Nick Sirianni

Q. What’s the latest with WR DeVonta Smith? (Tim McManus)

NICK SIRIANNI: We’ll see how he’s feeling by the end of the day. We’ll see where that is, but [we’ve] got a little bit more time to figure it out.

Q. How has WR Britain Covey looked in practice…? (Rob Kuestner)

NICK SIRIANNI: He’s done a nice job. Except we’ll see where he is by the end of the day. Don’t have to make any decisions quite yet, but he’s done a nice job. It’s nice to get him back out there.

Can’t stress enough how good of a teammate [WR] Britain Covey is. And guys like being around him, so it’s nice having him back out there in the mix and interacting with his teammates on the practice field.

Q. When he is back, how do you make the decision about who the punt returner is? What factors determine that? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: Obviously, we’ll always do what we feel is best for our football team. [DB Cooper DeJean] Coop has done a very, very good job returning the ball in Britain’s absence. Britain has done an excellent job, been one of the best guys in the league returning the punts when he was the punt returner.

Good problem to have. We’ll factor in everything and make the decision that best suits our football team.

Q. On the outside and what we know of what goes on with you and your relationships with players, it seems like you’re very much a players’ coach and able to relate to them in a way that helps you. But when you find it necessary to dole out punishment or discipline, what factors into you having to go in that direction? What do you factor in? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: We have a standard. I think, if you asked the guys, they would you I’m fair. And if the standard is met, I’m going to be one of the most excited people in the building.

Let’s just talk about the tape first. I won’t get into off-field stuff or anything like that. Everything’s kind of handled a little bit differently.

If we are talking just about the tape, if the standard is met, we’ll show it on tape, we’ll celebrate it, and other guys will learn from it. If the standard is not met, we’ll correct it. And we’ll correct it like we do with everything, in front of everybody, just so everybody can get better from it.

Anything off the field, we have our rules. Same thing. I think it’s kind of the same thing. If the standard is met, then we celebrate it. If it’s not, then –

Q. (Regarding how players know the standard.) (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: We have rules. We have team rules.

Q. You speak about having faith based on results. You’re at a point now in your coaching career where you have guys who have built equity. How do you know, in the case of K Jake Elliot and some other veterans, that you’re not putting too much weight on past results and focusing on current results? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: That’s a good question. You account for everything, just like when you are trying to make decisions on game management things. Everything is accounted for. What currently is happening and what’s happened in the past.

You see practice every single day. Again, you guys and everybody doesn’t get to see the results at practice.

We feel like if you practice average, you’re going to play average. If you practice great, you’re going to play great. So a lot of these things, and a lot of these decisions, and a lot of this faith, you’re seeing 1/10th of it on Sunday.

Now you’re seeing the most important part of it because it’s what you prepare for, when you guys are watching the game. Yes, we take a lot of faith from what happens in the game, but all those things that happened in our game-like practices, as well, are taken into account. And our walk-throughs, and our meetings. That’s where you build faith up, and everything is taken into account.

When a play is designed for somebody, that play was thought out very in-depth by us as coaches with a player in mind to be able to run that play, and then it was executed in practice. If that doesn’t happen, it’s rare that something is not executed well in practice that gets run in a game. I think that all goes into it.

Q. As far as QB Jalen Hurts being limited on Wednesday, is that more proactive because of the past injuries he’s had late in the season? (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Again, he’s good to go. I’m not going to get too much into everybody’s things. You guys know me, I’m not going to get into that. But he’s good to go.

Everybody’s doing maintenance on their bodies at this time of the year. So, you saw he was limited on Wednesday. He was good to go yesterday. He’ll be full in today.

But like I said, everybody is doing maintenance because this is a long season. These guys are going through just such a long, grueling season, and we’re in Week 12 right now. So a lot of guys are just continuing to do the extra things they need to do to be in it for the long haul.

Q. I meant from a point of view of, he’s always been a guy who wants to do everything in every practice, whether he’s been hurting or not in the past. And if that’s what you guys are doing this year – (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Like I said, I’m not going to get too much into that. He’s good to go. And like I said, yesterday he was in full. And you guys talked to him and heard from him as well.

Q. If WR Jahan Dotson or WR Johnny Wilson have to have elevated roles this week, what have you seen that gives you confidence that they are ready for that? (Tim McManus)

NICK SIRIANNI: Just continuing to get better every single day. Both of them have made some big plays in the past couple weeks. [WR] Johnny [Wilson] catching his first touchdown pass, [WR] Jahan [Dotson] catching a deep ball in the Jacksonville game, and then also the Dallas game.

And then the things that we see in practice. These guys come to work hard every single day. They put it on the line every single day. They have had good practices throughout the week, and we’re excited about their possibilities if they need to go. And we’ve had some good experiences with guys this year that have stepped in and contributed, and that’s an awesome part of a team.