Nick Sirianni

Q. When you’re coming off a tough loss like you guys are, and you have some key guys who are injured and may or may not play, how does that challenge you as a coach? What do you have to do to make sure this stays where you guys need to be? (Mike Sielski)

Nick Sirianni: Regardless of whether you win or whether you lose, you go through the same process. I read something that Kobe [Bryant] said that is like, ‘You win, great, you’ve got to get up and do the same thing. You lose, it sucks, but you’ve got to get up and do the same thing.’ There’s ups and downs in every season. There’s high points, there’s low points, there’s wins, there’s losses. There’s guys at times that are going to be in, there’s guys at times that are going to be out. Our job is to go through the same process each and every week and be able to do our jobs as coaches to account for the guys that may or may not be playing and for the guys that are stepping in for them to be ready to go. That’s why we do the things that we do at practice and have the developmental periods where guys get that extra work where they’re getting the work on our plays.

I know it’s boring, and you probably could say, ‘Hey, that’s just coach talk,’ but it really is. You’ve got to have faith in the process until the process produces results in everything that you do. So, it’s business as usual this week, and I’ve got a lot of faith in all the guys in this building. That’s why they’re in this building, and that’s why they’re on the Eagles. It’s because we have faith in them and we know that each and every guy in our locker room can help us.

Q. With how big of a part of the offense WR DeVonta Smith has been, how do you go about game planning for a game where he might not be able to play? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, he’s a great player. We’ll see where we are at the end of the day and by Sunday. You go through it the same way. You go through it, and you think about the things that you do well and that your guys do well. You think about the defense that you’re playing and the things that you have to do there and you put guys in positions — it’s, ‘OK, we’re running a play that Smitty might be good at and he’s the first reader,’ whatever it is. Then you say, ‘Hey, this play is still good and who’s the guy that should go in for that situation?’ That’s kind of how it goes of when you’re getting ready for anything like that. You do that a lot. There’s guys that are questionable all week that you do that with and you have backup and contingency plans and all those different things. So again, it’s just part of our process of what we do on a weekly basis.

Q. Trusting everybody, specifically a wide receiver, what do you trust about WR Darius Cooper and WR Elijah Moore specifically if they have to really step up? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: I think that you’ve seen Coop with the things that — since he’s gotten here, I think you’ve seen him take all his responsibilities and really star in his role. When that happens, you obviously have trust in him as more is called upon in his role. With Elijah, I mean, the talent is there. He is a very talented football player. And you watch him run routes — it is pretty watching him run routes the way he gets in and out of breaks. He’s had a lot of success in this league, and I’m sure glad we have him on this football team because I know he can help us win football games. Like I said, he has got this great ability to get in and out of breaks, to threaten vertical with speed and to finish with a catch, which is why he’s been in the league and had the success that he’s had. I’m just really pumped that we have those guys and we have the depth that we have and that we’ve worked hard to help develop that depth and those guys work hard to continue to develop themselves.

Q. Why do you think you’ve had success against Rams Head Coach Sean McVay? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: Good teams against good teams. I have a ton of respect for Coach McVay and all the coaches that are on that staff. I’ve coached with a lot of those guys that are on the staff. I think three of them, particularly on the defensive staff. They’re phenomenal coaches. I think they’ve got great players. I think we’ve got great coaches. I think we’ve got great players.

As we know, every one of those games could have gone either way. How many of those games that we’ve played against the Rams, they could go either way? I mean, particularly last year, particularly the NFC divisional game. I know that. I can’t think back too much further than that, but just again, so much respect there. We’ve played good games; we’ve played good halves in those situations. All those games can go either way, and I can’t tell you how much respect I have for those guys over there, the players and their coaches. Obviously, [Rams QB Matthew] Stafford’s a heck of a quarterback. They’ve got really good play makers all over the place, and I think the world of Sean and all his coaches.

Q. If LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. has to go for LB Zack Baun, what makes you confident in him and just how much have you seen him grow from the first two years to this year for a role like this? (Cayden Steele)

Nick Sirianni: Every opportunity he’s gotten a chance to play, whether it’s in preseason or in games, he’s done a really nice job. Now, that’s not the only thing we’re evaluating. We get to evaluate practice on a daily basis. He gets to go against our offense at times and then also get reps in there with the defense. He’s been getting reps with the defense the entire year. Like I said, we have our developmental periods that he gets to get reps with our defense in as well. That’s why it’s so important that you mix those things in so a guy’s not strictly doing scout team and now in a situation like this, if he is called upon, that he’s got to play without getting meaningful work on our defense. I have faith in him because I think a lot of times you look at linebackers and you’re like, ‘Man, how are they going to do in a game if they have to go in and play a lot?’

I think that special teams is a great indicator of that. The tackles that they have to make in space, the block destruction that they have to do, the physicality that they have to play with are a lot of signs of what leads to good linebacker play. Now, there’s other stuff obviously as well, but there’s a lot of signs that point there. He’s been one of our top special teams players the past two years that he’s been here and going on his third year being here.

Like I said with the wide receivers, I love our depth. I love our depth there as well. [LB] Smael [Mondon]’s given us really good things on special teams. Just another credit to [Executive Vice President/ General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and his staff of the guys that they’ve brought in, a credit to [Inside Linebackers Coach] Bobby King and [Defensive Coordinator] Vic [Fangio] for the development of the guys. Most importantly, a shout out to the guys that are doing it because they’re the ones that have the talent and are working hard to get better on a daily basis.

Q. Different coaches offer different theories on halftime adjustments. How much time do you have to actually make adjustments at halftime and what’s your halftime routine? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, I’m not going to get too much into our routine, but the things that you have to — It is a very short halftime, and then obviously we’ve had two games since I’ve been here that are very long halftimes, but it is a very short process, and that’s why it’s got to be that you’re making adjustments as you go. That’s what’s being talked about every time like, ‘Hey, we’re in this set. Are they playing what we thought? Cool. OK. Is this play –‘

I mean, these are the conversations that are happening on the headset in between series. When the defense is up, it’s the offense doing it. When the offense is up, it’s the defense that is doing it. That’s so important that they’re going through that process at that time because halftime, there may be certain things that you say, ‘OK, we can’t get that drawn up right. Hey, we want to put this in here. Hey, we can’t get that drawn up. Draw it up for halftime. We’ll put it in there.’

There are some things that are saved for halftime, but the majority of it is happening within the game because you’ve got to think, you have your TV timeouts, you’ve got this long break with the defense or the offense being on the field or special teams. That’s where you’re planning your next drive, and you’re planning your next drive based off of what you’re thinking is happening and adjustments that you’re making there. Now you don’t get into that real early. I’ve been there too, the first play, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re running this versus that.’ Well, that’s too early because you don’t know exactly what the other team’s game plan is saying quite at that time. It takes a little bit of time to get into the game to do it, and then you’re doing that on a drive-to-drive basis.

Q. What have you seen from TE Zach Ertz and DB Kenny Moore II as far as picking up the playbook? Obviously, Zach played last weekend as far as being ready to play and they’re both — (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: Those guys are — Man, I’ve been on the staffs that they’ve been players on in the past. I know the guys are top-notch guys and are highly talented guys and they work their butts off, and they’ve worked not only on the field, but off the field as well. They’re doing a good job of really picking it up because they work hard and who they are. I feel good about those guys and where they are.