Nick Sirianni

Q. The offense seemed to struggle a little bit today. Why do you think that was? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

NICK SIRIANNI: Well, I want to go watch the tape. I think when you’re in training camp there is going to be ebbs and flows on both sides of the ball. In fact, that’s what you want. You want there to be ebbs and flows on both sides of the ball. You don’t want one side to dominate the other side. And so, you’re going to look for those. There is no doubt we have good balance on both sides of the football. [The] defense is presenting challenges both with the looks and then with the players that we have on that side of ball.

I have to watch the tape to see all that. I know we didn’t turn it over as much today. We ended practice with a turnover, but I will have to watch tape to get a little bit more feel for that.

Q. This was by far the longest practice of camp so far (indiscernible) … (Josh Tolentino)

NICK SIRIANNI: You know, we don’t have to play tomorrow, and so of course you’re looking at it and you’re saying, hey, guys got tired in that last period. There is no question. But we’re working. We’re throwing different conditioning things in addition to our plays every day at them. I can tell that we’re getting a little bit better with our conditioning each day. And that’s pretty typical in two-minute, that guys are going to get tired and fundamentals and football IQ are going to suffer a little bit when you’re tired.

So, we have to fight through those things when we have them. But the intensity, again, was high. Are there mistakes? Of course, there are. That’s what training camp is for. Sometimes as coaches too, you’re like, I’m glad that happened right here because it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to teach from it.

So, of course, there are mistakes just because it’s training camp, but I do I feel like this group of guys are getting in better shape. A tribute to them, because most of them came in in really top-notch shape ready for this mountain that we have to climb.

Q. What happened with T Jordan Mailata and T Andre Dillard? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Concussions.

Q. I mean, but how? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: I don’t know the exact play it happened on either of them, and neither of the guys were able to say the exact play that it happened on either of them. It’s obviously football and there are collisions, and there are no more collisions than the O- and D-line have, right? That’s why they’re wearing the guardian caps because they have the most collisions. We could say, well, we’re not live, but the O-line and D-line are live every single play. So, I don’t know exactly how it happened. Like I said, they don’t either. Obviously, we’ll be very cautious with those guys.

Q. Did both those concussions happen on Tuesday? (Ed Kracz)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah. It was on Tuesday.

Q. How did WR DeVonta Smith injure his groin? (Dave Uram)

NICK SIRIANNI: I can’t give you the certain play that it happened. We’re being cautious with him. We know how important he is to this organization. I don’t know exactly a play. They’re running a lot,  he’s always at the top of the charts of who ran the most, and so, just a little bit of wear and tear there.

Q. As far as your offensive install, have the walk-through days shifted your timing with that kind of stuff or is it still the same sort of process whatever practice? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: You take into account days off when you’re going through an install. But as far as the walk-throughs, it gives you an opportunity just to get even more plays run, right? We stay right on course with our walk-throughs there, as far as where we are in the process of the install, because you can get a lot of plays run and a lot of plays repped.

Given the time, you asked me about that with the walk-through, when you can really tell is… and it’s happened on multiple occasions where the defense had a play a couple days ago where the offense motions across, the defense spins their blitz to adjust to the formation that the offense is in, and they get pressure on us and we have to throw the ball hot because they get to the quarterback.

That doesn’t happen unless there is extreme focus and detail that’s happening in the meetings and the walk-throughs. A tribute to the players. They know how important walk-throughs are, and they’re treating that just like a game. We talk about it all the time. You’re full speed to the snap in walk-through.

I’m just giving you one example of what happened, and it’s been happening over and over and over again with our offense and our defense, because they’re acting like true pros in those walk-throughs.

Q. When will the offense be completely installed? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Usually our installs are eight days. They used to be ten, now they’re eight, just because as you go further in your coaching career, you realize we don’t have to have every single play in. There are a lot of good plays. What do our guys do well? It’s an eight-day install, and so we’re closing up on the end of the installs.

Q. You’re very particular about the way you want your routes run. What is the timeframe that you have for receivers where you feel like they’ll get everything down the way that you like it done? (Chris Franklin)

NICK SIRIANNI: It’s very important that the quarterback knows exactly where the receivers are going to be. If it’s zone, we talk about all the time, there’s route discipline. There’s route discipline as far as, hey, you have to be here at this particular time, and versus this look you’ve got to be here, this look you’ve got to be there. We spend a lot of time on that because if you can get guys in the right position, that’s half the battle versus the different looks. And then it’s being sharp and detailed with your routes. One, so you can separate from the defensive back or the linebacker, and two, so you indicate for the quarterback when you’re breaking down.

Everything we’re doing, as far as that, I know what it takes to be on a good passing team. I’ve been on a lot of good passing teams. Those are really common denominators of the receivers and tight ends and running backs of good passing games. Be where you’re supposed to be, be disciplined in your route, indicate to the quarterback, separate from the defensive back. Everything we’re talking about right there is critical so the quarterback reads the play correctly. So, in a sense, when I’m getting on the receivers, tight ends, running backs on something like that, when I’m getting on those guys about that, I’m getting on them for the benefit of the quarterbacks and the benefit of the offensive line that the ball is getting out on time.

It’s awesome. That’s why this is the ultimate team game. It takes everybody to be precise. We are very particular with that. I don’t want to give it a time, like ‘it takes this long to get there,’ but you see gradual improvements. Every time I have something like that, it’s like more and more times I’m saying in the film room, ‘That’s exactly how you do it. That right there.’ That’s when I know we’re getting close, that we’re going through that process and it’s like you’re seeing it over and over again.

Are we there yet? No, but I feel myself saying that more each day, and tribute to the guys that are on the details and attention to the details.

Q. What do you see from WR Jalen Reagor? Tuesday seemed like he had a really good day. Is he starting to stack some days together? (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: He came in in great shape ready to go. That’s a big part of it, right, being able to run. He plays a position that you’ve got to run all day.

And so, he’s ready to go and ready to go as far as his shape when he first got in here. He’s just working to get better every day, and I see improvements. He’s making plays when there are opportunities. We talk to him a lot about, hey, you’re not going to get 11 chances a game like you did at TCU. But if you get three, you’ve got to take advantage of those three and you can’t leave them on the field.

It’s the consistency, it’s his shape, and I see that he is playing more consistent right now.

Q. Last season, it seemed that CB James Bradberry was one of the tougher matchups for WR DeVonta Smith. Has that carried over to training camp as well? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, of course. I just think that he’s a very instinctive player that’s done it really well in this league for a long time. When you have guys like that in [CB] [Darius] Slay and him, it makes the receivers work. I think I talked about that last time here. The development of your receivers gets better as you go against better competition. That’s no exception here.

He’s making everybody better. He’s making the defense, and in the process making our offense better because he’s making them work to how you’re going to get open against him. He’s so instinctive, like you better not give him a little tell to the inside. If my head is not perfect on my fundamentals, and I give him a little peek to the inside, he’s going to drive that inside. So, you better be perfect.

We’ve seen it. Like I said, you don’t want to make mistakes, but when you make mistakes, sometimes that’s the best way to learn. That’s our jobs as coaches to point those out and like, let’s have a learning curve from that. That’s what he’s forcing them to do. That’s the same thing that’s happening on the offensive and defensive line. You make a mistake with [DT] Fletcher Cox, you’re in trouble. You make a mistake with [C] Jason Kelce, you’re in trouble. It’s making sure every detail is on and that we are striving for perfection knowing that’s impossible to do, but they’re making it hard both offensively and defensively.

Q. When it comes to practicing in the heat like this, what do you like about it and what do you dislike about it? (Dave Uram)

NICK SIRIANNI: The thing you dislike about it is you don’t want to lose guys. You’re worried about the heat as far as players’ health. That’s what you dislike about it.

What you love about it, is this is how the first couple games will be played. Atlanta last year, that game was hot. This year’s game in Detroit they’ll have the air conditioning on. But, after that, it’s going to be hot, and we have to be ready for that. It gets you in great shape.

What else you like about it is they’re all fighting through the same elements together. It’s not just hot for one of them, it’s hot for both the offense and the defense. You get a little bit more of a bond there with that. The other thing you like about it is they get tired a little quicker. You have to fight. When you’re tired, fundamentals suffer, football IQs can suffer. You’ve got to fight through that.

So, there are many great things that are preparing us for the season when you have a hot day like this. We enjoy it, having that type of heat.