Nick Sirianni

Q. Talking to WR A.J. Brown after the game, he was asked about his emotions now that you start to sort of ramp up for the Super Bowl. Curious if you learned anything, one or two things, from that first experience that maybe you can impart to the guys that are going to go through this for the first time? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think there are obviously different things that go into the week. You have two weeks to prepare, right? You have media obligations when you get there. The game is a little different as far as the breaks that are taken in the game.

So I think at the end of the day, it does come back to what we’ve talked about all year, just controlling what you can control and being in the moment of where you are. I think when that is what you’re conscious of and focused on during an entire year, it serves you well going into this.

It’s going to have to be the same stuff just under some different circumstances as far as the way the game and the week lead up to it.

Q. Are you changing anything specifically based off the experience of the first time? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, obviously you go through everything. I won’t get into details there of what we’re changing, but after each week, you talk about what you can do better and what you did well. That’s a constant every Monday. That’s what we did after 2022 as well.

So we have notes that we’re going through and that we’ve been going through. Couple tweaks here and there of what we will do differently, and a couple things that will stay the same. Of course any time you go through any situation like that, you take notes like that and you try to get better from each circumstance you go through.

Q. Will DE Brandon Graham be available for the Super Bowl? (Brooks Kubena)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see how that goes and how that plays out. I can’t answer that question right now, but we’ll see how the two weeks work out.

Q. What are the main factors in that decision? (Brooks Kubena)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we’ll see.

Q. Just to go back to that ‘tush push’ play in the championship game when the Commanders kept jumping offsides. Players thought it was pretty funny. What was your reaction to that? Were you aware of the rule that existed that the official could award a touchdown? (Ed Kracz)

NICK SIRIANNI: I actually was. We had a coach that I was with that did game management with the Chargers, [former Chargers Offensive Staff and current Jets Special Teams Coordinator/Game Management Coordinator Dan Shamash] Smash. I don’t remember where we were talking about it, but I remember us talking about it. ‘Hey, they can award a touchdown in a moment like this.’

You know what, I do remember why we were talking about it. If you were on the 1 with not a lot of time left, the defensive back keeps holding, why not keep holding – whatever it was, I don’t remember. That’s why I shouldn’t have gone into it.

But I remember him telling me, ‘If you do that enough times in a row, the referee can award them a touchdown.’ I remember saying to Smash, ‘That’s not a rule. Are you out of your mind?’ I remember saying that to him. ‘That’s not a rule.’

I remember him being very emphatic with me because he knows the rules really well and telling me it was. I texted him after the game. I’m like, Smash, you were right.

We have talked about that since, so we did know that in that scenario. I said to the referees on the sideline, ‘Hey, they keep doing this, it can be a touchdown, right?’ They said, ‘Yeah, that’s correct.’

Q. Did you think it was funny, though? Did you get a kick out of what they were doing? (Ed Kracz)

NICK SIRIANNI: Did I think it was funny? Not really. Not particularly. (smiling)

Obviously always thinking about the safety and health of our players.

Q. We’ve talked so much this year about turnovers and takeaways. Last 16 games since the bye week, you guys are plus 27, which is kind of an outrageous number. I guess the question is, two-part question, how pivotal is that to your overall, what you guys do and how you win? How important is it? And you have 18 different guys that have takeaways, which is another crazy number. So anybody on the team can force a turnover at any point. How valuable is that? It’s not just one, two, three guys; it’s really everybody. (Reuben Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, first the players going out there and being able to do it is incredible because you’re taking chances at times, too. Because we’ve tackled well, too. I think sometimes you see in those scenarios that teams take chances there, but they don’t make tackles. Well, we’ve been in the top 10 of missed tackle percentage in the NFL, which we take a lot of pride in. Again, goes back to our details.

But the players, when they go out there and execute that on the defensive side of the ball, that’s easier said than done. Just really proud of them of how they’ve been able to tackle well while also taking the football away. It’s something we emphasize an awful lot. We’ve always done a good job of emphasizing it on offense.

I think this year we’ve taken another step and really emphasized it even more so this year as a defense. Every team meeting, we’re looking at ball security, any mistake that’s made in ball security. Every team meeting, we’re looking at good strip attempts or missed strip attempt opportunities.

This year, [Vice President of Football Technology] Pat Dolan, our video guy, got me every peanut punch that [Former Chicago Bears Defensive Back Charles Tillman] he forced a fumble with his entire career, and we watched that on a loop as coaches, and then we showed that to the players as well.

So we emphasize the crap out of it because we know it’s such a telling stat in this game. Our guys have done a nice job protecting it. Our defensive guys have done a good job taking it away, as well as our special teams guys.

You saw [RB] Will [Shipley] get one in the game as well. We drilled the heck out of it, but you’ve got to have talented players to be able to do both, because it is a skill to be able to tackle and take the ball away. And I think the other thing it shows is the effort to the football.

We had our second man in with [LB] Zack Baun. [DB Cooper DeJean] Coop had him tied up, and Zack was able to come in and get a hit on the ball on the one on Sunday.

That shows you relentless effort by our guys of getting to the football. We talk a lot about, good things happen when you get to the ball. Whether that be Zack going in and cleaning it up on Sunday, whether that be [TE] Grant Calcaterra being there behind the football on [TE] Dallas [Goedert]’s fumble against Washington on that Thursday night.

It’s just you’ve got guys in great shape. You can’t have relentless effort unless you’re in great shape. It’s just another notch to these guys of how good they have their bodies in shape and the strength staff and the training staff of getting those guys in shape and the guys themselves just being relentless.

Q. With how often you talk about facing adversity, what do you think you showed your team with how you dealt with your adversity coming into this season? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think about, if I’m asking them to do something, I better be pretty darn good at it, whether that’s detail, whether that’s mental toughness – they don’t need to see me physically tough. I don’t need to be that anymore, but mental toughness, whether that’s connecting, those three pillars of our culture, that I better be doing those things like crazy.

I don’t know, hopefully I provide a good example for them in moments like that. But I also hope that I provide a good example to them of blocking out the things that you can’t control and outside noise. Because there is always going to be outside noise.

Again, just try to be an example and lead by example. Culture is not words that are up on your wall or a T-shirt that you wear. That’s not what it is. It’s your habits. If I want our guys to have these habits, then I better have them myself and our coaches better have them. I guess I just try to live by that.

Q. You guys have like eight new starters on defense compared to the team that you took to the Super Bowl two years ago. A, what does that say about the job you guys did drafting and bringing in guys? Also, considering that, I assume it’s tough to stay among the elite teams in the league to be back in the Super Bowl with such a big turnover. (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think there is – unfortunately, fortunately, however you want to look at it – a lot of turnover in this league. There is no team that’s the same year in, year out. There is free agency; guys retire. There are so many different things play into it. There’s salary cap, all those different things that play into it.

That’s what is special about each individual team. You’re starting the journey again. You have principles in place and all those things, but you’re starting the journey over and over again. And we do have key members that have been here for the last three years.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said how good of a job [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] has done in getting these guys in here. Then it’s about building the team and building the habits and the guys continuing to get better.

I think that’s what you’ve seen. With eight new starters on defense, really good defense in 2022, really good defense here in 2024.

So, yeah, so much credit to [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and his staff, and then the guys themselves going out there and playing their butts off.

Q. You guys might’ve had one of the greatest bye weeks ever this year considering what you did afterwards. I think you said a few years ago, you asked former Eagles and current Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid about how to handle bye weeks. What advice did you get then? You’re 7-1 off byes now; He’s 32-6. And how is the Super Bowl bye week different than maybe the regular season bye week? (Bob Brookover)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, obviously always will keep my conversations with other coaches, players private. Always so appreciative of any coach that is willing to help in scenarios and situations. I’m always so appreciative, and so many of these coaches have so much good knowledge to be able to share. Hopefully I can pay it forward to other coaches that ask me questions that I can help them with at some point.

As far as the differences between a bye week here and a bye week in the middle of the season, the one major difference is that in the season, you might not practice that week, right? The guys will be off. They have to have a certain amount of time off. This week is a little bit different because you’re going into a week next week that’s a little unusual with some of the things.

So you’ve got to get a lot of the game plan done. You’ve got to get practice in to practice against the stuff. You also want to get guys rested and healthy and ready to go.

There are definitely differences, one, by the rules of it, and two, just about what the following week looks like.

So it’s handled a little bit differently.

Q. We talked to C Cam Jurgens in the locker room after the game. He said that he expects that he’ll be great for the Super Bowl. We didn’t get to talk to G Landon Dickerson. Between his just general toughness and the fact you’ve got two weeks to get ready for the Super Bowl, how confident are you that he will be good to go? (Olivia Reiner)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see. I know how tough these guys are and how hard they work, and all these guys are playing through bumps and bruises right now.

I just see their relentless work and relentless effort to get themselves in the best shape they possibly can with their bodies to be ready to go. So time will tell. We’ll see as that goes.

I know that these guys are doing everything they can do. I can’t tell you how much I respect what they go through and what they put their bodies through to play this game we love. Yeah, just got so much respect for that. Toughness is a characteristic that I value so much in life and in football.

We’ve got a tough team. These guys, the guys you’re asking about, they’re tough as heck. You can go a long way with toughness.

Q. I wanted to ask you about QB Jalen Hurts’s straitjacket comment after the game here, just kind of your interpretation of that. And then also, how much of what you’re asking him to do, the way you’re asking him to play the game this year, is factoring into the fact that it wasn’t the most prolific passing season for him? (Tim McManus)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think he was having fun after the game. We’ve been winning a couple different ways this year. I think he was just having fun after the game.

I know this, and he’s said this plenty of times: He doesn’t care how we win. I don’t care how we win, as long as we win. We do everything we can do to be able to win.

As we’ve talked [about] a lot, there have been different circumstances of how games have gone and where we’ve been at late in games. But we found a way to win and rattle off 15 out of 16.

I thought he was having fun with that after the game. Just loved how he went out and executed and prepared for this game. I always admire that. You guys have asked me about that. I always admire the heck out of how hard he works regardless of the situation. Same guy every day.

His mentality, his work ethic. We had to win a different way this game, and we did. We showed that we can win in multiple ways. I think that shows the type of team we have and the type of selflessness we have on our team, starting with [QB] Jalen [Hurts].

Q. I wanted to ask you a specific turnover question. They said on the broadcast that you emphasize that when guys are coming up from the ground, that’s a good time to try to get the ball out. I want to know how that came to be, when that became a particular focus? (Bo Wulf)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, that’s been a particular focus. Shoot, you go back to 2020, and [former Colts and current Cardinals WR] Zach Pascal had one in our Buffalo game, Indy versus Buffalo in the playoffs. Zach was getting up with the football. I think [former Bills S] Micah Hyde ripped at it as he was getting up.

There are moments when the ball is at risk. I don’t want to get into everything that we teach there. I won’t get into everything we teach there when that ball is at risk. But one of the moments when the ball is at risk is you getting up off the ground, and vice versa. Another time the ball is at risk when you’re going to the ground.

Because naturally your body, as you get up, tends to loosen up on that. When you’re going down, the same thing, you tend to brace. So those are things that we drill. [Running Backs/Assistant Head Coach] Jemal Singleton has done an unbelievable job of finding creative ways to drill those two things. We drill the heck out of them. And just like the other ball security stuff, if the guy misses a strip opportunity in a moment in practice, where he’s getting up and we don’t take advantage of that, we talk about it.

It also happened in our 2022 game against Washington with [former Eagles and current Cardinals WR] Quez Watkins. He caught a post from Jalen. He was getting up off the ground and the ball was at risk, and I think [Commanders S Benjamin St-Juste] No. 25, who’s still playing over there, knocked the ball out.

If it happens in a game during the league year, we’ll show that as well.

So that’s not one that’s real common because doesn’t happen a ton, but you are excited when it happens. And to be able to mentally think about that in the game the way [LB] Oren [Burks] did is pretty incredible. He’s got coverage responsibilities. He reacts. He sees [Commanders RB Austin] Ekeler going to the ground. He’s going there. Ekeler gets up, and he’s like, oh, shoot I’m going to punch here.

Those are things you can’t do in the spur of the moment unless those are your habits. That’s why the habits are so, so critical. It’s like, we can talk about it all we want. But unless you’re practicing that, unless you’re emphasizing it after you practice it – it’s got to be part of who you are. They’re split-second situations where these things happen.

I guess sometimes our best coaching points and our best things we think about or happen to you because of something negative that happened to you. Those are both situations. In the Buffalo-Indy game, they called Zach down. I think we might have gotten away with one there. Quez definitely was a fumble, and it turned that a little bit.

So sometimes your scars of the things you went through help you become better. I think that’s just another way of our team embracing adversity and trying to get better from each individual thing that we go through.

Q. What’s the plan for this week as far as how much will you guys be on the field? Will all the game planning be in before you go to New Orleans? How are you handling logistical meetings? All the stuff that happens during the bye week? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we have a plan. We are still sorting through some other things of it. A big chunk of it is ready to go. Won’t share everything with you guys, but we’ll practice, we’ll be on the field, we’ll be installing things. To give a percentage or a time, some of that stuff is still up in the air.

You’ve got to get a good portion of it done because of the schedule. The schedule is a little different next week. There are some different things you’ve got to handle next week, and you might not have the all-day Tuesday meeting or all-day Monday meeting because of Media Night that you would normally have as coaches.

So won’t get into percentages with you, but you’ve got to get a lot done this week and refine it and make sure everything is on point the following week.