Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni (Post-Game Transcript)
What went into TE Dallas Goedert playing a quarter of this game? (Jimmy Kempski)
NICK SIRIANNI: He hasn’t played in while so we thought he had to get some good practice this week and play in this game.
What does the depth of this team say about it now that you’re going into the postseason? (Brooks Kubena)
NICK SIRIANNI: It’s taken a lot of people to win 14 games. There have been a lot of contributions from a lot of different people. We had some bumps and bruises along the way and a lot of guys have stepped in and played. When you win 14 games, it takes everybody. [T] Fred [Johnson] coming in and playing a lot of plays. [CB] Isaiah [Rodgers] and [TE] Grant Calcaterra and [LB] Oren Burks, and [QB] Kenny Pickett. Then, going out and doing what we did today with the guys that went out there and played. Good depth. An unbelievable job by [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and his staff to get the depth in here and the coaches to develop those players, and unbelievable job by the players.
How QB Tanner McKee played today, how does that affect how you see the state of the quarterback position? Still QB Jalen Hurts in the protocol and such? (Brooks Kubena)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, love the room. Love the room.
You mentioned 14 wins there, twice. You guys have done it now twice in your four years. Does that matter to you? Is that significant? (Zach Berman)
NICK SIRIANNI: It’s cool. It’s cool. Again, that takes contributions from everybody. We always talk about doing special things, and you have special things to do during the regular season and then the postseason. Winning the division, tying a franchise record, that’s cool.
I know you see these things in a microview, but 14 wins, No. 2 seed, the path that is in front of you is tough. How difficult is it when you look at this conference? (Bob Brookover)
NICK SIRIANNI: Sure. Yeah, that’s the playoffs and the NFC. A lot of good teams here. We’ll take one game at a time. I believe it’s Green Bay right now, and we will settle our sights on them. Really good football team. Coached really well. We’re not really worried about anything else other than them.
Any update on QB Jalen Hurts? (Jeff McLane)
NICK SIRIANNI: Same as what we talked about.
Same as Friday? (Jeff McLane)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah.
Obviously, you just won this game, but you do know it’s the Packers. You played them in week one. Is that something you can use or is that so far… (Eliot Shorr-Parks)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, both teams are different from that day until now, no doubt. We’ll use that. You use everything. That’s something that when we go play a team that we played the previous year, we’ll use that, too. That’s from year to year. So of course we’ll use that. They’ll use that. We understand that. It’s a really good team. Really well coached.
Was QB Jalen Hurts present at the walkthrough yesterday? (Zach Berman)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah.
Does that represent a progression in the protocol? (Jeff Neiburg)
NICK SIRIANNI: Guys, he’s progressing through the protocol. We’ve talked a lot about that. I respect your questions. I’m trying to answer them all. Yeah, he’s progressing through the protocol.
When you guys were 2-2 and the whole city was on you and all that, how gratifying is it for you to see the team grow and evolve offensively and defensively to this point where you are a serious contender? (Chris Murray)
NICK SIRIANNI: We don’t listen to outside noise. We try to put our head down and work. When we were 2-2, we were trying to get to 3-2, right? When we were 3-2, we were trying to get to 4-2, and we were able to run off a couple there. I know it’s boring. It’s not really exciting. We’re focused on the task at hand, and that’s the only thing that we’re focused on. That will continue through the playoffs.
What was your message to the players now that this chapter is closed, and you are onto the postseason? (Tim McManus)
NICK SIRIANNI: Wanted to recognize what happened. I told them what the schedule is tomorrow. Today was for the guys that played good in this game. You know, told them what the schedule was. Obviously, very cool that [Chairman/CEO] Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie won his 300th game as the owner of this football team. We recognized him and a couple of guys that played really well. That’s what this was about. We can get to the Packers tomorrow. We wanted to enjoy this one. Again, schedule and then recognize the efforts that it took to win this game today.
What was it like getting all your major guys a week’s worth of rest? RB Saquon Barkley, WR A.J. Brown, WR DeVonta Smith, all those guys. How much does that help you? (Martin Frank)
NICK SIRIANNI: We were fortunate enough to be in a position to – obviously you always want the bye-week. We didn’t get that. You know, obviously there will be a game tonight to decide that. We were able to kind of create our own bye-week, I guess to say, after not having a bye-week since week five, so that’s good. Any time you can get the guys rest this late in the season, it’s like when we take guys out when we have a big lead in a game, you want to take them out to rest them as well because it’s a long season. Every game is so, so important. It’s huge to be able to do that.
I know you’re focused on the game itself, but not knowing who your opponent would be. Is this a week where you could look at… (Chris Franklin)
NICK SIRIANNI: Our job was to be so locked in to help the guys that were playing in this game perform well as coaches and players. It was cool to see the guys that weren’t going to play in this game give the effort that they did to help those guys get ready.
There were some regulars had to play, DT Jordan Davis in particular. How did guys like that in particular handle that? What did his performance show? (Jeff McLane)
NICK SIRIANNI: The type of teammate and type of person he is. I thought he played really good. There were a couple screens early on that he retraced out. One screen that he retraced out, a wide receiver screen, and another he kind of snuffed out. You kind of felt his presence all game. Shows you, again, you can’t rest everybody in those scenarios. It’s impossible. There will be guys you want to rest that you can’t, and he went out there and played a really good game, played an outstanding game. It was fun to watch him play in that setting. Did you guys get the rep count of what he played? Plan was to play him a little less than normal, but we will see how that went out.
Not just today, but now that you’ve had him the last couple years, what kind of sense do you have of the quarterback QB Tanner McKee could be? (Mike Sielski)
NICK SIRIANNI: Again, I thought he was in complete control of the game today. Making good decisions. I felt like he got to his check down a couple times, that was really impressive, to [RB] Will Shipley a couple times. Really impressive. Strung together a couple good quarters last game and then a full good game today. Every time he gets an opportunity in practice, he does a really good job. We’re excited about Tanner and the player he is. I love our quarterback room, obviously starting with Jalen [Hurts] and all the great things Jalen has done this year to help us get to where we are right now. Kenny [Pickett] has had really good minutes and played a good game last week. Played a good game against Washington. Then Tanner doing what he did today and at the end of the Dallas week last week. Love that room. Awesome job by Howie and his staff to get these guys. Great job by the players themselves by helping themselves develop into what they can be. And then you got to give a lot of credit to [Quarterbacks Coach] Doug [Nussmeier] and [Offensive Coordinator] Kellen [Moore] and [Passing Game Coordinator/Associate Head Coach] Kevin Patullo for all the things they’ve done to help develop those guys.
What did you see from WR Jahan Dotson’s performance? (Zach Berman)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, that was fun to watch. There were a couple really awesome plays that him and Tanner had made. You saw some things with him after the catch that was really cool with Dotson. I thought he did a good job. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for returns, but did a good job coming up and catching the ball in some conditions. We’ve had a lot of faith in Jahan since the moment he got here. There is a reason why we traded for him. So, I’ve got a lot of faith in him and the player he is. Now, he has to share targets with some other guys that are really outstanding players. That’s just the way it goes sometimes. It gives you a lot of faith that he was able to contribute today and do the thing he is capable of today.
K Jake Elliott missing that field goal, in the context of the season he’s had, is that a cause for concern going forward? (Martin Frank)
NICK SIRIANNI: He came out and made two after that. Again, we didn’t lose any faith in him. He went out and ripped two that we needed right after that. Yeah, it happens in this game.
What sort of growth have you seen from LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. from when he first got here? (Ed Kracz)
NICK SIRIANNI: I think he’s done an unbelievable job transforming his body, getting in great shape. He’s obviously a very instinctive player– the reason we drafted him in the first place. Had a lot of production. For him and Oren [Burks] to go out and do what they did today, Trot had 11 tackles and Oren had something crazy like 17 tackles, that means that those guys are flying around, making plays in [Defensive Coordinator] Vic [Fangio]’s scheme. [Linebackers Coach] Bobby King has done a great job helping these guys get better. Fun to watch him fly around and make plays today.