Nick Sirianni

Q. Do you have any additional information on where things stand with QB Jalen Hurts, any context? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, he’s progressing through the protocol.

Q. No long-term concern there? (Tim McManus)

NICK SIRIANNI: He’s progressing through the protocol. Can’t say much more when guys are in the protocol except for that.

Q. The protocol, you have to recover from practice, is the fact that he would be resting from practice anyway related to him still being in the protocol? (Bo Wulf)

NICK SIRIANNI: Guys – okay. He’s progressing through the protocol. Not much more I have for you on that, guys.

Q. How has TE Dallas Goedert looked at practice?

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, had a good week. He’s had a good week. Good to get him back out there. He’s a heck of a football player. We need him to accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish, and he’s had a really good week.

Q. What are your expectations for QB Tanner McKee and QB Ian Book if they’re the quarterbacks that play this week? What are your expectations for them? (Chris Franklin)

NICK SIRIANNI: I want to continue to get better each and every day. That’s been our mission this entire week for guys that are going to be playing in this game and guys that aren’t going to be playing in this game. How do we progress? How do we get better?

So we’re going through the week just like we would every other week, and I expect guys to go out there and perform and play to the standard that we have set here.

Q. How valuable an opportunity is it to see a lot of these guys who don’t play a lot during the regular season in real live game action? (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think very much so. Every time they are out there on the field being evaluated – we put a lot of the stock obviously in how we practice, with the tempo we practice with and the intensity that we practice with, so we feel like we get great looks there.

But, when you go out there and you’re tackling to the ground where it’s live, obviously that’s a little different. Great evaluation process for us on different guys.

Q. Because this is a big developmental week, can you give us some insight into what Head of Football Development and Strategy Connor Barwin has meant to that program and what he’s done for your staff? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, he’s been outstanding. Really always enjoy my interactions with him. Have a lot of interactions with him. Gives me great perspective on different things.

I lean on him a lot on different things as a former player. And I do that same thing with [Wide Receivers Coach] Aaron Moorehead, tapping into that. ‘Hey, what would you think here as a former player?’

It’s good having that perspective, and [Head of Football Development and Strategy] Connor [Barwin] is so committed to, how do we continue to help guys get better? Which speaks the same language as I do.

That’s why we have so many good conversations about it. Really value his opinion. Really value his insight. Really value him in this organization.

Q. The developmental periods you talk about all the time, where did that idea come from? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: We did that some in Indy. [Former Colts Head Coach] Frank [Reich], that was big with Frank. They had done that before I got here as well, so it was good when we meshed those things together.

It’s just so important. When you’re on the scout team and you’re not getting a lot of the reps with the starters, then you don’t rep your plays, right? You’re doing what a card says.

It’s a lot different running a play when you hear it in the huddle and have to go process it and go do it, one of our plays, as opposed to looking at a card [that says], ‘Do this.’ It’s just different.

We’ve got to try to put them in positions to develop. Like I’ve said to you guys, one thing I learned really early on, it was college, was recruit, retain, develop. Very early on from [former Mount Union Head] Coach [Larry] Kehres.

In the NFL, that’s the same deal, right? Scouting takes the place of recruiting, and [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and his staff do a great job of that, as you can see by our roster.

Then our job is to develop them into [the] players that they’re capable of being. That’s their job as well. That’s why you look for certain things that really matter to the development.

You just try to continue to find ways to do different things to develop them. From extra meetings – don’t want to give away everything we do, but another thing we do is every Friday or Saturday, at the discretion of the position coach, there is an extra meeting also with just the scout team player to go through your reps at practice as well, both from the scout team and from the developmental periods.

Q. There was some context to what RB Saquon Barkley has been able to do this year. When you and Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore first got together and started building the offense, did you, in your talks with the Eagles, with Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman, look for a running back who could fill what you wanted to do? Or how much changed when he came? (Brooks Kubena)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, he can do everything. Everything. He has every tool that you look for in running backs. Yeah, he’s special. You guys see it.

So you’ve got really open season on everything there in your playbook, and anything you’ve done, anything you thought about doing, anything you look at and say, man, could [RB] Saquon [Barkley] do this? The answer is yes mostly. Not mostly, always. ‘Hey, he would be really good at this.’

I think we come away when we have those conversations and we look through our tape and watch a certain play that we might be considering putting in, it’s funny, we say, ‘Hey, this would be good for Saquon’ and laugh. I’m like, well, everything is probably going to be good for Saquon.

So, yeah, he’s just a phenomenal teammate, phenomenal player.

Q. In your postgame speeches this year, the phrase you keep using is ‘do special s***.’ Is there background to that? Is there a back story for why you honed in on that message this year? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: What we’ve talked about is, we’ve won ten-plus games the last three years, and that’s good. We’re excited about that.

But the extra stuff, the extra things are how do you special things. Just honing [in] on – it’s do special stuff, right? But what are the things you have to do to win special things and do special things?

That’s the commitment to connecting as a football team. That’s the detail. That’s the toughness. We talk about that over and over again because that’s the common denominator. The accountability. Those are the common denominators of good football teams, and our goals are to do special things and special stuff.

That’s our commitment to our standard of what we want to continue to get better at. Yeah, I think we’ve had a lot of success. It is, it’s awesome to win the division, but our goals are higher than just getting in the playoffs or winning a division.

We have our goals set on a higher goal. That still doesn’t mean you don’t take it one week at a time. The higher you climb on the mountain, the moment you start looking up is the moment you start to slip.

Our goals are to stay completely focused on where we are but also know that our goals are higher than the cool things we’ve been able to do so far this season.

Q. When you think about all that you accomplished this year, is there somebody, maybe player, coach, someone in the building, that no one knows about or is unheralded that you think really contributed to the success of this season? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Man, there are so many people, because it is hard to spread the love outside of guys. I feel like –

Q. It’s your opportunity to give it to one person. (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, and I don’t think that’s fair because there are so many that are able to do it. (smiling)

There are so many coaches. [Offensive Coordinator] Kellen [Moore] has had a great year coaching. [Defensive Coordinator] Vic [Fangio] has had a great year coaching. [Special Teams Coordinator Michael] Clay has had a great year coaching. Those are our coordinators.

I just think about the job that [Senior Defensive Assistant/Defensive Line Coach] Clint Hurtt has done, [Defensive Ends/Outside Linebackers Coach] Jeremiah Washburn has done, and, again, [Running Backs/Assistant Head Coach] Jemal Singleton, all these guys. I’m going to feel bad that I’m not going to say everybody. [Passing Game Coordinator/Associate Head Coach] Kevin Patullo has been awesome this year.

I think about the guys that maybe aren’t as recognized. Look at all the good things that [TE] Grant Calcaterra has done this season. Look at the development of [OLB] Nolan Smith from this season of all the things that he does, and [OLB] Josh Sweat.

They do so much of the dirty work. Some of these guys do so much of the dirty work that’s not recognized. We sure as heck recognize it. There are a ton of those people on our team, both in the building and on staff.

There was a couple. I gave you a couple. (smiling)

I didn’t want to do that, but I gave a couple because I do like that they get recognized. Obviously I just can’t recognize everybody that deserves to be recognized, but I appreciate the question.