Nick Sirianni

Q. Would you like to see QB Jalen Hurts run more? (Reuben Frank)

Nick Sirianni: Again, we go into every game doing the best things that we think we can to attack a defense. Sometimes that calls for some things in the quarterback run game, sometimes it doesn’t. We’re trying to do everything we need to attack a defense. Jalen has a unique skill set in many different things — great passer, can move the ball down the field that way, can run in the quarterback run game, can also run on scrambles. All those things are alive when you have a player like Jalen.

Q. Are you planning on activating G Landon Dickerson off IR? (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: We’ll see. You guys will get some of that information. We’re still working through some things, but you guys will get some of that information a little later today.

Q. How’s he been doing behind the scenes? (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: I think Landon is — You guys know Landon well. He works hard. He’s determined to get back, and I think he’s done a nice job taking care of his body to get himself back. We’ll see where we are a little later today.

Q. TE Eli Stowers was eligible to come off last week. Why didn’t he? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: The guys come off when they’re ready. Everybody’s timetable’s a little bit different. I don’t get too much into injuries or anything like that. You guys will see a little bit later, as we continue to work through the day, where we are at this point.

Q. So, his is injury related for not coming off. (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: Yes.

Q. Is G Landon Dickerson the left guard again? Does he step right back in at left guard? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: We have so much time to be able to discuss those things, but Landon’s a hell of a player, and he’s been a hell of a player for us. You’ve got to see where you are at that particular time. There’s just so much — I know you guys want answers on some of these things, and I get it, but there’s just so much time before we have to make any of these decisions. I’m not going to discuss too much of that, but we love Landon. I know that. He’s won a lot of football games here because where he’s been. The guys that are in right now are doing a good job and fighting their butts off, but Landon’s a special player, and we’ll see where we are.

Q. Given all the moving pieces on the offensive line this year, how much have you leaned on T Jordan Mailata being the stabilizing force there? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: I don’t think it’s a secret how good of a leader he is and a teammate he is. That’s why the guys vote him a captain. That’s why he has a C on his chest. He’s been great, no matter what the circumstances [are], at being the same guy every day. Jordan’s unique in the sense of he’s always trying to help himself get better, but he’s always looking out for others as well in every aspect, whether that’s on the field or off the field. He’s got a good heart, and I think that’s why he does have the C on his chest.

Q. You’ve dedicated a lot of time to situational football in your weeks. I’m just curious, how one weekend, not just your game, but others like Washington’s or even the Rams’, how does that get put into the calculus of the week in terms of how you change the preparation or how can one week affect, I guess? (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: Every week, there’s things that you study. I go through a certain thing to study each and every week, without getting too much into what they are or anything like that. Every week you do that, you test your rules. What happens is, naturally, going on six years of this, a lot of times it’s like, ‘Nope, I’d follow my rule here. I’d follow my rule here. I’d follow my rule here.’ You can go weeks with saying that with everything that you study or that you see on tape and say that.

Then naturally, something happens, and it’s like, ‘Huh, this tests our rule a little bit. This tests our preparation a little bit. Let’s dive a little bit deeper.’ We have so much film available at our disposal that you can go back and — it just depends on the sample size. Sometimes I go back 15 years, sometimes I go back 10, sometimes I go back five. It just depends on what the sample size that you have [is], and you go through it again, and you try to square those things up because you want to try to make as many of those decisions as you can pre-game throughout the week, but there’s obviously always things that you have to take into account as well.

Q. [Regarding how he changes his rule.] (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: That’s a good question. It can make you think, and it can make you test. It can test your rule, and you can say — yeah, it could. The important part is you can’t just say, ‘That play changed my rule,’ without going back and studying it again. That’s kind of where we’re film warriors. We’re going there and watching as much film as we possibly can and try to come up with the best thing. It definitely tests rules, and then you go from there.

Q. How has Panthers QB Bryce Young evolved as a quarterback? (Pat Gallen)

Nick Sirianni: He’s playing really good football. He can get the ball out really quick. He’s got a great release. I think he really processes the game fast. You can tell that. In some of the RPO game, he has an ability to, like I said, get the ball out fast to his play makers. He’s a good athlete to be able to get himself out of trouble. What I see when he gets himself out of trouble when something breaks down is he does a good job of keeping his eyes down the field and finding his receivers. Obviously, that’s going to be really important that we keep him in the pocket.

I’ve got a lot of respect for him. A guy whose career started off, I would say slow, watching it from afar and with time has become a good, solid quarterback. I’ve got a lot of respect for guys that can do that. He’s playing good football, and they’re doing a good job as coaches. We’ve got a really solid team coming in here this week with a really solid quarterback.

Q. Given that you have your process already in place before that you solidified during the week, where does that leave room, I guess, for the analytics voice? Are you still getting that in your ear and how are you incorporating that into decisions? (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: In decisions, everything’s incorporated in. I think I’ve talked to you guys about this before. It’s your past experiences, it’s your players, it’s your studies of certain things, [and] it’s analytics. I think this game of football is not — You want to make things as black and white as possible, but there’s elements of gray in football. It’s just the way it is. It’s a highly competitive game with a lot of moving parts and everything. I can’t tell you that, ‘Hey, this is 28%, this is 15%’ — You take everything into account in those situations, and that’s what we do with those. We spend a lot of time with that.

Q. After being one of the better short-yardage teams, this year, the numbers aren’t very good. Is it a large enough sample for you to start affecting your fourth down decisions? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, we’ve seen it. We know we’re not executing, calling plays, and designing plays as well as we need to in that area. That is an area of improvement that we need to have. We have things that we want to get to and test out. I mean, everything is taken into account. It’s not just an analytic number that you look at and say — it’s the same thing I kind of said to Tim — you take everything into account. You take into account analytics, you take into account your plays, you take into account your players, you take into account your success rate, your past experiences, you take into account your studies throughout the week and throughout time, and you come up with those things right there. Different parts of the game call for different things as well, as you guys know. It’s not just one thing that helps us make the decisions; it’s many things in that particular case.

Q. You haven’t had RB Saquon Barkley and WR DeVonta Smith for the better part of the last two games. How much of a difference does that make in what you’re able to call during the game, how the offense is run? (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: We have to call what our players do the best, and we’ve got to call what also you attack the defense with, regardless of who’s there. That’s what you try to do in those scenarios. You’ll never get me, as I said, making any excuse for anything. Our job is to find ways to win regardless and that’s what we’re working on doing. That what we’re trying to do. Obviously, at this point, we’ve lost more than we’ve won, so we haven’t done a good enough job.

Q. What stands out about Carolina’s defense? (Dave Uram)

Nick Sirianni: I think they do a good job of flying around to the ball. When you put on their defense and you watch them, No. 95 [Panthers DT Derrick Brown] stands out. He’s a really good football player. Ton of respect for him and how long he’s been a great player. No. 7 [Panthers S Tre’von Moehrig] shows up quite a bit of being a really good football player. Those two guys really, really, really stand out on that tape. We’ve got to know where those guys are at all times on every single play .

That’s what makes this league great. That’s why you guys do this, and that’s why people come to see the game is the great players out there on the field. I’ve got a ton of respect for those two guys and, quite frankly, their entire defense, but those guys really, really stand out. I think they do a good job coaching them. Like I said, I’ve got a lot of respect for this team.

Q. When it comes to Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion, not implying that this is a reason for anything that’s happened so far, but when it comes to Sean and calling plays in the booth, just curious if there’s any possibility at all that he could possibly come down to the field to call plays? (Dave Uram)

Nick Sirianni: Everything’s always on the table. I think we’ve shown here that we’re not against anything to help our football team win. Of course, there’s a possibility. Everything’s on the table. Our job is to do everything we can do to turn over every stone we can to win every game that we can.

Q. If you go back to the start of camp, you haven’t seen OLB Jonathan Greenard fully healthy. How has he dealt with that considering he was such a big part of the offseason and have you had to change your expectations for him because of that? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: Guys get back when they get back, and he is working his butt off to get back as fast as he possibly can. Our training staff and doctors are doing a phenomenal job. From what he was out with, he did get back, and a little setback there. Now we are where we are. I don’t think our expectations change. An injury doesn’t change who you are, right? Just like a loss doesn’t define who you are. There’s a lot of other — Especially when you’ve been in it for however long we’ve all been in it.

I’m just excited for when he gets back there, but I love the way he goes about his business. I really enjoy seeing it. I think he’s a great teammate. I know he’s a phenomenal football player, and I just enjoy being around him and looking forward to when he can get back out there.