Nick Sirianni

Q. Your messaging for the Cowboys week, you talked about this team doing some special stuff. I’m curious if there was a demarcation line when you felt that way or if that’s been constant messaging from early on? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, that’s been constant. That’s been a constant messaging. I always go back to, the best teams win, not the best group of individuals.

You’re constantly trying to come together as a football team. I think there are a lot of good groups of individuals out there, but to do things that you want to be special, it comes down to the team. The team, the team, the team. And understanding that we can’t be great without the greatness of others.

So constantly building up the team, constantly thinking about the team. I think that goes back to our core value number one of connecting, which I’ve been saying “team” a lot more this year.

The most important part of any team is the team, so that’s been a pretty constant message.

Q. And T Jordan Mailata? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: We’ll see. We’ve got some time here, so we’ll see here as the week progresses. I know that we only have a couple more days, today and tomorrow, but we’ll see.

He’s working his butt off, and we’ve got great doctors, we’ve got great trainers, we’ve got great strength staff that have done a good job. And [T] Jordan [Mailata] has done everything he could possibly do to put himself in a position to potentially – again, like I said, we’ll see.

Q. You’ve told us a few times that there is no handbook for this job. If you think back to your first year, the situation with former Eagles and current Commanders TE Zach Ertz was the first time you were exposed to the business side with a player, if you will. How did you learn from that experience? How did that help you as a head coach? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think, first and foremost, [former Eagles and current Commanders TE] Zach [Ertz] is an all-time Eagle and was really honored to be around him. And he’s still playing at a high level in this part of his career.

So, going through that and him moving on, us moving on in the organization, him getting another fresh start, that was always a tough one because I did really come to really value Zach Ertz the person, Zach Ertz the player. Enjoyed the time I had around him.

Even as you work through all these four years, every one of the moves that you make, or when somebody is not here anymore, they all have a little bit of a different flow.

I think at the end of the day, it goes back to the relationship that you have and you try to build with your team and with your players on your team. And I value that relationship that I have with Zach, and obviously he’s a great player.

Q. I know you always say the best teams are the ones that are most connected. What are the signs you look for to figure out if that’s the case? Has this team been exhibiting some of those? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: There are a lot of things you can tell in interactions of team meetings. You can tell things like that, just the energy, the flow, all those different things.

I always think there is a lot to be said for how guys celebrate together. I think that’s a big deal.

There are a lot of different things you look at. Selflessness of players. I think about [WR] DeVonta Smith and how he blocks without the football. When he’s not getting the football, how he’s trying to change the game without it. You think about the hustle and guys selling out for each other.

I don’t think there is a handbook for that either. There are a lot of things I look for on that, as far as that goes. But those are some of the things that you see.

And then it’s just that feeling you have when you’re around the team. It’s something that I can’t really explain. It’s just, hey, this is how it feels.

I feel like we’re continuing to come together as a football team. We can continue to get better at this, just like we can continue to get better at our details, and our physicality, and everything.

It’s the same thing with team.

Q. I know you’re saying we’ll see with T Jordan Mailata, but you’ve got a chance in Week 11 of an NFL season to have all of your regulars up and ready to go. How much do you cherish a week like that in a league like this? (Bob Brookover)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you always have injuries in this league and in this game. It’s just the nature of the game.

So you’re trying to do everything you can possibly can to limit those things while still practicing your butt off. Because you only get better with the way you practice.

So if we have Jordan and that’s the case this week, then that’s a great sign for Week 11. It means we’re doing a lot of the right things.

Luck has something to do with that as well. We all have to know that. But we’ve been pretty healthy here the last handful of years. A lot of credit to our doctors, our strength staff, our trainers, the way the guys take care of their bodies.

We do a lot as coaches to think about how we’re going to do that, but also how we’re going to get better at the same time.

So it takes everybody to win a game. It takes everybody to have the type of health that we’ve had. We’ve just got to continue on that path while still getting better.

Q. I know you mentioned the other day how valuable it is to be able to rest your starters in three of the four games late in the fourth quarter. I was also curious how valuable it is for some of those young guys, like WR Ainias Smith, RB Will Shipley, OLB Jalyx Hunt, WR Johnny Wilson, to get playing time in those fourth quarters? How can that benefit you down the road? (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think equally as important. Good question. Equally as important, the rest that the starters get and the backups getting the time. I think that’s huge.

You constantly try to do things at practice to put these guys in positions to excel and to have reps, so they get reps at doing our stuff. So if they are thrust in a position to contribute, they’re ready for it.

That’s something we do a lot on Fridays. That’s something that we try to do throughout the week, Fridays and Saturdays. But when you’re able to get the live reps within the year, in game mode, that’s obviously huge.

So it’s super important, and I think the guys have done a really nice job of doing the things they’re doing when they get into the game.

[RB] Will Shipley has had some really nice runs in there as well, when teams know we’re running sometimes in those areas. So the offensive line has done a nice job blocking those, and Will has done a nice job of running those.

Then you get the linebackers, [LB] Oren Burks and then [LB Jeremiah Trotter, Jr.] Trot, have been able to play a lot. So it’s been really beneficial.

Q. Have you used that LSU-Georgia championship game as a resource at all this week? Have you shown the players the clip of DT Jalen Carter holding Commanders QB Jayden Daniels up in mid-air? (Tim McManus)

NICK SIRIANNI: No, I didn’t show that. We use every resource that we possibly could have to watch guys. I think right now, the amount of game tape that [Commanders QB] Jayden Daniels has out there –that is, to go back and look at more stuff as far as Georgia versus LSU, yeah, we may have peeked at it. But I think we’ve got a big resume of what he is with this team and how this team operates.

So, no, we’ll let you guys show that clip. Obviously it was a good clip, but we’ll let you guys show that good clip. A lot of respect for Jayden Daniels, a lot of respect for [DT] Jalen Carter, so it will be cool to see them match up again on the field tomorrow.