Nick Sirianni

Q. When you rewatched the tape, what stood out to you about the way RB Tank Bigsby played, and what do you think his specific skillset brings to the offense when he is on the field? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Nick Sirianni: He runs hard. He’s got extremely good ability to make you miss, while also being able to put his shoulder down and finish off runs through contact. I thought he did a lot of good things. You saw him on a check down that got a big gain, getting him the ball in space there. When you are able to go through it and then be able to get the ball to the back, that’s a lot of space for him. He made a guy miss and picked up a big play, so I thought he did a lot of good things. Those are some of the things that we value about him. The way he walks through, the way he practices, it really does show up in the game with how hard he runs and how hard he plays.

Q. What’s the value of having a quarterback going into the playoffs whose got the experience in the postseason and the success that QB Jalen Hurts has had? (Reuben Frank)

Nick Sirianni: Big time. Obviously, Jalen’s a great player and has had a lot of big game experience. The amount of big games we play on a yearly basis in our regular seasons are huge and then played, how many playoff games is this now? This will be our 10th. That’s huge, right? Every time he steps out on the field, I feel like Jalen does a great job of continuing to raise his level of play.

He has a ton of experience, and the quarterback we’re playing has a lot of experience too in the playoffs. A lot of respect to them. I think that’s valuable. I think when we first started, I think back in ’22, you guys asked me something in the sense of, ‘Well, none of you guys have played in the big games.’ I think what I said was, ‘Well, a lot of these guys have played in big college games and national championships.’ Now, they’ve still played in big college games, national championships, and also the biggest stages in the National Football League as well. I think that serves good for our team, and I think most definitely for Jalen.

Q. It looks like you’re going to be relatively healthy going into the playoffs. I know some of that is obviously out of your control and the team’s control, but how much pride do you and the organization take in getting these guys pretty healthy into the playoffs? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: Good question, Dave. I think it’s always a fine line of– there’s two things that need to happen. You’ve got to have your players available, and you do different things to make sure that happens throughout the year, but it is so important that you continue to get better as the season goes on. I think our guys have a great balance and we do a good job of balancing that intensity at practice. There’s no [lack] of intensity at practice; When we’re out there, we’re ripping it, but I think our guys know how to practice, they know how to practice efficiently. We’ve had a tendency of getting better while also having guys healthy. We continue to tweak the process of what we do. [There are] great people in this building to help us make decisions. There’s a lot that goes into that.

Then you’ve got guys that are truly committed to this game because they love this game and they want to be the best versions [of] themselves they possibly can be. You could have all the resources in the world [and] if the guys aren’t using them, it’s for nothing. But our guys do such a good job of using the resources they have, taking care of themselves, and I think we have a pretty good process. As an organization, I think we take a lot of pride in that.

Q. I’m curious about the aspect that QB Jalen Hurts has played in the biggest games, college and Super Bowl. You’ve been around other players, other quarterbacks before, so what does that tangibly look like in a game in a moment? Are there kind of memories for you that show up that are difference makers for someone that has been in that situation and when they haven’t? (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: Again, Jalen’s played in the biggest of games, and I just think what you see from Jalen is you see this steadiness at all times. Again, as you get into the playoffs, we treat everything the same and we’re going to go about this week, our process the exact same way we’ve [gone] about everything, but you love his consistency in his approach, you love his consistency in his steadiness at any moment of the game. Those are things that are so important of how game-in, game-out, in between series, play to play, he’s just got a great mental toughness about himself to be able to forget about what happened in the past; good, bad, indifferent, and play the next play with extreme laser focus. I think that’s a great quality to have.

Q. I guess at this point, we know that QB Jalen Hurts hasn’t been as much a part of the run game all season, but you also got him through the year without getting hurt or missing any time. I guess my question to you is do you think that in some ways affected the run game and how you guys weren’t as successful on the ground this year? And then the follow up to that would be, is that something that just is the offense at this point or can you turn that switch on, or does it even make sense to do it at this point in the postseason? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: We’ll see as we continue to game plan for this team. Obviously, we’ll see the direction we go in with some of those things. Jalen, his ability to run, pass, get us in and out of plays, I think he can do a lot of things really, really outstanding. Some of those runs that we have done have come off scrambles. Some of them have come off of designed runs. Again, like I said, each week calls for something different based off of what you’re seeing, based off of what you do. We will go through our process like we always do and find out the best way we want to attack this particular week against a really good group of players over there and great coaches. I have so much respect for this team that is coming in here on Sunday. Just can’t tell you how much respect I have for the players over there and the coaches over there led by [49ers Head Coach] Kyle [Shanahan].

Q. Similar to QB Jalen Hurts and his experience, it’s your 10th playoff game as the head coach. How much have you grown, and the core members of your staff that have still been here grown through that process and become better sort of playoff coaches? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: I think if we’re constantly asking the players to continue to work on themselves, become the best versions of themselves, then we’ve got to do the same thing. That’s what we strive to do is be hypercritical on ourselves through every game, through every practice, through everything. My job is to hold everybody accountable; not just the players, but the coaches, and constantly being this growth mindset. If I truly answered your question and said, ‘Yeah, we’re a little bit better.’ I truly believe we have busted our ass to be the best version that we are right now, but we’ve got to keep getting better. That’s this league, you’ve got to continue to grind, you’ve got to continue to try to get better, and I think we’ve done that and we’ll continue to work like crazy to get better. That’s the mindset our team has. That’s the mindset our players have. That’s the mindset our coaches have.

Q. To see a guy like OLB Jalyx Hunt, the way he’s blossomed this year, how gratifying is that for you and what has he brought to the EDGE room, and going forth in the playoffs as far as his expectations? (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: I was always taught in this game as a college coach, it’s ‘recruit, retain, develop,’ and that is something we take great pride in. [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman]’s done a great job of getting guys in here with the right mindset that want to be great at football, that love the game of football, that are tough, that have high football IQ. Then as coaches, once those guys are in here, our job is to develop them through the fundamentals, through the schemes, through the weight room, through every phase of life. You take a lot of pride in that when a guy continues to get better, but all the credit goes to Jalyx himself because he’s the guy that has put the work in.

First of all, he had the right things in his body to allow him to be able to be the type of player that he is right now, and he will continue to get better, but he also has the right things in here [motioning to heart]. He loves the game of football. He is tough. He wants to be great. He works at it. He’s got great work ethic. The combination of all those– again, our job as coaches is to develop them with our schemes and to develop them through the fundamentals, holding them accountable, bringing the right guys in by Howie, and then the player themself, that’s where you tend to see the guys, God willing, reach their ceiling. I think that he’s a product of that. He’s continuing to get better and [I] look forward to watching him continue to play and grow.

Q. In the NBA, sometimes with championship-level teams, you hear they can flip a switch. You guys are an experienced team as you’ve discussed on this call. Do you think that there’s, for lack of a better term, a switch that can be flipped or do you think who you are is what you are going into the postseason? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: We’re going to continue to bust our ass to be the best version of ourselves that we can possibly be. That’s what we’ve been doing from week one of training camp back to OTAs. That’s what we’ll continue to do. As coaches, we’re up there working right now to put together the best plans we can. Players will come in with a mindset of getting a little bit better each day, focusing on just this game, not anything else but the San Francisco 49ers. The best way I know how to get ourselves ready to win a football game is by what you do throughout the week with your preparation as coaches, as players, through your practices, through your walkthroughs to your meetings. It’s all that work. You win games Monday through Saturday, and then by going and executing on Sunday and coaching well on Sunday. It all matters, and that’s what we’ll work on this week as we move forward.