Shane Steichen

SHANE STEICHEN: I thought last week’s game, a couple days ago, was good. I thought we came out, set the tone early running the football. The line of scrimmage, offensive line did a heck of a job. The backs, everyone involved, it was a good performance and we’re looking forward to this week.

Q. Did you go into the game thinking you were going to run that much or – (Geoff Mosher)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I think we wanted to establish the run game. I think anytime you go into a game, you have a vision of what you want it to look like. Sometimes, that vision doesn’t always go out that way. Well, it did.

When things are working, you keep sticking with it. And sometimes – I’ve been in games last year, as a coordinator, where I went into a game saying, ‘Hey shoot, we’ll run the heck out of it.’ And early in the first quarter, we started throwing it a little bit and the ball wasn’t hitting the ground. We ended up throwing it for 45 times and throwing for over 350 yards. Things like that happen. So, if things are working you stay with it.

Q. Obviously the running backs get a bunch of the acclaim for it, but you mentioned the offensive line. What about this offensive line allows them to be able to dictate that? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think they’ve played together for a while, our offensive line, and they’ve got a great nucleus. Coach Stout [Eagles Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland] and [Eagles Assistant Offensive Line Coach] Roy [Istvan] do a great job with those guys. And [C Jason] Kelce, his leadership and ability, he’s played in the league a long time and he holds the group accountable. I think that anytime you hold a group accountable within a position like he does, you’ll have success.

Q. In the last weeks, you’ve been asked about the running game. It’s come during weeks when the ball did hit the ground quite a bit. So, what took you guys so long to establish the run game? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: I don’t know if it’s especially that. Sometimes – like you said, each week is different. You go in with a vision of what you want it to look like. And sometimes you’re like, ‘Oh, shoot we’ll throw it a little bit.’ That game we ran it and we were running it good, so we stayed with it, bottom line.

Q. What makes RB Boston Scott and RB Jordan Howard so effective short yardage and down by the goal line? (Reuben Frank)

SHANE STEICHEN: They did a great job at just running downhill. They saw the holes and hit it. Offensive line, obviously, did a great job creating those holes. But they had great vision and just pounded it in there.

Obviously, we were short one guy a few times down in there, but the offensive line just mauled off the ball and we got it in there, which was good.

Q. What was it about your time at the Chargers together with Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni that made him think, when he became the head coach that, ‘Shane will be the guy I go to for my offensive coordinator’? (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think that we worked well together. We worked well in San Diego. We thought very similar about football and that bond carried over the years. Obviously, he went to Indy and we kept in contact and we always talked football throughout those years. Obviously now we’re here together.

Q. Not a lot went wrong Sunday. WR DeVonta Smith had the drop early. He had a drop in Las Vegas. Nick Sirianni talked about it. What do you see there and how do you get him going back in the right direction? (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think like Nick [Sirianni] said the other day, you don’t want to harp on drops. Those things happen. Things in football happen. You get some drops. It’s alright, you just keep working through it and you correct it and you get the techniques right. We’re not worried about drops. [WR] DeVonta [Smith] is a heck of a football player.

Q. What kind of unique insight can you offer on Chargers QB Justin Herbert? (Tim McManus)

SHANE STEICHEN: [Chargers QB] Justin Herbert, he’s a heck of a football player, bottom line. He’s big, he’s got a huge arm, he can stand in the pocket. That’s one of the biggest things I learned from being around him, is from a rookie last year, he’s able to stand in there when the blitz is coming and he can take hits, stand there deliver the throws. He’s smart, he’s intelligent. He gets the ball out of his hands.

You’ll see on tape, a lot of times he’s hitting his back foot and boom, he’s getting the ball to the check down quickly. He has accelerated vision. Can do it all. Heck of a football player.

Q. How early in camp or OTAs last year did you see that talent? (Geoff Mosher)

SHANE STEICHEN: You saw the physical ability, without a doubt, him throwing. You always want to know what it’s going to look like when he gets in a game.

And, obviously, each week he would do something each week that was like, ‘Holy crap, that was pretty impressive.’ And he continued to do that week in, week out. And he’s been playing good football again this year.

Q. How are you helping as a resource to Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon and the defensive staff this week? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: They’ve asked me a few questions about Justin [Herbert] and the rest of those guys. They’re a good football team. They’ve got a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball with [Chargers WR] Keenan Allen and [Chargers WR] Mike Williams and [Chargers TE Jared] Cook, the tight end and [Chargers RB] Austin Ekeler. So, there’s a lot of weapons with those guys. I’ve been giving my insight on those guys’ ability and, obviously, Justin Herbert as well.

Q. Are there any lessons you took from coaching a young player in Justin Herbert last year to coaching a different young player in QB Jalen Hurts? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: Absolutely. I think it was good. I was around, like you said, [former Chargers QB] Philip Rivers for so many years, a veteran guy that has seen pretty much everything. Going from that to a rookie, seeing how those guys see the game. It has definitely helped me being with Justin [Herbert] last year and then being with [QB] Jalen [Hurts] this year. So, it’s been really good.

Q. What are some of those things? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think from a veteran standpoint, obviously you see so much, right? And those guys can handle so much. As a rookie, it’s like, ‘Hey, what can this guy handle going into a game? How many kills can we have on the game plan? How many adjustments can we have throughout the game?’ So, I think that’s been good. That stuff.

Q. What was it about former Chargers QB Philip Rivers that made your guys’ relationship, because Nick references it a lot too, that made it so foundational to how you guys look at that position and look at offenses? (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: He was basically a coach. Philip Rivers was a coach. When you have those conversations in the quarterback room day in, day out and on the field, he sees the game so well. When you’re talking to him, he had like a picture memory.

So, there would be conversations where it would be like, ‘Hey, back in 2012, remember the game, oh yeah, third down on the 40-yard line? Remember the guy cut the crosser?’ There were all those conversations that made it so easy to communicate with him. So, it was good.

Q. Going back to the Raiders game, where you guys came out on your opening drive, did a lot of under center. Theoretically, if that game had been different, you had more possession in the first two or three quarters, would that have looked like what we saw against the Lions? (Geoff Mosher)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, possibly. Like I said, it’s game by game. I think the way the game’s flowing and how it’s going is dictating how the game’s going to get called.

Q. When you talk about Philip Rivers, because Nick Sirianni mentions him a lot as well, how does that help you as a coach to have somebody – I mean, it’s great to have a quarterback that knows everything that’s like a coach. But you don’t always have that. You had a rookie last year, you have a very young quarterback. Can that hinder in some ways when you have a guy like – (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN:  No, I think you learn from those experiences. You’ve got a veteran guy that’s seen everything, and you can take what you’ve learned even from those guys. Those veteran quarterbacks that have played in the league so long and know so much. Even as a coach, you learn from those guys like, ‘Hey, I ran this route versus this because of this.’ ‘That makes sense.’ Those conversations take place and then it does, it carries over into a young quarterback when you see those things and you have those same conversations with him. So, it’s good.

Q. On a personal standpoint, does this game mean anything extra to you? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: No, I’m excited to see some of those guys. Obviously, had a great time in LA/San Diego. Ton of respect for that organization. It will be good to see the guys. But just excited. We know it’s going to be a heck of a challenge.

Obviously, defensively [Chargers OLB] Joey Bosa is a heck of a football player. He’s an elite pass rusher, so we have to be ready for him. And [Chargers S] Derwin James. Good to see him back healthy. He has been battling like crazy. But to see him playing again is good. We know we’ll have our hands full with those guys.

Q. Was it the intent to get the ball in WR Jalen Reagor’s hands more, like we saw in the first half, for the game until he got hurt? Or was that more part of the first scripted plays? (Geoff Mosher)

SHANE STEICHEN: We have a few of those things, but we always have stuff. Every week, we have stuff in for every guy. Sometimes, it’s like the way the game is flowing, ‘Oh, let’s get to this.’ And sometimes, depending on the score and the way the game is flowing there’s certain plays you have to get to. Sometimes you don’t get to all it of it. You have 65, 70 plays in a game; you don’t get it all called.

Q. How has QB Jalen Hurts done with his eyes in the pocket when he sees the rush? Do you spend a lot of time looking at that whether his eyes are dropping or not and how he’s doing? (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think he’s doing a heck of a job. Obviously, he did a heck of a job managing the game last week. He had that third down, third and 12 backed up. To me, we talked about staffing, that was the play of the game. He got us out of backed up, scrambling, made some big plays, and, obviously, he was efficient in throwing the football Sunday. It was good to see.