Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni
Q. There was a report last week that describes your relationship with QB Jalen Hurts as a work in progress. I’m curious, entering your fourth year, how is your relationship with QB Jalen Hurts? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)
NICK SIRIANNI: You know, the only thing you can judge your relationships on is your personal interactions with people, not any report that comes out. Jalen [Hurts] and I’s relationship is good. Again, you just can judge it based off what your personal interactions are.
So, when you hear a report like that, you don’t put much stock into it because quite frankly not everybody sees that. I’m so excited for him and I to get into our fourth year together. We’ve done some pretty special things and I’m really excited for him. He’s worked so hard at his game. Excited for him to be able to get back out here today and have a good practice today.
Yeah, just looking forward to continuing to work with him and continuing to build on the special things that we’ve done.
Q. With the change in your role a little bit, how has that changed your relationship with QB Jalen Hurts? Do you have to work a little harder at it? (Dave Zangaro)
NICK SIRIANNI: You know what? That’s a good question because I’m not in that quarterback room all the time anymore. So, it’s like some of those times you would have the natural relationship because you’re always in there. But what I think has been beneficial for that, is that everybody needs that time with me. Not just me being in the quarterback room. Me being able to be in the defensive end room, me being in the linebacker room.
So naturally when you’re not just with the quarterbacks, you have to carve out a little bit more time to talk to them that you wouldn’t get when you’re in there all the time. So, yeah, I do that for every position, and now I just have to do that a little bit more with the quarterback position because I’m not in there full-time.
Q. For both of you, there was a report about the coordinators and Howie, you involved the hiring. Nick, you’ve talked about it. Can you guys kind of clarify that process? (John McMullen)
HOWIE ROSEMAN: You know, I think through our process of looking at our first-round pick, I feel like myself, our scouts, we had great information on him [CB Quinyon Mitchell]. Obviously he went to Toledo. Nick’s college roommate is the head coach at Toledo. When Nick came to me and he said, ‘Hey, I got this information on Q,’ it made me feel much better about the selection that we already felt good about.
That’s the same process for when we do coaches. Nick will come and say, ‘These are the guys I’m thinking about. Do you have any relationship? Do you know these guys?’ Obviously, I’ve been in the league a long time and had prior relationships with both of those guys. It makes him feel better about the decision he’s making. These aren’t under-the-radar guys. These are talented guys that have been in the league for a long time. That’s how good organizations make decisions.
At the end of the day, I’m responsible for the players that I bring in here: draft, free agency. And he’s responsible for his coaching staff, but we work together. That’s the whole part of being a team.
Q. Howie, it’s our first time speaking to you since the football operations staff changes. What factored into those, and how is it different? (Zach Berman)
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, I think you’re constantly looking at ways to evolve as a staff. You’re kind of looking at things that you can do differently. I think from our perspective, we made a bunch of staff changes. I think total, six people have kind of changed roles. We’re excited about that. We wish all the best to the people who left here, and obviously as we go through the 2024 season starting today, really excited about that, we’ll all be judged on the result.
Q. Nick, what should we expect to see out here? Like with practice, physicality, whatever? (Tim McManus)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, obviously this first week is going to be — you know, there is an acclimation period that everybody has to go through week-in, week-out, but particularly that first week.
You’ll see some different things. Again, that’s so fluid. Like this morning, I added 10-12 plays to practice. I’m like, ‘Hey, we felt good yesterday. Guys came back in great shape. You know what? I want to work a situational period today that is going to add a couple plays; I want to work a conditioning period today that’s going to add a couple plays.’
But that changes based off how the day is and how you think the guys are. That’s just something that’s completely fluid. You’ll see a lot of the same things. There will obviously be differences. Everything was evaluated from last year. Again, don’t want to belabor, we answered all the questions from last year. We’ve talked about that. But the things we learned from– practice length, practice schedule, schemes – everything has been evaluated. Everything that we felt like needed to be tweaked has been tweaked.
Q. I know you’re always talking about how the acquisition period runs up to the trading deadline, and always looking at the roster and ways to improve it. When you look at this roster, how do you evaluate it? Are you happy with it? Do you see any strengths, weaknesses, anything you can share? (Ed Kracz)
HOWIE ROSEMAN: I probably look at it a little differently. I don’t think I’m ever looking at it in those terms. I feel really excited about the opportunity to evaluate these guys on a daily basis and see where we are as a team, see where we are as a roster. We are going to spend a lot of time making sure that we know every player that’s on our 90-man, 91-man roster at this time and be open to ideas about improving that roster.
I think when you get in this position in this league and feel good about something, it’s a very humbling league and things happen. It’s our opportunity to constantly have our eyes open about what we see. The beautiful thing — I said it to coach this morning — the beautiful thing about it is everyone here is ours, so you’re not playing favorites because you’ve brought everyone in here.
In the same token, we have the obligation to put the best team forward, whether that’s including the practice squad and the 53-man roster, and we’ll never be content. That would be a disservice to our fans, to our players, to our coaches.
Q. QB Jalen Hurts expressed dismay at the fact he’s had to change coordinators. Last offseason he says he wishes he had coaching consistency, such as Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland with the offensive line. Seems to be a discrepancy between what he thinks is going to be 95% changing in the offensive versus what you have said. How much more does he have to learn this off-season? (Jeff McLane)
NICK SIRIANNI: We’re all a work in progress as far as learning different things on our offense, on our defense, on our special teams, things we’re doing in situational football. Obviously, everything we do as far as changes we make in the staff, changes we make to your offense, or your defense, is all for what we believe is good for the team and will help us.
Even staffs that have the same play caller, they tweak things year-in, year-out. If you stay still in this league, this league will catch up to you quickly. And so as far as the percentage or anything like that, we are working to do what we do best. So, like I said, there are things that we’ve done well in the past that we’ll continue to do. There’s things that are going to be new tweaks and new things and new things completely.
Like I said to you guys, as far as — a play may look exactly the same on tape. You may say, ‘Okay, I’m looking at this play. Oh, I saw them run that play a bunch last year and they ran it a bunch this time.’ But, sometimes you’re coaching it a little bit differently. That’s evolving as an offense. That happens even when you have a similar staff. But there are people that are the same on the staff. The tight end coach is the same. The running back coach is the same. The assistant head coach Kevin Patullo is the same. The wide receiver coach is the same. The offensive line is the same. T.J. [Paganetti] moved up in his role to assistant offensive line coach. So, there are a lot of similarities in coaching styles and coaching staff, and some of the things we’re doing with little tweaks here and there.
HOWIE ROSEMAN: I would also say, and this isn’t relating to Jalen [Hurts], the hardest part about continuity in the NFL from a front office and coaching staff is: if you win, you lose people; if you lose, you lose people. So, it’s really hard to keep a lot of good people in place for a long period of time. This is nothing about Jalen, but just in general.
It’s just probably a little bit different than other industries where it’s hard to do that.
Q. What are your thoughts on the N.Y. Giants Hard Knocks? (Bo Wulf)
HOWIE ROSEMAN: The Giants are on Hard Knocks? Those are my thoughts. We’ve got to mind our own business. We’ve got enough on our plate than worrying about everyone else.
From my perspective, every day I come in here and there are things we got to do to make sure we’re doing the right thing and we’re getting better, so it’s hard for me to really judge what anyone else is doing.
Q. How does DB Cooper DeJean’s injury affect your plans for him and set him back? (Martin Frank)
NICK SIRIANNI: Obviously it sets him back to not be out here the first three weeks. We were excited about him when we drafted him. We were excited about the things he did during OTAs and the off-season work, and we’re still excited about him. He’s going to have to get a lot of mental reps these next couple weeks that he’ll be out rehabbing that injury. And he’ll do that. I’m confident in the person, that he’ll do that. He’s going to have to work hard at that and then be able to come back when it’s his time to come back, when the injury has healed itself up, and get those physical reps. I’m really confident that he’ll do that, though. We’ve spent so much time on the person as well as the player, and excited that he’ll do what he needs to do in the classroom.
HOWIE ROSEMAN: I would just add to that. I would just say that also, yeah, we’re bummed. That’s our second-round pick. We want to see him out here on the first day. But, we also think this guy will be with us for a long time. We have tremendous confidence in his ability to pick things up and to come back and kind of keep running. And obviously it’s a long season and we’re counting on him.
Q. (Regarding how Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman avoids having hold outs at training camp)… (Reuben Frank)
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, I think it starts with ownership. Starts with [Chairman and Chief Executive Officer] Jeffrey’s [Lurie] ability to let us sign guys early and to try get out ahead of things, which we couldn’t do without his help and support. I think he deserves the credit on this.
Listen, again, you’re dealing with 91 guys. You’re going to have issues. It’s not going to be perfect. I actually thought what [San Francisco 49ers LB] Fred Warner said was really fricking unbelievable. It’s like, the better you get, the more of those issues you’re going to have. When you’re a good team, people are responsible for making you a good team, and those players are going to want to be compensated that way, those coaches, those front office personnel. It’s just the nature of the business.
Obviously the key for us has been to go to guys early and try to get ahead of those things. It’s not perfect and I’m sure sitting here we’ll have issues going forward. You know, I think that it’s hard to understand what goes on in those situations from other teams because we’re sitting here with our own issues and situations.
Q. As you go into camp, are you looking at Mehki Becton primarily at guard or tackle, and are you looking at CB James Bradberry more at safety or corner? (Zach Berman)
NICK SIRIANNI: Versatility is going to be key for guys. We’ll see as camp goes along, but Mehki [Becton] is going to have to be able to do both and James [Bradberry] is going to have to be able to do both. Looking forward to seeing some of that with those guys. Like I said, that’s fluid as it goes on. You’ll see some of that out here today.
Q. You had some turnover at the receiver position, how do you feel about that third spot? (Jeff McLane)
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, really excited to get out here and see the candidates we have. We brought in guys that we think have talent and the ability to contribute for us, but to sit here and say like that’s not something we’re going to be watching every day and seeing who steps up and how the chemistry is with Jalen [Hurts], it’s important. You know, I think that you look at it throughout the league, that position is an important position. We brought in guys in free agency; drafted a couple guys. I think it’s something that we’re going to be watching among other things daily and see who steps up.
Q. You talked about getting acclimated this first week, when in your mind does the competition at some of those spots really start to heat up? (Bob Brookover)
NICK SIRIANNI: Well, right away. I mean, everything is being evaluated. Everything they do. Conditioning test was evaluated. The way they came back was evaluated, the way they’re going to practice with helmets will be evaluated, the way they walk-through is going to be evaluated. So every competition started in OTAs and is going to continue here. Now, this is football. When the pads come on it’s different, especially for certain positions. It changes completely of when you have the pads on and when you don’t have the pads on.
So everything is evaluated. Everything, competition is happening. That’s a core staple of who we are as a program. Compete, compete, toughness, all those different things. That’s what we base our program on. Naturally, some positions step up even more when the pads come on.
Q. Along those lines, what’s the plan for right guard? (E.J. Smith)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we’ll see. Obviously don’t have to release a depth chart yet. Don’t have to say what our plans are. Just like we don’t have to say what our plans are for end-of-game defense. That will be something that we are continuing to work through. And obviously we’ll see as we go and looking forward to today. Tyler [Steen] will start out there at the right guard position today as we start. We’ll see how that goes.
Q. You talked about that 30,000 foot view you have now. I know you are constantly evaluating things. But it is a little bit of a different role. Did you come into this day one with one or two different things that say, hey, now I can do this a little bit more now? (John McMullen)
NICK SIRIANNI: You know, obviously the way you come out here, like I’m going to be coaching guys up, right? That’s what’s fun. You’re able to go — but I feel like I’ve been doing that. Even though I was only with the offense — I wouldn’t say only with the offense, but, yeah, I’m just looking forward to getting out here and coaching guys up; doesn’t matter what position. Whether it’s [WR] Parris Campbell or [LS] Rick Lovato. I don’t have a ton of great coaching points for the long snapper. That’s not my expertise. You know, whoever it is. But just looking forward to getting back out there, coaching guys up, and then getting in the film room and kind of living out our core values.
Q. (Regarding new kickoff return rules and what the teaching process has been like for the new rule)… (David Murphy)
NICK SIRIANNI: You know, obviously we spend a lot of time on this and really going to keep that close to the vest. That’s new for everybody.
Everyone essentially is year one coordinator for the new kickoff and the kickoff return. So we’ll keep a lot of that close to the vest. I’m really confident in our special teams coaches. We’ve continually gotten better at special teams throughout these past three years. Michael Clay deserves a ton of credit. He has done an unbelievable job. He is a great young coach who works daily to try to get better.
The guys love Coach Clay. The players that play for him play their butts off for him. That’s just a testament to him. Coach Pannunzio, Tyler Brown, Coach Seely and just the guys that have been here helping us continuing to improve. But looking forward to the new challenge of that element of the game. Going to be new for everybody, but we’ll keep a lot of that close to the vest as we go.
Q. You guys have rotated along the defensive line. Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio’s history seems to lean a little bit more heavily on his top guys. How do you find common ground? (Bo Wulf)
HOWIE ROSEMAN: I think obviously you have to adjust to whoever the coordinator is and what they do. In a lot of ways, it’s exciting to see what our guys can do. We have a lot of young players, certainly in the interior of our defensive line that should be able to play maybe a little bit higher percentage of the snaps. But you still need guys rotating, you still need good players. I think it’s always been important to us to have a lot of defensive linemen who can play at a high level through the course of the year and that can come in and rotate. That’s not going to change.
It won’t look exactly the same, where maybe you’re taking a number that’s 55 or 60 and now, you’re at 65 or 70. Probably not. I think also that’s why the conditioning is so important. That’s why our players are coming into camp in great shape, knowing they’re going to play more, and I think it’s all going to be player dependent on how they’re playing. It’s something that is probably a little bit different but not significantly different.
NICK SIRIANNI: And Vic Fangio, just adding to what Howie said, Vic Fangio has been a great coordinator in this league. We’re not talking 10 years, 20 years. We’re talking three decades worth of being an unbelievable coach. You don’t do that unless you adapt to the players that you have and you adapt your scheme, you adapt to your surroundings, you adapt to the way the game is changing. And we feel good about our depth. I know Vic feels good about it. Looking forward to guys like [DT] Marlon [Tuipulotu] and [DT] Moro [Ojomo], those guys continuing to develop and play a good role. Those guys, particularly those two guys, have shown toughness, they’ve shown their hard work throughout the offseason. They came back in great shape, and I’m looking forward to seeing those guys go out there and practice and have good camps.
HOWIE ROSEMAN: One of the things for us, we’ve been very fortunate here where we’ve really given our young players kind of the ability to kind of develop and not play as much. I’m really excited to see the opportunity for those guys going forward because of where we are. Obviously, we have a lot of high-paid players here. There is a great opportunity for young players for us going forward, and I think we have the right players here. That’s one of the exciting things about this camp, is seeing these young players get an opportunity to carve out a role, how significant that role is.
Because I think you look at our sport, you look a lot of different sports, and there are opportunities for young players to develop, and you don’t really know how they’re going to develop and how they’re going to play until they get the opportunity. And because of the teams we’ve had in the past couple years, which have obviously been good, some of those young players haven’t had as big of a role, so I’m really excited about that and watching that. Obviously, I am biased. We brought those guys here. But it’ll be fun to watch.
Q. In terms of the secondary, last year lots of injuries. How much more prepared is this secondary for this season, and in relation to how Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio uses that, is it also equipped for the season? (Brooks Kubena)
HOWIE ROSEMAN: We’ll see. Obviously, we have to go with what we see here going forward. We brought in a lot of new people into our secondary. We thought it was an area we had to address. I’m really excited, again, to see those guys go out and play. I think I didn’t do a good enough job last year fortifying the secondary, and it showed with our depth. Our best teams have had our best depth with our best players.
Q. At this time last year, you viewed LB Nakobe Dean as the top linebacker. Where is he now going into this season, from an organizational perspective and health-wise? (Zach Berman)
NICK SIRIANNI: That’s going to be something — that’s going to be a great competition to play out. I believe we added some great guys in free agency and the draft. I’m really excited. You look at some of the things, and we’ll never say, ‘Hey, these are the positions we’re excited about the battles at,’ but sometimes Howie and I talk about, ‘Man, I can’t wait to see that linebacker position.’ We feel really good about the guys that have been added and the guys back from last year. So just so excited to see how that goes.
Now, Nakobe came back in great shape. Worked his butt off. He said to me yesterday, ‘Are we putting the pads on tomorrow?’ when I walked past him. I know he’s ready. I know he’s ready mentally, I know he’s ready physically. I’m excited to see him and I’m excited see that position as a whole.
HOWIE ROSEMAN: I think I broke that rule talking about a couple positions I’m excited about. I think for us, we have tremendous confidence in Nakobe. That’s why we drafted him. That doesn’t change. Sometimes it’s because of how much you liked him throughout the process and bringing him here. We are really excited about him. He has the right mentality. There is no question in my mind what his contributions were to one of the best defenses in the history of college football. I know that just from watching the tape. I know that from talking to the coaches. And then the opportunity is there. The opportunities at that position, I think we’re excited to see what that brings. Obviously, it’s a position that in Philadelphia we understand comes under a little bit more of the microscope, and that’s probably warranted.
Q. With QB Jalen Hurts, what are the key things that you’re looking for to see in his development as a leader as he enters year five? (Tim McManus)
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, I’ve been fortunate to be with Jalen now coming on my fourth year. I think he has tremendous energy, tremendous work ethic. You know, just like all of us, everything that he feels like he can continue to work with on, he will do. This is a guy that obviously has brought us tremendous success since he’s been our starting quarterback, has played a tremendously high level. I have tremendous confidence in him that whatever he has to do to continue being an MVP candidate, he will do.