Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni (Post-Game Transcript)

This is a little bit later than you normally talk to us after games, but what have you spent the time since the game doing, and I guess what was your message to the team?

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, won’t get too much into messaging or anything like that, but talking to some guys, talking to some players. Those guys — everyone puts everything they have into this, so I want to make sure I talk to every guy first of all after the game. Then a couple of the guys stopped in the office just to talk through it. That’s not unusual. I appreciate the connection that we have there. But yeah, it was a little bit later because of that. So, I appreciate you guys waiting around and waiting on that because I’m always going to be there for my players first and foremost.

 

How did you look at QB Joe Milton’s performance? Obviously, you have to look at the film, but just in your first look.

Nick Sirianni: I think just like everybody, he had some really good plays and then he’s going to have plays that he’s going to want back naturally. But I thought he did a lot of good things, a lot of solid things, made some plays with his feet, gave our guys a couple chances downfield. Thought he was good in the play action world. I thought he did some really nice things. Obviously, we have to play better complimentary football to be able to have the run game coincide with the play actions that we were running, but there were some good things that he had. But like I said, there’s always going to be plays back throughout a game that you’re going to want back, and Joe’s no different than anybody else.

 

What’d you think of the fourth-and-one call and the execution?

Nick Sirianni: We had some time to think about that call. There’s a couple calls we were all debating there in that situation. I was good with the call, with what we ran there in that situation. Obviously, it didn’t work. So, we’ll go back to the drawing board in there on that play. But there was a lot of time to think about that call because again, we got on the ball, it went to a two-minute warning, had a lot of time there, and obviously it didn’t work. So, we’ll go back and see what we can do differently offensively.

 

In protection, specifically the unblocked sack-fumble, just the communication that happened there, do you think that’s more with the new quarterback or maybe some of the things from other –

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I’m not going to get into who’s at fault or anything like that, but anytime there’s a guy that’s free in that situation, we’ve got to look at ourselves as coaches first and say, ‘Did we do everything we could do to help them?’ And then it’s going to be an execution thing. So, it’s ‘both and.’ It’s never just one thing. Obviously in that case, we’ll make those corrections in person with everybody. Whether it’s on us as coaches or whether it’s an execution thing, it’s still on us as coaches. It starts with me and it’s always on me; every product that’s on that field is my responsibility. ‘Well, there was an execution error on this play or that play.’ Well, did I put him in every position I could possibly put him into to go out and execute that?

 

I’m always going to look internally first and look at myself first. That’s why I do say that in those situations. How do you get all these different looks? Well, sometimes you might have to take some things out of the plan to make sure you’re getting multiple looks at certain things. You always look at yourself internally first. I’ll take that on that one.

 

With the running game, what do you think the main issues are getting it going?

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, you can’t say it’s just one thing because it’s many different things. We had the run on the zone read to start the second half, we end up getting a guy, we end up getting a hold on that particular one, put you behind the sticks. I think when you’re not converting third downs like we weren’t today, I think we were in the 20%s or whatever like that, then that doesn’t open up your opportunity to go on the ball or to get a new set of downs to get more runs. Some of that is just the inefficiency of the offense not creating more plays off of first downs to get more plays, to get more cracks at it. You don’t score points unless you shoot the ball. It’s the same thing there. On offense, if you’re not getting the plays, the number count of it, then that’s hard to execute as well.

 

Are staff changes on the table during the bye?

Nick Sirianni: We’ll talk. Obviously, right now my job is to be there for our guys and to go watch the tape and go look through everything. I think we always think — we’ll do everything. I’ll do anything I can to help this team win football games. Like I said, I’ll look at myself internally first and then go from there. My job is to coach the players and to coach the coaches, and anything I can do to help this team win games, we’ll do. Everything can always be on the table, but I don’t think you change just to change because that’s what your record says that — you’ve got to look at what’s really real and not react to anything else. Again, I just don’t believe you just change just to change. If you have a strong reason to do things in anything, not just change, but in anything and you’re convicted on it, that’s how we’ll go about our business.

 

Do you think Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion’s done a good enough job of maximizing the talent that you guys do have?

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, none of us offensively have done a good enough job. We’re not going to sit here as coaches — and it’s not Sean, it’s all of us and it starts with me. I think the correct question there to me is, ‘Do you think you’ve done a good enough job?’ Obviously, I haven’t done a good enough job. We all have things that we’ve got to get better at and we’ve got to figure it out on offense. I mean, I think our defense is playing solid. I think they’re doing really good things and it’s hard to keep the game there. I think we’ve got some things that we’re doing on special teams that have been really good, and then we can be more consistent in that particular case, but we have to figure it out on offense. That’s coaches, that’s players, that’s everybody.

 

So no, I haven’t done a good enough job yet. The only way you grow in the midst of adversity is to get up, keep fighting, and work and stick together because you need everybody to do that. But adversity gives you opportunities for growth that steady times never would, but only if you do all those other things. We’ll fight and we’ll keep going.

 

Are there parts within the offense that could be more digestible for the players, maybe simplification? I don’t know. Is there something within the scheme and the game planning, et cetera, that can make it easier for players?

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, we’re looking at all that. I think that especially with — I think that’s definitely something we went through last week with that and we’ll look more at that in the bye week. We’ll see. This has always been a good opportunity for us coming out of a bye week to kind of figure some things out and it gives you a little bit of extra time. We’ll go through our process. I’m excited to go through our process. Obviously, sucks that we have to sit here with this loss and the last however many games have went for a two week period, but there’s a real opportunity for growth in this area and we’ll look at everything. Because again, to my point earlier, is whether it’s this or whether it’s that, it’s still on us as coaches to figure it out. That starts with us of, ‘How do we figure this out?’ It’s a fundamental. It’s on us coaches to figure it out and put the guys in positions. It’s scheme. It’s execution. It doesn’t matter. It’s all on us first and foremost.

 

When you contemplate things like potential staff changes, what are the factors?

Nick Sirianni: I’m just looking at everything right now. What can we do to help our team get better? I don’t have a playbook in that matter of anything like that. You just look at everything, and you make the best decisions that you can for the football team and that’s what we’ll do. But again, you just don’t change just to change. You go through everything, and whether it’s that question or whether it’s what Jeff [McLane] asked me with simplifying or anything like that, we’re looking for everything we can do to help our guys perform better, to help them play at the best of their abilities. That’s our jobs as coaches.

 

I’m curious, whenever you interviewed Passing Game Coordinator Josh Grizzard as an offensive coordinator for this job too, you also are collaborating together on the system. If that were the change, how much would that change if he were?

Nick Sirianni: I’m not going to get into the hypotheticals. We all have our hand in this. You know what I mean? Every one of us has our hand in this. I think that’s one thing to say too, is if you change there — we all have our hand in it, I guess is what I’m saying. Griz, myself, Sean, [Quarterbacks Coach] Parks [Frazier], I don’t want to put everyone out there in that scape, but we all have our hand in it and we’re all responsible for it.

 

On some of the unblocked pressures, T Jordan Mailata said it felt like the Giants had the perfect counter to the call that you guys made. Based off of what you saw on tape, is that something you noticed and what do you attribute —

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I’ll have to look at that. Hats off to them. [Giants Defensive Coordinator] Coach [Dennard] Wilson obviously is a great defensive coordinator. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He’s obviously done a lot to help us get to where we have been here. He did a hell of a job, ton of respect to him. We’ll look at that, but I think that’s typical things with — You always have to expect that. You have to go in each week, and you can prepare for what they put on tape. You have your rules of what they do and then you have to be able to adjust off of that. I think that’s what you see week in, week out from defensive coordinators is, ‘Hey, they’ve put in this–‘ It’s no different than an offensive coach’s, ‘Hey, every time we’re running a spray route right here, we’re running the curl.’ Then you think to yourself, ‘Well, can I put a curl pump on it? Or can I put a double move on it?’ And that’s the same deal right there. That’s just part of it.

 

But it’s important that when you go to the sideline, you’d be able to fix all those things that happen when it does happen and have answers when there is somebody for it.

 

Why do you think halfway through the season, the offense has been so difficult to kind of figure out?

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, again, it hasn’t been — It’s a little bit of everything and it starts with me, and I have to do my best and get everybody playing with the level of detail and coaching with the level of detail that has become our standard here for the Philadelphia Eagles. I’ll fight like hell to do that.