Shane Steichen

Q. The tight end screen, you went to it early with WR Zach Pascal and TE Dallas Goedert, and went back to it late and had the big touchdown. What sort of goes into that? Do you put it in your back pocket? Is that a plan coming into the game? (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: We’re always looking at that stuff. That’s week by week. We are always looking to try to take advantage of certain things offensively, and we were able to hit a big one to [WR] Zach [Pascal] there, which was awesome.

That’s something we do every week, try to look at those things.

Q. When do you know when to unleash that? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: A little bit of a feel to it. Obviously, you talk through it, certain parts of the field, the momentum of the game, to try to take advantage of those things.

Q. What have you noticed from QB Jalen Hurts this week, especially with him going home to Houston and playing against the Texans? (Chris Franklin)

SHANE STEICHEN: Nothing has changed. His preparation, his focus, he’s always locked in. He’s been awesome in meetings. Obviously, the big part is the preparation, like it is every week, but on a short week especially the mental part of it, being locked into the game plan and what we’re trying to get accomplished.

He’ll be ready to go.

Q. Is there any part of him that will be able to enjoy it a little bit more just being there? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I’m sure. I mean, going home, that’s obviously really fun for anyone that goes back and plays in their hometown. I know it’s first time playing in that stadium, so it will be awesome for him to go do that. I’m sure he’ll have a lot of family members there which will be fun for him. It’ll be good.

Q. Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni was talking a lot about the self-scout during the bye week. Taking more shots, was that something you guys were looking at? Seemed to be a bigger emphasis. (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: Obviously, we hit some there. I think every game plan you go into you always have your shots up. You try to push the ball down the field to create those explosive plays, and obviously we created a good chunk of them on Sunday.

That is always something we’re looking to try to do, whether it’s the bye week or every week, we’re trying to get that done.

Q. Jalen Hurts did a lot of good things last year, which was essentially his rookie season. Going into this season, you expected him to improve, but did you expect him to reach the level that he has reached at this point? (Merrill Reese)

SHANE STEICHEN: I did. I had no doubt about it. The way he has been playing, the way he goes about his process and his business, it’s tremendous. The guys feed off it. You see it on the practice field, you see it in the meeting rooms, and to carry it over every Sunday and being consistent, that’s what you want in a quarterback, and he’s doing that now.

Q. What kind of luxury does WR A.J. Brown give the offense and the quarterback on those 50/50 balls? (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: It’s a great luxury. Any time you have an elite receiver like A.J., there is a lot of trust with him and Jalen to go up and make a play. He is so big and strong and powerful at the point of attack, and when he goes up, you know he’s going to probably come down with it.

Q. How do you coach that? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think a lot of it is talent given that he has. But then also you show tape. [Wide receivers coach] Aaron Moorehead, our receiver coach, does a heck of a job showing those things in meetings on how to attack the football in traffic. So, he does a good job. Aaron has done a great job with those guys getting them ready to play.

Q. Are there situational keys for that? Like maybe you take that play in this situation but not in another situation? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, there are certain plays you have to go make something happen. There is no question about it. But when you have guys that you trust on the outside like we do, like I said, there is a lot of trust with those guys, so those 50/50 balls, Jalen has trust in them that they are going to make it and so he’s going to throw them.

Q. Beyond Dallas Goedert, what have you seen with the development so far of TE Grant Calcaterra and how has TE Jack Stoll improved, and where far along have you seen when it comes to TE Tyree Jackson? (Chris Franklin)

SHANE STEICHEN: It’s been great. Jack Stoll has done a heck of a job in the run game. Does anything and everything that’s asked of him.

Then Grant has done a really nice job coming along too in the pass game as well. The way he’s able to run routes.

Tyree is continuing to improve and getting back in this thing.

Overall, it’s a great group. Really excited about the tight ends. [Tight ends coach] Jason Michael does a great job getting those guys prepared every day. In the meetings, on the practice field, they’re continuing to grow.

Q. From a coaching standpoint, what’s the biggest hurdle in these short weeks? What’s the most difficult? (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think we were fortunate enough to have the bye week to where we could get ahead a little bit. We watched Houston a little bit on the bye week. Normally when you don’t have that, it’s jam packing everything into a short week. You only a couple days to get ready for a Thursday night.

We were fortunate enough to have that bye week to get ahead. I think that’s the biggest thing, is really getting everything in first, second down, third down, red zone, backed up, four-minute, all those situations that you talk about, and you have extra days to do it, you have to jam pack it into a couple days.

Q. A lot of coaches say you have a sort of DNA game. I guess you have to rely on what you do well versus a typical week of just focusing in. (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think there is truth to that, absolutely. Obviously, you always want to take advantage of what you see on tape as well. So, if they’re playing specific defense, you want to try to attack that. You want to do what you do, do it well, and go out and execute.

Q. When you look back at a time when you had to go back to near your home to play a game, what was that experience like for you? How did you manage that situation? (Chris Franklin)

SHANE STEICHEN: It was cool. The closest I ever got to home was in Oakland back at the Coliseum back in the day. It was cool. Had some family there. Wasn’t too wild. It was good. It was fun.