Nick Sirianni

Q. You’ve talked a lot all season about wanting to be a disciplined football team. Coming off the penalties in Week One, what have you emphasized this week to fix that against the Chiefs? (Ashlyn Sullivan)

Nick Sirianni: If I start emphasizing something in the middle of the season, then I haven’t been doing my job prior. So again, we obviously always talk about the things that you can control on tape. We have a team meeting every single day to talk about the practice, have a team meeting every time coming off of a game. We address those things in team meetings. Everyone’s accountable: coaches, players, everybody. You just emphasize it and you continue to emphasize it.

Q. What do you make of your depth at tight end if TE Dallas Goedert is unable to go? (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: [TE] Grant [Calcaterra]’s done a really good job of stepping in and playing when Dallas hasn’t been able to play these last couple years. Really excited about [TE] Kylen [Granson] and the things he can do, and I like both of our guys that are on practice squad [and they] have had meaningful reps in games, whether [TE] Cam [Latu] was in San Francisco or [TE] EJ [Jenkins] played a lot for us last year and did really good job on special teams for us. Both developing players. So, really excited about those guys, and I think sometimes that’s rare that you have those guys on the practice squad that have played and have contributed and that you can trust right at the beginning of the season. I believe that that’s where that room is and excited about that room.

Q. Those guys are known more for ball catch and receiving in college but didn’t block much. How do you feel in that regard in general and if TE Dallas Goedert can’t go? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: When we put a guy on the field or we put a guy in a game situation, we feel good. Everybody has different strengths and weaknesses, but we feel good about the rounded player of that room and those guys. EJ is interesting in the sense that he played wide receiver in college, but now he has worked so hard to be a good point of attack. That’s what he’s been working on for the past two years that he’s been here. You feel really good about that. Same with Cam. Cam is a big, strong, physical football player that has the tools in his body to do those types of things.

That’s what you work on, that’s what you practice, that’s why you go through offseason. That’s why you go through training camp to develop guys, continue to develop their strengths and then obviously, anything that you deem that they need work on.

Q. What have you seen from DT Jalen Carter this week in practice coming off of the incident? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Nick Sirianni: Just hard work and going through the meetings and walkthroughs and practice with the intent of just going and playing his best game. We always talk about [how] practice is a good indicator of what the game will be like, and he’s had a good week. We’ve talked a lot about embracing adversity this week and being able to be focused on the task at hand. That’s what I’ve seen, and I’m excited that he will be out there playing with us.

Q. The two new guys, how have they looked through two days of practice– OLB Za’Darius Smith and RB Tank Bigsby, obviously. Do you think Tank would be ready to assume some running back load if RB Will Shipley can’t play? (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: We’ll see, but their coaches, Za’Darius, and Tank have done a really good job of putting in the extra work to make sure they know what’s going on. The easiest way to give up a big play on defense, and vice versa on offense, is to not be on the same page. So, those guys have worked hard. Their position coaches, [Running Backs/Assistant Head Coach] Jemal Singleton, and [Defensive Ends/Outside Linebackers Coach Jeremiah] Wash[burn], have done a really good job of catching them up. We’ll see where they are.

We have another day of practice and another day of meetings before we get into anything, but I’m really pleased with how hard they’ve worked to get themselves caught up. That’s always a challenge at this time. Like I said, there’s never a handbook to say, ‘This is when a guy’s ready.’ You go through practice, you see if he is, and then you make a decision from there.

Q. You’ve been on both sides of the fence. You’ve coached there; you’ve gone in there a lot as the opposition. What makes Arrowhead so difficult? Everybody talks about such a difficult environment. (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: First of all, that’s a really good football team with really good players. Obviously, they are very well coached. Then, it’s a loud atmosphere. I know they take a lot of pride in it being loud, and it is loud. Handling adversity is not just bad things that happen, it’s putting yourself in situations– We try to do this at practice, loud situations and practice and making yourself uncomfortable, so you can be as comfortable as you can when you get into these moments.

Communication will be key. I’m probably saying something that everybody says when they go in there and play, and what they say when they come in here and play. That communication will be key, and handling adversities will be key, and that’s the key to go in there and be on the same page through the chaos.

Q. Considering how you left the building last time two years ago – (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I can’t consider myself with that.

Q. As a follow up to Jeff’s previous question, in the absence of TE Dallas Godert, what factors into using a sixth O-Lineman compared to an extra tight end? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: Good question. I’ll answer portions of it that I don’t think I’m giving anything away. All those things are thought through. Obviously, there’s things you can do with a tight end on the field that you can’t do with an offensive lineman on the field, and sometimes vice versa. You weigh the plays that are in and figure out what’s in and what you can accomplish. You kind of go through it that way.

I don’t think you see many times where there’s some for this guy, and then there’s some for this guy at one position, in the other position. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone go exclusively with the offensive lineman there. You could, but you kind of just weigh those things and weigh the things on some of the schemes you’re doing, some of the blocking assignments you’re doing, some of the pass routes that you’re doing, and you make decisions on every one of those things and every one of those plays, just very similar to what you would do when you’re designing and thinking about one of your plays, and you want to put your guys in positions where they can succeed the most.

Q. Yesterday, RB Saquon Barkley was talking about his favorite part of the game, and it’s the adjustment part of the game. I know it’s only been one game, but what is that process like with kind of adjusting staff and how that plays out in the game? (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: The same as it’s been. There are certain things that you have philosophies on so I’d say, yes, maybe it’s only been one game this year, but [Offensive Coordinator] Kevin [Patullo] and a lot of the staff has been the same throughout, especially on offense. A lot of similarities. You’ve always got to be ready to adjust, especially when you’re good on offense. You’re going to see some things that you didn’t quite expect. Then, that’s also the case for [Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve] Coach Spag’s [Spagnuolo] defense. You’re going to see some things you might not have expected. Being able to adjust is critical to help put our players in positions to succeed.