film objectively based off of what I see on a weekly basis.”

What everyone sees is a team in a tailspin, with the most recent Super Bowl win fading deep into the rear-view mirror. They get their next chance to turn things around on Sunday night, when they face the 1-4-1 Commanders.