Nick Sirianni
Q. You guys have 10 scrimmage plays of 40 yards or more, which is well more than any other team. And they’ve come in different ways: short passes, they’ve gone for big plays, deep balls, runs. I wanted to ask what those plays mean to the offense, to have that at your disposal to hit those fairly regularly? (Reuben Frank)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we talk a lot about explosive plays. Our definition of explosive plays is – 40 [yards] is majorly explosive. Our definition with explosive plays is, hey, you get explosive plays, it creates points, right?
And vice versa on defense.
The definition of our explosive plays is 20 [yards], give or take. And I won’t get into all our specifics there, but give or take, around there. So, to create one that’s double that even puts your chances of scoring up even more.
Constantly want to be able to create those. We have the players to be able to create those. Yeah, the guys have done a good job of hitting – [QB] Jalen [Hurts] yesterday, I think the one to [WR] A.J. [Brown] was probably 43 [yards] yesterday. But what a great throw by Jalen. What a great route by A.J. Had a couple by [RB] Saquon [Barkley] yesterday.
When you’re able to hit those and be explosive, it gives you a better chance to score points.
Q. Piggybacking off that a little bit, you guys had zero turnover worthy plays the last two weeks, but you do still have some big plays down the field. How do you go about coaching a player to make sure they’re cautious with the ball and thinking about it while not suppressing their ability to take some chances and make big plays? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)
NICK SIRIANNI: You try to think through all those different things. As far as how you carry the ball – because I think you’re talking about two different things as far as that. I think there is the part of it where it’s the quarterback, because the quarterback has a very specific job there, and then the ball carrier on top of that.
So, [with] the ball carrier, you just harp on the way the ball is carried. There are a lot of elements to that, whether you’re going through the line of scrimmage, whether you just caught the ball and you’re tucking it, whether you’re on the sideline, whether you’re in traffic, whether you’re making a move, all those different things.
You just try to reenact those things and put them in those positions as often as you possibly can. That’s what you’re trying to do in practice, simulate the game as much as you possibly can. That’s what we try to do there, and we talk about it a lot.
I think what you’re talking more about, Eliot, applies to Jalen.
You’ve got to be able to take care of the football while still being explosive. That’s why the quarterback is who he is, how important he is to the football team.
Because we’ve got to be able to take receivers that are open downfield while also not wanting to force it. I think that’s just the repetition of the different plays that he sees versus all the different looks that he can get.
So you want to take what they give you. Sometimes that’s more risk than other times, but I think that’s just playing the quarterback position. It’s constantly taking what they give you. Do they open things up down the field?
As far as the next part goes, it’s how you’re protecting the ball when you’re carrying it. Because I think that’s just different. How you have the ball and you’re taking care of it when you’re carrying it, and how you have to go through reads and stuff like that.
I think that’s what you’re talking about.
Q. In this game, you guys almost doubled the amount of under center snaps that you had and ran on all but one. And were effective there, about six yards per carry. A, Why was that to work in this specific game plan? B, Were there things that were revealed that you think might help the offense going forward? (Brooks Kubena)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, again, every game plan requires different action based off the defense that you’re playing. You still want to stay true to who you are, and the things that you do well, and the things that are part of your offense, and the things that mesh with your offense well.
But then, every game plan calls for a little bit different. So I think – I can’t tell you the last time we came out of a game, and we only threw it 14 times.
Again, it’s not only the game plan, but also the flow of the game and the way the game is going. We had a lot of four-minute snaps yesterday, meaning we were running – I think at the end of the game, we were run, run, run. Threw it a couple times. But all those things play into it.
That’s just the way a game plays out.
Q. Now that you’ve had CB Quinyon Mitchell and DB Cooper DeJean in the starting lineup for two games together, what have you taken away most from their play and also what you’ve seen from them behind the scenes all year? (Dave Zangaro)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I see two guys that love the game of football and are willing to do everything they can to get better at it. Highly competitive guys. Very serious about football. Good teammates. Work really hard.
All those things you see out of these guys on a daily basis. And it’s good to have their youth and energy out on the field. They’ve put together some good games in a row. [DB Cooper DeJean] Coop is obviously just starting to become our starter at the nickel position. He’s had two good games in a row.
[CB] Quinyon [Mitchell] has been good throughout the time that he’s been here. He’s not fazed by anything. I think he just goes out and competes and plays his game. He’s had a lot of production on the football.
I think those are looking like two really, really good draft picks. That’s really helping our defense grow.
Q. Just want to ask you, I know these backups prepare every week like they’re going to start. What did you see when G/T Tyler Steen stepped in yesterday? And then secondly, on the offensive line, who is T Fred Johnson’s primary backup, or who’s the key swing tackle? Is it T/G Jack Driscoll, T/G Darian Kinnard, or is it game by game? (Ed Kracz)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, again, I feel like we have good depth there to have different options.
[Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line] Coach [Jeff Stoutland] Stout does a good job of rotating the guys at different spots. So I feel like we have good options there with our depth with [T] Jordan [Mailata] out and [T] Fred [Johnson] starting on the offensive line.
There’ve been a lot of guys. [G/T] Mehki [Becton] has done it. So it could be a lot of different answers there. And that’s a good thing, that you have options.
As far as [G/T] Tyler Steen goes, when he stepped in in the middle of that game when Mehki went down, I thought he played a really good game. There was a long run by Saquon that he and [T] Lane [Johnson] were having a combination block with [Giants DT Dexter Lawrence] 97. 97, obviously, is a phenomenal football player.
And they combo him, Lawrence, to the linebacker, and Steen just has this perfect timing of when to get off onto the linebacker and leave Lane with Dexter Lawrence in the crease.
And so that takes a lot of work together. That takes a lot of timing together, a lot of practice time together, to really fit that block properly.
And so, just couldn’t say enough the guys and their work ethic, their faith in each other. I definitely see that within the offensive line. Hey, this guy is down; I got faith in the next guy. They constantly talk about it, and it’s awesome when it shows up on tape like that.
Q. I understand that the defensive snaps are down and that’s something to do with matching personnel, but DT Jordan Davis only played 12 snaps. DT Moro Ojomo played probably almost double that. Is that a change in how you guys are using DT Jordan Davis? Do you think that he can be a three-down guy? (Jeff McLane)
NICK SIRIANNI: I think that’s just the flow of that game of how that played out. They were in some more must-pass scenarios. [DT] Jordan [Davis] can definitely be a three-down guy. He has strengths; the run game is one of his biggest strengths.
There was a play yesterday where he kind of pushes the center back into the play. [DE] Brandon Graham does a good job of holding a slice blocker on the edge, and they kind of blow up the run.
We’ve got a lot of faith in Jordan, and he’s done a great job taking care of his body and being in great shape. We know that he can play more plays than he did, but it was just the way the game played out yesterday with some of the more known pass [scenarios].
[DT] Moro [Ojomo] has been doing a good job in those scenarios. That’s kind of his specialty, is being able to rush the passer. He’s done a good job of it. Thinking back to the high ball that he forced in the New Orleans’s game on a critical third down. And he’s had other reps like that since then that have put our faith high in him as well.
Again, how it played out. I’ve got faith in both those guys to perform on both sides there, as far as the run and the pass.
Q. Is anything behind the sweatshirt? ‘Ever in danger,’ I guess. And just your general philosophy on when you see games like that and people talk about identity or formula, is that a real thing to you? Do you search for stuff like that? (John McMullen)
NICK SIRIANNI: As far as [identity] goes, you do have something that you hang your hat on, and I think that’s always your core values. Your identity is constantly adjusting, changing, figuring out as the year goes.
[Identity] changes a little bit based off who you’re playing. We really take pride in our identity being our core values: being a team, playing with great detail, playing with toughness, being accountable.
Scheme stuff is constantly adjusting. Sometimes the identity in the game is to run it as much as we did yesterday. Sometimes the identity is to pass it a bunch, right? I think that’s just constantly changing and adjusting.
As far as the sweatshirt, this was a gift from [Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs] Coach [Jemal] Singleton. I like the sweatshirt.
Q. I know you were asked yesterday about QB Jalen Hurts not having any turnovers the last two games. I was wondering if you think that’s a product of him not forcing stuff as much and trusting his guys. On the other hand, he did throw those two deep balls to WR A.J. Brown in critical situations. What do you make of the fact that he hasn’t had the turnovers, and is he playing differently, or is WR A.J. Brown just being back a big part of that, too? (Martin Frank)
NICK SIRIANNI: Jalen plays the hardest position in sports, in my opinion. These guys are coming down there trying to kill you, and he’s got to make split decisions on where to go with the football based on a defense that’s trying to deceive you of what they’re playing.
Then, [he] has to be accurate with the throw on top of that, while somebody is right on the hip of the receiver at times, and sometimes they’re open by a bunch, too.
It takes a ton of reps. It takes a ton of study. Jalen has done so much of that. He knows how important it is to take care of the football, but he also knows how important it is to win the explosive play battle.
That’s what we talk about each week. ‘Let’s win the explosive play battle, and let’s win the turnover battle.’ A lot of that falls on his shoulders of being able to push the ball when it needs to be pushed. Sometimes you get explosive plays.
Yesterday, we had a check down to [RB] Kenny Gainwell. It wasn’t an explosive [play], but it was darn close. A 12-yard gain because Kenny got the ball in space and was able to make a guy miss.
There’s a lot that plays into it. I think he’s been playing good football and taking care of the ball. We have this two-game win streak, and he’s touching the ball every play, so he’s a big part of that and a big reason why.
Q. You guys, over the last three years, are 71% on fourth down. It’s the best percentage in the league. You weren’t so successful in your first year. I think it was 45% your first year. What does that do for an offense’s confidence when you have that success rate? (Bob Brookover)
NICK SIRIANNI: Shoot, you saw yesterday. That led to 21 points. Where if you didn’t have that confidence in the guys, then that is potentially nine points, right? Or you punt on one of them because you’re a little bit out of range.
I think that’s huge. You’re constantly thinking about how you score touchdowns, how you score touchdowns, how you score touchdowns, and you’re pissed when you’ve got to kick a field goal.
That extra down gives you a lot to be able to do that. You’ve got to have faith in the guys to be able to do that. It’s been a big key to our success these last couple years, is that success on fourth down turning three points into seven points.
The 4th-and-3 on the 43 yesterday, with A.J. and Jalen, just protection was really good. Jalen took a little bit of hip and put a perfect throw on to A.J., who ran a perfect route. That’s huge.
There was that 4th-and-2, I believe it was, at the nine-yard line or whatever. They dropped eight, Jalen was patient, and then he went and made an unbelievable play.
When you can extend drives and give yourselves a chance to score seven as opposed to three – all these games are tight, so those make a big difference. All the credit goes to our guys because of how they go out there and prepare and handle it.
Q. I know that QB Kenny Pickett wasn’t asked to do a ton necessarily. He only had to throw one pass. In the snaps that QB Kenny Pickett got, are you able to learn anything meaningful about the way he runs the offense for if he is called into action down the road? (Bo Wulf)
NICK SIRIANNI: I think you learn that as practice goes. We were in a different mode with the way the score was and where we were. We were in a different mode.
Any time you go in there and you are able to get snaps in a game, you’re analyzing how he’s making checks, different things like that.
To say we were running our offense would be – obviously you guys know, that wasn’t the case. So, it’s a tough spot for a quarterback to be in. ‘Hey, we’re going to run it on third down.’ I don’t think any quarterback likes to hear that.
But we get our confidence in [QB] Kenny [Pickett] through practice, through preparation, through pre-season, through all the different things. We get to see him every day and thought he was really good in practice last week, getting our defense ready to play in this game.
Q. Yesterday was S Sydney Brown’s first game back since early January, the regular season finale. As someone who had a front row seat to his rehab, what was it like as his coach getting to see him get out there? And then also, what kind of energy did he bring to practice and then ultimately in the game yesterday, getting back into the swing of things? (Olivia Reiner)
NICK SIRIANNI: I think everybody gets excited about [S] Sydney [Brown] and the physicality he plays with, the effort he plays with, the love for this game that he plays with.
There was a play yesterday on the tackle he had as the gunner, they kind of come out to double team him, and he gets a shot on the guy that’s coming over on the vice and has great block destruction on his way to making a great tackle in open field in space.
That’s the type of thing we’ve become accustomed to over the year-plus we’ve been with Sydney. We’ve become accustomed to really enjoying the big play ability and explosive play ability. And I just saw how hard he worked to get back. He just attacked his offseason, trying to get himself back ready to play football.
The way he attacked it in rehab, in the training room, but also just the mental reps he would get. Every time you would watch him, he was always getting mental reps, he was always behind the play, he was always just taking steps to simulate that he was in there.
That guy prepared for this moment. Now I’m happy he’s back. I think it would be sweet if he got a cool hit on his brother [Bengals RB Chase Brown] this week in this game. So happy that he’s back and playing for us again because we know what a spark he can be and the energy that he brings to the team.
Q. What takeaways did you have from the third down cutaways today? Then also on the three 3rd-and-shorts, do you go into those knowing you’ll go for it on fourth down? (Zach Berman)
NICK SIRIANNI: It depends on the situation of the game. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. You’re always trying to play the scenario. Sometimes that calls for kicking the field goal no matter what. Sometimes this calls for going for it in these scenarios.
That’s to our advantage as an offense, that the defenses don’t always know when we’re doing that and when we’re not doing that, because it’s different each drive, each play, each game situation.
The first part of that question? I’m sorry.
Q. The third downs, what stood out when you watched them back today? (Zach Berman)
NICK SIRIANNI: Obviously, we’ve got to be more efficient on third down. We kind of count some of those third downs if you convert on fourth down because you’re playing, like you said, to set it up as a win.
But we have to be more efficient on those third downs, and there are a lot of different reasons why. It will always start with us. ‘Do we put them in positions to succeed? Did they execute?’ It’s always going to go in that order.
Some thoughts we had after we looked at it, some different thoughts of protection, some different thoughts of route concepts, some different routes of one-on-ones that we’ll experiment with as we continue to move forward.