Kellen Moore

Q. Just on the year, there’s head coaching interviews coming up and that kind of thing. How do you balance that side of it with obviously preparing for the game? (Reuben Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: You don’t worry about it too much. Really the focus on the week, and those things take care of their self. Obviously those things only come to teams who usually tend to have success and are doing things well on the field, and so that’s where your focus is.

Q. When you look back on this season, because you’ve got a couple interview requests, that means you’ve had some success. What are you most proud of about this offense as a whole? (John McMullen)

KELLEN MOORE: It’s a really fun group, a really tight group that really works well together. Has a lot of fun doing this, and I thought our guys, throughout the season you’re going to have a lot of different waves of highs and lows and the way our guys handle those are phenomenal, and the way the games play out, the style that we play, our guys have embraced each other and embraced how we played.

Q. What stands out about the first matchup between you and Green Bay, and how do you look back at it offensively? (Tim McManus)

KELLEN MOORE: Long time ago, first. I think both teams evolved, certainly, when you play a full season. That’s the first one, and now we’re into the playoffs. So a lot has happened since then.

So certainly it’s something you take account for as far as we’re both on the field at the same time but a lot of things have changed. Really competitive game. They did a phenomenal job. They created turnovers. They did a really good job. We were fortunate to come out of that thing with a win. There’s a lot of good things that came out of it.

Q. Any difference when you’re game planning for a playoff game instead of a regular season game? (Bo Wulf)

KELLEN MOORE: Pretty much the same formula.

Q. Is it a little bit different obviously this week because you’re not sure yet of the quarterback and how much time do you have to devote to now it seems possibly three quarterbacks that could play on Sunday? (Jeff McLane)

KELLEN MOORE: Very similar to how we handle most teams. There’s always circumstances each and every week of different players. Certainly the quarterback is a very big focus and certainly should be but there’s other positions we’ve dealt with this where you’re kind of aware of those different variables.

Q. Going back to that first game against Green Bay, did you have an idea of just how effective RB Saquon Barkley could be in the offense? I know he carried the ball like 24 times that game, but did you foresee him being as big a part of the offense as he became? (Martin Frank)

KELLEN MOORE: Certainly we had big expectations, and certainly we loved everything [RB] Saquon [Barkley] had done through the off-season until you get on the field and experience it firsthand.

There’s obviously an element of excitement coming out of that game, just how we performed in the run game, Saquon performed. There’s a lot of excitement moving forward.

Q. The past game was mostly back-ups but you had a lot of success with under center play action, and that’s not something you’ve done a lot this year. What’s made that less prevalent throughout the seasons when the starters have been on the field? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: It’s a good question. Every week, just the game plan’s going to be focused on tying things together. Run game, pass game obviously.

You know, I thought [QB] Tanner [McKee] did an excellent job just in the action game with the movements and some of the drop-back stuff within the action game. You know, great timing rhythm. He did a really good job and certainly we’ve done those at other game plans throughout the season, and so we’ll just see where it takes us for this week as well.

Q. Will you communicate with QB Jalen Hurts today about the game? (Jeff McLane)

KELLEN MOORE: Certainly we’ve all of us have been in continuous conversations. We always are, and so you know, excited about that.

Q. That first matchup going up against a new defensive coordinator, just curious, obviously to some degree you’re guessing what they are going to do. Curious how close you came to what you thought they were going to do and how different they might have been? (Jimmy Kempski)

KELLEN MOORE: We certainly anticipated there was going to be a lot of unknown going into that game. Just with watching Boston College and watching other teams around the NFL and projecting what could or could not happen. That’s going to happen Week 1, any ways, no matter who you play.

There was a lot of unknown with this one and certainly as the season has progressed you see that they have evolved just like everyone else. When you have a lot more film you can evaluate that and anticipate a few more things. Just like every team, there’s going to be some flavor and there’s going to be a little bit something different going into a playoff game they will present us and try and stress us on our side.

Q. Any concern about rust with QB Jalen Hurts, after not playing for most of three games? (Dave Zangaro)

KELLEN MOORE: No. I think our guys did an excellent process as far as you let the medical side take care of their business, and we do our side of it as far as anything we can do to help anticipate this.

Q. Following up on RB Saquon Barkley from earlier, you guys have been leaning on the run, not just more than the Eagles have done recently, but in your career. So week-to-week, what did you lean on in terms of what answers there were, or was this all a lot of a new experience for you? (Brooks Kubena)

KELLEN MOORE: Certainly as we’ve gone through this season, you know, you’re going to find formulas that work and try and lean into those and understand that it’s not going to match each and every week.

But I think our guys do an excellent job of being a really physical football team, and you know, run game certainly has embraced that and I think what our guys have done a really good job of is second half, four-minute style football, grinding games out where we have these long drives late in games. Certainly that’s shown up a lot and those are heavy run situations, and you throw the ball when you have to in those circumstances. They have done a really nice job there.

Q. If you do get a head coaching job this year, what is something you’ve learned from this season with the Eagles that you think will help you going forward? (Cayden Steele)

KELLEN MOORE: Just been a great experience here. Obviously working with [Head Coach] Nick [Sirianni], I think what Nick does an excellent job of is leading this team from an emotional element and leadership element, but also just the game management and how he manages the game, manages it through the week. Our situational football, as much time as we invest in that, he does an excellent job with it. So it’s been a really fun process for me.

Q. You mentioned the evolution of their defense. Learning a new coordinator and they had injuries, evolution of that, even a trade, but they finished pretty strongly. What are you most impressed with that defense? (John McMullen)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, shows they are doing an excellent job from a coaching staff standpoint but also from a player standpoint of really finding their formula. Everyone is always trying to find formulas that work for them. These guys are doing an excellent job. They are top in a lot of categories. They are doing excellent on third downs. They are keeping the ball in front of them. They are doing a really good job from that standpoint. They are doing some good stuff in the run game to kind of stress you a little bit.

I think they found a really good formula. You can tell they are playing fast. They are playing confident. Their guys are all tied together. You don’t see a bunch of mistakes. It just, you know, you can feel it’s a really well-coached team.

Q. You played with and coached an All-Pro tackle before. I know you have experience with this but when you have the players on both ends that you do, how does that allow you to call a game different? (Zach Berman)

KELLEN MOORE: We feel obviously very fortunate that [T] Lane [Johnson] and [T] Jordan [Mailata] are our tackles. I can’t think of a better two-person combination in this league. They are phenomenal and they are phenomenal people. The work that they do. The confidence that they play with. It gives everyone else confidence and we feel very fortunate to have them, certainly that they can block some of these premiere guys because they are really challenging jobs. They are some of the hardest jobs in all of sports, and they do it each and every week.

Q. When there is a week given off to most of the starters, what’s done in the final week to kind of offset not practicing or preparing for a game? (Jeff McLane)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, I think [Head Coach] Nick [Sirianni] does an excellent job of really going back to last week, utilizing last week in so many good ways, for those guys to recover but also get work done and anticipate this next week coming forward.

I think we’ve got a very similar plan but a really good plan to attack this thing like any other week.

Q. What’s the biggest improvement you’ve seen out of QB Jalen Hurts from Week 1 to now? (Tim McManus)

KELLEN MOORE: Yeah, I think [QB Jalen Hurts] he’s just continued to play really, really confident while protecting the football, certainly. I think he’s done a really good job in that situation. Then a lot of the situational football stuff that comes up, I think each and every week, the two-minute, the handling four-minute situations, when you’re running the football but you still need to be — we have critical third down passes in those situations. I think he’s just done an excellent job of playing out all those situations.

Q. Talking about RB Saquon Barkley being a special teammate, he mentioned the moment with RB Kenneth Gainwell; how he always wants RB Kenneth Gainwell to go in there and score. Is there anything else about Saquon as a teammate that stood out to you this year? (Cayden Steele)

KELLEN MOORE: I think obviously the way guys gravitate towards [RB Saquon Barkley] him, and he embraces his teammates. Obviously I think what’s really cool is how much his regular season that he’s got over 2,000 yards, but he’s really embracing that this took everyone. I think that’s the cool part of this thing. It’s a collective effort and collective accomplishment. Those guys are obviously ready to turn the page and head into the playoffs and focus on that. So it’s been fun.

Q. I forgot to ask about TE Dallas Goedert. Getting him back in the lineup. What does it mean? (John McMullen)

KELLEN MOORE: So fun to see [TE] Dallas [Goedert] out there. He played excellent on Sunday. I thought he did an excellent job, limited role, but took advantage of a bunch of opportunities. We were fired up to see him out there.