Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni (Post-Game Transcript)

How’d you think QB Tanner McKee did?

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, got to be able to score points. We weren’t able to do that. All of us have a lot of improving to do. I thought Tanner battled. I thought he took care of the football. I thought he put some good balls out there, touchdown to Smitty [WR DeVonta Smith]. The third down to Tay [WR Dontayvion Wicks], he had some good plays, but everyone’s going to have plays that were good and everyone’s going to have plays that they want back, and that’s coaches too. We’ll look at the tape, but I thought Tanner battled.

 

When you think about why this game didn’t go your way, what are some of the main things that stick out to you about this game?

Nick Sirianni: I talked about with our guys, just our detail as a whole. We have to do all the little things better and I’ve got to coach all the little things better. I think that’s what — I thought we played hard, thought we played tough. I thought we were able to mentally overcome, thought we stuck together. I talk about tough, detailed, together all the time. I just think that the detail as a whole, we’ve got to get better at that. We had some uncharacteristic things that we’ve got to do better. Again, I have to do a better job coaching it.

 

Are there things the coaching staff can do to help QB Tanner McKee a little bit more than you got today?

Nick Sirianni: I mean, we all have to do better. I think that’s the whole consensus here is it’s not just one thing. It’s not just one player on an island. It’s not just one coach on an island. This is a team game, an ultimate team game, and we all have things to get better. So, of course we’re going to go through that game and we’re going to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do this, we’ve got to do that. We could change to this; we could change to that. I mean, we could keep doing this, we could keep doing that.’ That’s what you go through in a weekly process. Again, the goal, I mean, offensively, you’ve got to score points and we’re not doing that right now. There’s a lot of reasons why that we’ve got to improve on.

 

You passed the ball 45 times, is that a game plan thing or just maybe being a little undermanned?

Nick Sirianni: When you’re down 19-7, it skews it where you are. So, we had to go fast with, I don’t know, 12 minutes left or something like that. Two possessions, you’ve only scored seven points at that point. You’ve got to go fast to give yourself a chance to score, which we went down and scored and then got it back. That was the mode that we’ve had success on, so we did it again. Obviously, right now we’re not running the ball the way we want to. You do whatever you’ve got to do to try to win the game. That’s what that game called for. Obviously, we didn’t win, but that’s what that game called for and there’s circumstances that go [with] that.

 

DB Cooper DeJean said that last busted coverage was because of miscommunication. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that about a busted coverage. Why is that still persistent?

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I think I’ll have to look at the play and see what happened on that play. I though it was a good design on their part. I’ll give them credit. They went and executed it and they scored on it. But yeah, everything as a defense, you always want to be on the same page because the easiest way to give up a big play or give up a touchdown is not everybody [being] all on the same page. We had some of that there on defense. We had some of that on offense today, and then we had some penalties, uncharacteristic penalties for us on special teams.

 

Now that there’s a more defined timetable with QB Jalen Hurts and QB Tanner McKee’s going to be there for several weeks. Is there more of an opportunity to maybe shift things more to Tanner’s strengths than there is in a short week when he’s basically out there for–

Nick Sirianni: Yeah. We’re going to have to do different things to help the offense get going. We’re never going to make an excuse on anything. We have to do different things to get them going and score more points, plain and simple, especially there in that second half. So, everything’s on the table. To do the same thing over and over again and not get the results, that’d be foolish. Everything’s on the table of what we need to do to be able to put points on the board.

 

The defense was on the field for 74 snaps. Is there anything that you can do in terms of managing the game to help level out those numbers?

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, it was a little different — I think we had the time of possession advantage in the first half, gets to the second half, we’re going fast. I think some of the game flow, I think it’s hard to look at the play number and say that. Obviously, we have to keep drives going, so early in the second half before it got into two minute and before it got into some of the no huddle drives — Not getting sustained drives there obviously cost us and puts the defense in a tough spot. We have to do a better job staying on the field there early on, but I think some of the situations of the game called for that a little bit as well.

 

On the second or third drive, it looked like the run game was getting going a little bit. RB Dameon Pierce gashed them a couple times, I think. Was it something that they did in response to that or can you isolate that kind of drive versus everything else?

Nick Sirianni: I’ll have to go back and look at that, but I think that we had a couple that were on the ball. It’s hard to get anything going if you have a three-and-out. You’re just not going to get into a rhythm. You’re going to have a pass on third down maybe. You’re going to have a run pass on the first and second down and it’s hard to get anything going that way when you have three-and-outs. I’ll have to look at that right there, but I think we had a couple of tempo plays there that helped us get going. Like I said, everything’s on the table.

 

This is the first time you guys have lost under you as a head coach four games in a row. I know you pride yourself on staying calm in rocky waters, but how do you balance right now the urgency to get a win versus staying calm?

Nick Sirianni: There’s always an urgency and you can be calm when there’s urgency. You double down on the things you believe in; you double down on the things that have got you the success. Again, like I said, schemes can change, schedules can change, but your core values are your core values. We know those for us are the truths of football. That keeps you grounded there, but there’s always a sense of urgency and that’s my job to have the sense of urgency. All of us, our jobs are to have that. Then it’s my job to make sure we stick to the tough, detailed, and together portion of it.

 

As you look at the offense, how much do you put on Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion and the scheme?

Nick Sirianni: I feel like I said that earlier, we’ve got to be able to score more points, period. It’s the game of football. So, it’s on everybody, right? It’s not just on one coach. I don’t know who I said this to. It’s not just one coach on an island. It’s not just one player on the island. It’s not just one side of the ball that’s on an island. It’s the ultimate team game. We all have to do better, period. We all have to do better.

 

Is OLB Jonathan Greenard on a pitch count?

Nick Sirianni: Again, I had some guys that were still coming back from some things and so we try to do what’s best for all our guys in situations. I know he’s done a good job getting back and I thought he had some good plays out there today.

 

Is that a yes?

Nick Sirianni: I’m not going to answer.

 

Given the way the defense slowed Carolina’s offense, and they’ve been scoring a lot of points lately, did you guys at any time feel like you were this close to winning and all that?

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, of course you always believe that you’re in the game and early on, I think it was 3-0 for a long time, and then it got to 10-0, then 10-7. Yeah, of course. I mean, you always know you’re in the game and fighting through the game. I mean, we went down and cut it to 19-14, got a stop, got the ball to 50. And then a couple of detail things. I think there was a play early on in that drive that put us behind the sticks and we couldn’t dig our way up.

 

What were the issues with the blitz in this game?

Nick Sirianni: We’ll have to go back and look at all that. But again, we have to do a better job there, plain and simple. We have to, as coaches, be able to put them in positions to succeed. We’ve got to go out and execute. That’s always what it’s going to be about, us doing our best job to put them in positions to succeed. Then when it’s game time, guys going out and executing and then us being able to adjust offensively.

 

C/G Jake Majors over C/G Drew Kendall, why was that?

Nick Sirianni: Yeah. Again, won’t get too much into injury stuff, but with where we were right there and Drew up as an emergency there. We’ve got to do what’s best for our players in that situation.

 

T Jordan Mailata said that he thought part of the issue was focus and want-to. I just wanted to see if that’s something that you picked up on.

Nick Sirianni: Like I said to you guys, I didn’t question our guys’ toughness. I don’t question the effort. We’ve got to get better at the detail stuff.