Nick Sirianni

Q. Last week after the Falcons game, you said you had even more conviction in your fourth down decisions with the chance to review them. I was just curious, 24 hours later, how you view some of those decisions from yesterday, particularly that one at the end of the first half? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, every time we go for it on fourth down or set ourselves up to go for it on fourth down, I’m doing what I think is best for the football team at that particular time.

I’m not going to get into — I know I tried to share with you guys as much as I could last week. I’m not going to make that a weekly habit of explaining that to you guys. Like I said, I did that last week.

I can say this: Every time I do something like that, I’m doing it because I think it gives us the best chance to win the football game. And knowing very well that when you don’t convert on fourth down, that’s going to be 100% on me, regardless.

That’s my role as the head football coach. That when that play doesn’t go the right way, there is going to be blame to be had, and that’s going to be on me. Obviously, we’ll fix whatever we need to fix within our team meetings and within our position meetings and within our offensive and defensive meetings to get the things right that we need to do.

But any time something like that happens, I’m doing that because, again, I’m making the decision that I think is best for the football team. Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I come back at the end of it and rethink it, every single time. But in the middle of it, as it’s happening, I’m making the best educated decision I can to help the football team win.

Q. If I may follow up, on that one before the half, there was 14 seconds remaining – (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: I did what I thought was best for us in that particular case. Hey, it didn’t work. So, like I said, when it doesn’t work, there is nowhere else to look but right here, right on me.

I told you guys last night. There is nothing to follow up on. I told you guys last night who called the play. That was me. I called it. And it didn’t work there in that situation.

Q. Did you think you would have two opportunities if you did get the first down? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah.

Q. Because you had ten seconds left. (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: I still thought we would get two opportunities.

Q. Because you still have to kick the field goal if you – (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: I understand that.

Q. Okay, thanks. (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Thank you.

Q. The league reviews plays, every play, but has there been anything from you guys to check in with the league on the hit on WR DeVonta Smith or CB Darius Slay? (Brooks Kubena)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I’ll never share information that I’m going to have with the league. I think I’ve told you this. Any conversation with a player, any conversation with [Chairman and Chief Executive Officer] Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie, any conversation with the league, those are private conversations.

You know, I respect your question. I want to be able to help you do your job and help the fans understand more, but there are things I have to keep private.

That will be something – and obviously we’ll turn in anything. I guess I can just it answer big picture-wise, I’ll turn in anything that we feel like is a questionable call.

I don’t want to get into — I am never going to challenge anyone’s integrity. Those guys are out there playing as hard as they possibly can on both sides of the field. So, I am never going to question that. I think their guys are — don’t want to get too much into the play, but everyone was playing hard on that play.

I love Smitty [DeVonta Smith], and I am really sad that that happened to him and that he got hurt on that particular play. Just hoping that he’s recovering, continuing to recover here. But, yeah, that was a tough play to watch on film.

Q. After the injuries to T Lane Johnson and G/T Mehki Becton, how much of the offensive game plan changed after that? And when you look at that, do you feel? (Chris Franklin)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you do some different things based off who is in the game. Some different schemes here and there. Sometimes it’s the same that you run. Sometimes you help on protection, sometimes you don’t.

But when you lose those guys and you lose the right side, that’s tough. What happened was, [G/T] Tyler [Steen] and [T] Fred [Johnson] came in and played outstanding games. And as you continued on with the game, you realized, ‘Hey, you can just keep rolling with what you got because they’re doing such a good job.’

And so, man, credit to those guys. We talk about roles a lot. That’s a conversation that we have before each season, as you guys know, of what everybody’s role is.

Those guys’ role was to be ready to go – to be on the field goal unit, but then to be ready to go if their number is called, and they sure were. We played a really good defensive front yesterday. Got a ton of respect for that defense and that football team. And we played a really good defensive front.

Those guys came in and really played well. There were some things that were happening, they had some combo blocks together, Tyler and Fred, where they’re working in unison on an outside zone play that [RB] Saquon [Barkley] had a good run on. Fred had a down block on a gap scheme play on a third down where he really did a good job of displacing the defensive tackle.

They did well in protection.

I mean, just can’t tell you how happy I am for those guys. One of the first guys that came in — when I was walking up the tunnel, I saw Fred, and it was only Fred and I in the tunnel. Just gave him a big hug.

Man, I can see how happy he was just from the way he performed. He’s worked hard at that. That’s awesome when something like that happens. I was excited for him. I was excited for Tyler. [WR] Parris Campbell did some really good things, too, when he was called upon.

So that’s a team, right? When you have all that and everyone playing their role. Everyone’s role is not the same, but everyone’s role is vitally important.

Man, it was fun to see those guys. Obviously bummed that you lose the players that we lost, but fun to see those guys go in there and perform.

And that’s a credit to the guys that they’re replacing as well that have helped them get better. I know [T] Lane [Johnson] is constantly – Lane is such a good teammate that he’s always trying to help guys become better football players because he cares about the Philadelphia Eagles. That’s awesome.

That’s why I love this football team. The people on this team know that we can’t be great unless we have the greatness of other people. Our team knows that.

Q. I wanted to ask you specifically about T Fred Johnson. He’s talked before about the last couple years working behind the scenes on the scout team and the way his relationship with Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland has developed over that time. What’s your vantage point been the last couple years that he’s been in the building? (EJ Smith)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, first and foremost, Fred having the want-to to just continue to get better. Fred is obviously very talented and has something you can’t teach: massive size and strength and athleticism. He came here and got a fresh start here, and he’s worked his butt off.

And Stout [Jeff Stoutland] pushes him. I told Stout last night, when we were coming home on the plane, I’m like, ‘Man, I enjoy going to your – once a week I’ve been going to the offensive line meeting room. I have really enjoyed going to the offensive line meeting room and listening to that.’ And listening to Stout coach those guys, and how those guys react, and how those guys respond.

I know he’s pushed Fred. I heard him push Fred on Thursday in that meeting room, just to get better. Stout is constantly on the guys to get better. He lets no detail slide, and I love that about Coach Stoutland. [I am] sure glad he’s our offensive line coach.

And that’s a combination of Stout refusing to let Fred slide in any way, because all he cares about is Fred getting better, and then Fred putting in the time, putting in the work, putting in all the things that he does to get better.

Now Fred just has to build upon that. That’s a great steppingstone to build upon, and just ride his momentum right there to just continue to play better football.

Q. With the wide receiver injuries, I guess you’re facing the possibility that you won’t have your top three guys this Sunday down in Tampa. I was just wondering if you could talk about the guys you do have, and do you feel like you have enough at that position to go play a game? (Reuben Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, obviously we’ll see as the week goes on. We’ll see who is going to be available. We’ll plan for everything. Like I said from the very beginning, I really have a lot of faith in that wide receiver room. We have [WR] Johnny [Wilson], we have [WR] Parris [Campbell], we have [WR] Jahan [Dotson]. I know Jahan hasn’t had a ton of catches, but I think he’s been playing efficient football. And sometimes it’s just a matter of seeing it, and then going out there and planning some more things for him and doing some more things to get the ball in his hands.

And then we have some practice squad guys that are working hard. We’ll see how this all plays out. But I have got a lot of faith in the [wide receivers] room. And it can look a lot of different ways. So, I have a lot of faith in that tight end room, and I have a lot of faith in the running back room as you look at the skill positions.

A lot of different things you can do. Obviously, really early in game planning, and I probably wouldn’t share it with you anyway as far as what we’ll do there. But we’ve got options, that’s for sure. Just because we feel good about the work that these guys have put in and the players and the teammates that they are.

Q. Just to follow up on this receiver question from Reuben: WR Johnny Wilson had the big catch, I think, yesterday for nine or ten yards, first down catch. He also got called for holding. What have you seen from him behind the scenes in his progress here in his rookie year? (Ed Kracz)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I just think he’s really tough, first and foremost. Talent is just the beginning. It’s about how tough you are if you’re going to reach your ceiling. Obviously talented and unique. He has unique traits with how big and strong he is.

He’s able to do some different things that we need, some dirty work things that we need. And then he’ll be called upon, if we need to, to make some plays catching the football.

Yeah, I loved his first catch yesterday, putting his head down. He’s a big dude, and trying to tackle him was hard for those guys. And he was able to get some yards after catch and get the first down on that. So I just think I’ve seen toughness.

He’s continuing to learn everything there is to learn about playing wide receiver in the NFL. Obviously not going to learn that all in one night, or one season, or two seasons. That takes time. But he’s uniquely talented and he’s got toughness. I’ll take tough guys on this football team any day of the week.

Those are the guys – it’s like basketball, your shot is not always falling, right? Sometimes in football, you’re not getting opportunities, or it’s not coming your way or going your way. It’s the guys that play with relentless effort and toughness that can overcome things not going your way with the ball in your hands.

Q. You mentioned the team as a whole having kind of a rough week in getting past that adversity. Specifically with DT Jalen Carter, what do you think clicked from that standpoint? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: You know, John, I thought we got off the mat pretty quick. Because I just think that there was this urgency after the loss of, hey, no one liked that taste in our mouth.

It was handling the adversity of the initial thing and just how you’re going to respond to it. So [DT] Jalen Carter, he didn’t play his best game, obviously, against Atlanta. But he came out and he was completely dominant in the game yesterday.

Sometimes I share with you ‘player of the game,’ sometimes I don’t. He was our player of the game yesterday, so he got a game ball for yesterday because of his performance.

But what changed was — at the end of the day, and I said this last week, playing defense is about just your relentless effort. Playing defense is about striking blocks. Playing defense is about shedding blocks. Playing defense is about tackling. Playing defense is all being on the same page.

You do those things well, you’re going to have an opportunity to play good defense. So that’s what I saw from Jalen Carter. He’d strike, he was violent yesterday with his hands. He was athletic to get off blocks. He beat blocks every way you could possibly imagine. He played on their side of the line of scrimmage an awful lot.

As a result, he let other people make plays. Not only did he make plays, but he helped other people make plays. There were multiple plays where I felt like our linebackers were running free because they were hanging on the double team of his block for a little bit longer.

So I loved his response, John. Really at the end of the day, again, you can have a negative mindset, or you can have a purpose mindset. The purpose mindset says ‘What did I screw up the game before? This, this, and this. And how am I going to fix it? This, this, and this.’ And then going out and executing it. And he did that.

And I think that sets a good example for our entire team. There are going to be little losses throughout every game. There will be little wins, there will be little losses. You can’t get held up on either of them. You just have to play the next play and learn from the little losses that you have.

That’s what I felt like really happened. That’s what I said to the team today. I felt like – and I kind of mentioned all of them here – I felt like everyone had a role on that field yesterday. And we had mistakes, obviously, but we needed everybody, with the examples of [T] Fred [Johnson] and [G/T] Tyler [Steen] and [WR] Parris [Campbell].

We handled adversity. We got better from adversity. The way we handled cut blocks, the way we struck on the line of scrimmage, different things like that. I thought we played tough against a tough football team.

And I thought we played together as a team. That was so obvious on the sideline, just how much everybody was there for each other through the ups and downs. ‘Hey, we got you. No, we got you. You’re going to crack out of this. We got your back.’ Whatever it was.

And I said those four things to the team about that. It was awesome. It was a good team win.

Q. How often will you decide to call a play on offense and what determines when you do? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I don’t say a number. But here and there, that’s going to happen. And that’s regardless of whether it was ’21, ’22, ’23 or ’24. We’re all coming up with the game plan together. We’re all putting in the work together. We’ve got good minds on the offensive side and defensive side, and so you talk through things.

[Offensive Coordinator] Kellen [Moore] is obviously the one calling plays, but everything is collaborative as far as the way we go through our process and in-game. Just because I did it in that one doesn’t mean there is not a play that [Passing Game Coordinator/Associate Head Coach] Kevin Patullo is saying in the ear of Kellen, ‘Hey, what do you think about this there?’ and Kellen going, ‘Yeah, I like that idea.’

Or [Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach] Jeff Stoutland or [Tight Ends Coach] Jason Michael on a run play particularly, or [Run Game Specialist/Assistant Offensive Line Coach] TJ [Paganetti] on a run play saying, ‘Hey, they’re doing this in this scenario. What do you think about this?’

That happens throughout the game over and over and over again. That’s just the way every staff I’ve ever been on – whether I’m the head coach, or offensive coordinator, or quarterback coach, or I was a receiver coach – that’s how that works, and that’s how that worked. And I’m assuming that’s like that for teams I haven’t been on as well.

I also understand the scrutiny that will happen when something like that happens. I wanted you guys to know yesterday that in that scenario, with a questionable call there, that I made that decision. So that’s why I let you guys in on that, because Kellen didn’t need to bear that, because I did that.

That is why I brought you in on that yesterday. Not to open the door of, ‘Well, how many times you call this?’ or ‘How many times did you call that?’ It’s collaborative. In that particular case, I called that one, and it didn’t work.

When that happens, I’ll always make sure that you guys know about that.

Q. You said yesterday that the interception was on you. I know you take responsibility for everything, but what specifically about that interception was on you? And then the route concept there, how comparable was it to the touchdown WR DeVonta Smith scored a week ago? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Good eye, Zach. It’s close. That’s a good eye by you. It’s similar. There are subtle differences and subtle different things there. In that particular case, when I say that, did I put him in position, did I show him enough tape? We have plenty of plays like that where we really work hard to get in that window.

Yeah, I think in those scenarios, those happen. I always think like that: Did I show him enough times? Because that’s something I’ll do in team meetings: Hey, here is a mistake we made, and here is what it’s supposed to look like. Sometimes you show videos of your team, sometimes you show some videos of other teams.

That’s always on my mind, Zach. If I didn’t feel like I showed him that, then I missed that one step that I needed to do. I don’t think I did a good enough job of showing that route that we were running there against all the different looks that you can get.

Because sometimes that safety can be outside, and that angle looks different. Sometimes that safety can be inside, and the angle looks different. Sometimes that safety could be middle of the field, and that angle looks different. I’m really hyper-critical of myself as far as: Did I show him — and our coaches — did I show them every look they possibly could be in?

I know there are amounts of countless looks, but there are certainties in routes. I’m really convicted on this. Obviously, my history as a wide receiver – I played wide receiver a long time ago, but that, and my history as a quarterback coach trying to get the receivers right, and as a wide receiver coach of putting them in every one of those scenarios.

You can only have so many different things, right? Outside, inside, leverage, middle open, middle closed, man, zone, soft zone. Yeah, that’s where I was feeling on this yesterday, Zach. But I think that’s what everyone has to go through, those processes of ‘What could I do better to help the team?’

[WR DeVonta Smith] Smitty is out there busting his ass to make every play he can. So what am I doing as a coach to bust my ass to put him in every spot I can possibly put him in. So that’s what I was referencing yesterday, Zach. Not just a ‘Hey, my fault.’ It was more – I really thought through that as far as how we run that route versus different looks.

Q. DE Bryce Huff had 18 snaps yesterday, most of them were in pass rush scenarios. It seemed like a relatively quiet day for him. What’s the biggest hurdle for him to clear right now in order to become the impactful player that the team hoped to have when they had signed him in the off-season? (Olivia Reiner)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, just keep plugging away, keep going, keep working hard every day. I really do believe that the guys’ sacks and pressures come in waves. When one guy gets hot, they start rotating the slide the other way, or giving help the other way, and then the other guy gets hot.

It’s just time. I’ve got a lot of faith in [DE] Bryce [Huff] and the things that he can do. Obviously, that’s why he’s here. I’m excited for the time when he’s going to have a big-time game. I know he puts the work in. I know he’s ultra talented. I’ve got no doubt in my mind that he’s going to continue to get better and have a good impact on this football team.