Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni (Post-Game Transcript)
Second time in three years now that you’re going to the NFC Championship game. How do you feel?
NICK SIRIANNI: Excited, but like I said to the team, that just makes you hungrier to continue on. That’s a great football team. We found a way in the midst of adversity. We embrace the adversity. We played Championship defense. It takes everybody and every single person in that room, and we’re excited to move on. All that did was make us hungry to keep going.
Do you have an update on Jalen’s health? I know he went back into the game.
NICK SIRIANNI: I haven’t talked to anybody there. He came back in, yeah.
How much did the conditions affect the way you coach?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, it affects it, especially as the field continues to gather snow. I think it neutralizes things. It has an effect on the game. We were able to protect the ball and we were able to force some turnovers in the midst of it. We had some great individual efforts. Of course that plays a part in it, but everything plays a part in it. That’s why we take advantage of when we can go outside and be out there in the elements because every little thing matters. The conditions got sloppy today and we all had to play in it. We found a way.
Given the conditions, how much of a luxury is it to have RB Saquon Barkley who’s able to —
NICK SIRIANNI: Given the conditions or not the conditions, it doesn’t matter. It’s a luxury to have him, that’s for darn sure. Love him. I can’t say enough good things about him and the leadership he brings to this football team and the — just everything he brings to this football team. He’s special.
At the end the first half, you kind of left 20 seconds before the final play. What was the thought process there?
NICK SIRIANNI: We took the sack before that. We were out of field goal range in that case. We played it how we thought we should. You’ve got to make those decisions in split seconds. You don’t think you’re going to be – you’ve got to play the decision. If you get the first down, you’ve got to play the decision. If you don’t get any yards, incomplete pass, you’ve got to play to the decision there. So, it’s a matter of going through all those things. I’ve read about this a lot in Bill Walsh’s book. You cannot make those decisions in the heat of the moment. You’ve got to think about all those before the play, and that’s what we wanted to do in that situation. Bummer that we didn’t come out with any points there, but we played it how we wanted to play it in that situation.
What happened on that sack and a few others and obviously the one that he took the safety?
NICK SIRIANNI: On that one, it felt like we just weren’t on the same page. I can’t see exactly everything that happened on each individual play. I will have to look at the tape on some of it. But we’ve got to fight to be on the same page in every category. They had a free rusher on that one and so that’s a tough situation to be in. We talked about it on the sideline. We just all have to be on the same page. You can’t have negative plays in that area. It’s never just one thing; it’s always –
And the safety?
NICK SIRIANNI: On that particular play, again, I’ll have to watch the tape. It looked like we got some leakage in the middle, and they covered it pretty good. I didn’t think there was anywhere to go with the football right there, but we’ve got to find a way to get out of that. But they covered it well. Sometimes in these situations you have to — we live to see another day, but we’ll do everything we can do to fix the issues that happened today. But sometimes the issues, just like I said to the team this week, are just good plays from the opponent. The further you get along in this, the more it’s going to be, ‘Hey, the opponent made a really good play and how do you embrace the adversity?’ I think our guys did a really good job. We give up the safety and then the defense finds a way to – [DT] Jalen [Carter] knocks the ball out, [CB] Isaiah [Rodgers] almost takes it for a touchdown. We found a way to recover after that. [K] Jake [Elliott] did a good job kicking that ball off; now they’ve got it to the 35, but under those conditions, that was good by our kickoff team.
You mentioned the two turnovers and mentioned playing Championship defense. To not fully capitalize on those opportunities, how much are you stressing…
NICK SIRIANNI: We did enough to win the game.
On the safety and the sack on your last drive, the second down sack, why the deep drops there when he is struggling moving there with the injury?
NICK SIRIANNI: We did what we thought we needed to do in that particular case. Again, we’ll always look at play calls. It’s everything. It’s going to be play calls. It’s going to be that the defense made a play. There are a lot of things to attribute to that. Again, we found a way. Defense found a way to get a stop. That’s good team football. There’s going to be times the offense has to pick up the defense and times the defense has to pick up the offense and times that special teams gets a fumble to start game. Whatever we’ve got to do to move on and then fix the mistakes from there.
On RB Saquon Barkley’s touchdown, was he pushing with the coaches for that particular play?
NICK SIRIANNI: No, I think that the coaches did a good job of coming up with that play and the players did a good job of executing the play. We get a lot of good input from the players as the game goes on. They’re out there making the plays and they are out there seeing everything. You can see a lot, but you can’t see everything. You can’t see what the issues are always. So again, a great team effort by everybody.
You mentioned the forced fumble with DT Jalen Carter. Also the big sack late that put Rams QB Matthew Stafford back in a difficult situation. Then he had the pressure there. What have you seen from his growth as a player in his second year?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, he’s a special player. Jalen Carter is a special player and he’s done so many of the right things to continue to make himself a special player. Can’t say enough about [Defensive Coordinator] Vic [Fangio] and the job he does of putting him in positions to succeed. [Senior Defensive Assistant/Defensive Line Coach] Clint Hurtt, he’s a special coach. He has helped Jalen, and then all the credit goes to Jalen who has continued to get better. He’s consistently done the right things in and out of the building from his conditioning to his weight to his style of play. Jalen Carter, he’s special. I go back to Mount Union, and any time there was a game like this with snow on the ground or a game where the field conditions were crappy, I remember [former Mount Union Football Head Coach] Larry Kehres saying to me, ‘The pass rush ain’t going to be getting there this time. You can have a big day today, Nick.’ For him to rush the passer the way that he did, and our group rush the way that we did in moments where the footing wasn’t great. That, to me, was a championship effort by the defense. And we earned a right to play for a championship, the NFC Championship this week against a really good football team. Jalen Carter, I can’t say enough good things about his development as a player. That just doesn’t happen because of talent. He’s talented as — you guys see it. He’s so talented. But, in this league there are a lot of guys that are talented. It takes more than talent to reach your potential, and he’s continuing to rise. That speaks a lot to Jalen Carter.
Going into your bye, was there ever a level of concern for you? And coming out of there, what adjustments? Guys said they noticed a little more attention to detail being asked of them.
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I don’t know. I think we’ve been the same ever since we got here to be quite honest with you. I think if you ask the players, they’ll say we’ve been the same as coaches ever since we got there. Attention to detail has always been there. Accountability has always been there. The toughness has always been there. The togetherness has always been there. And so, you just double down on that and those types of things. 2-2 seems like a long time ago. We are here where we are now. I think we’re battle tested. We embrace the adversity. We are battle tested from some of things we went through last year. We had to drag ourselves through the mud to get to this position. We had to drag ourselves through the mud through the early starts and a lot of the doubts, and now here we are right now. That’s the way football goes. That’s the way life goes. Hopefully these guys are learning. We talk a lot about it, and hopefully they’re learning through the ups and downs that you can pick yourself up and go again. That’s the great thing about coaching is you take opportunities to do that, to help the guys not only become better football players but to become better men. That’s why I got into this, seeing the impact my dad had on his players when I was a little kid and the impact that the great coaches like Chris Krantz had on me and my dad had on me and Larry Kehres had on me and [former NFL coach] Frank Reich had on me and [former NFL coach] Todd Haley had on me and [Giants Head Coach] Brian Daboll had a big impact on me.
What was the reaction last night from the Washington game?
NICK SIRIANNI: How are we going to win this game here today? It doesn’t make for a good story, but we didn’t give a crap about anything but this game.
What would you say about LB Oren Burks and the game he had stepping in here?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we missed [LB] Nakobe [Dean] like crazy. I love Nakobe Dean. I’ve made that very clear how I feel about him. Missed him. But Oren, I had no doubt he was going to step in and play a good game. He is around great players on defense. [Linebackers Coach] Bobby King helped him be successful in those moments, too, with the fundamentals that they work on. Vic put him in position to succeed, and Oren went out and played a good game and made some big tackles. There was a screen that could’ve got out of there that he was right there to make a play. How many tackles did he have?
Six.
NICK SIRIANNI: Six tackles. Every time he stepped on the field, he’s played really good football. I mean, how about [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and his staff of the job they’ve done to get some of these guys in here that are the backups that have had to play significant time this year. Isaiah had to play the whole game today; did some really good things. [T] Fred [Johnson], the list goes on and on. So, all the credit goes to Oren because he’s the one out there battling. Proud of him. Proud of the effort he had. To say I was surprised by it, not even a little bit. He’s a warrior and he gives everything he has to this. He’s a special teammate. The guys really respond to him. We’ve got some special people in this building. Again, it’s not the best groups of individuals that win, it’s the best teams that win and we’ve got some special guys. Howie did a great job getting these guys. I can’t say enough about Howie and the job he’s done. I find myself after every game just thanking him and [Chairman/CEO] Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie for the resources they give us. Let’s try to go do some special stuff next week.
What did you feel after that game in Washington? What have you seen from them as a team as the year has gone on?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, it was hard-fought battle. They got us in that one. I’ve got a lot of respect for [Commanders Head] Coach [Dan] Quinn, the job he’s done. I knew going against him so many times when he was with the Cowboys, I know how special of a coach he is. He’s got those guys playing really well. We’re going to be battling for a lot of years to come and we get to battle here this week in the NFC Championship game. Credit to them. They’re a really good football team. Really well coached. Really good players. Got a lot of respect for that team that will be coming in here, and we’ll do everything we can to get ready for this game.
When it comes to CB Isaiah Rodgers, what do you make of him in the role that you give him?
NICK SIRIANNI: He’s a playmaker. He’s a playmaker. I know he gave up a couple today, but he was also in good positions and made some big plays. He just has a knack to make big plays when he’s in, from the blocked kick in Tampa Bay, from the deflection on [Bengals WR] Ja’Marr Chase in the Cincinnati game, to the scoop fumble today that he almost took to the house, to the kickoff returns. He finds a way to make plays. Again, just the depth and the people, it always comes down to the people. Just appreciate the people, and Isaiah is special.