Nick Sirianni
Q. Nick, what have you seen from TE Eli Stowers as far as his progress since he has been back compared to the summer? (Martin Frank)
Nick Sirianni: He’s had a nice week of practice, [and] we’ll see how that goes. He looks fast, athletic and has done some really nice things. Excited about that. Excited when our guys continue to develop because we are going to need everybody in this room. Well, usually when I am in this room, it’s our team. We’re not going to need you guys. [Jokingly] But we’re going to need everybody in the room to help us win games.
Q. Like you said, everything’s on the table in terms of evaluating. I know you really like the self-scouting process. What’s this week been like with that and how do you think that process has been? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)
Nick Sirianni: Every week, especially on a longer week, you have an opportunity to self-scout. It’s kind of like when people talk about second-half adjustments. You have to be adjusting throughout the whole game, and you have to be adjusting throughout the whole year because the bye week comes at different times every single year. It’s kind of like that. With an extra day, it’s always good to be able to look at some things. It’s been a good, productive week to go through that with the extra day. I’m looking forward to being able to go out there and coach and play in this game.
Q. What have you seen from [WR] Hollywood [Brown] behind the scenes? Obviously, probably is little disappointed that he hasn’t gotten the playing time maybe expected, but how has he handled? (John McMullen)
Nick Sirianni: He is a great pro, comes to work every day, just working to get better and paying attention in meetings. He made a catch at practice yesterday. I told him it was one of the best catches I’ve seen in routes on air, the way he adjusted to the ball. He’s highly talented and will bring some great speed to our team. But I’ve just seen the consistency from him of being the same guy every single day, regardless of the circumstances. I’m looking forward to him continuing to develop and add to this football team.
Q. Depending upon how it shakes out with the receivers, could this be a good opportunity to kind of uncork WR Makai Lemon down the field? (Jeff McLane)
Nick Sirianni: He has been fun to coach. He loves football, is really, really quick and has phenomenal hands. We’ve seen him make some good catches, and you guys have seen him in games, but you get to see that consistently in practice. We want to get him the football. We know he’s one of our playmakers, and he can do it a lot of different ways. We’ll see how the game plan unfolds and how the game unfolds.
I think he has continued to progress. I love the make up that he has. He just loves ball. He’s tough and has really good football IQ. Like I’ve said to you guys many times, guys like that have a tendency, God willing, to reach their ceiling. He’s highly talented, and I think his ceiling is very high because of the talent that he has. I’m really excited about him and the opportunities that he’s going to have this game and leading into the future. I think he’s going to be a good player, and he’s just got to keep doing the things he’s doing.
Q. What can you share about the adjustments you’ve made this week? I mean, not schematically, but anything else in terms of the process that you can share that — (Tim McManus)
Nick Sirianni: I’ll say this: You can always change. Your core values remain the same regardless of what is going on around you. That’s tough, detailed, together. But everything else, like I’ve said, is on the table. You can adjust schemes, schedules, practice. You can adjust. We’ve done a lot of that without getting — I’m being very general. I understand that, and you understand that, but yeah, we’ve adjusted some things because we’re doing everything we can on our end to be able to go out there and be successful.
Q. You have some young players who played successful college programs, they come to the league and found success immediately. This is the most they’ve ever lost. How do you deal with the toll that can take on a young player? (Dave Zangaro)
Nick Sirianni: That’s an interesting question because when we started 2-5 in 2021, [WR DeVonta Smith] Smitty and I were talking, and Smitty obviously hadn’t lost very many games at Alabama. I told him what my college record was at Mount Union as a player. It was 67-2 in five years. I said the NFL’s different. There’s more parity in this league than any other league there is. That’s professionally, in my opinion, and also college football. You can still accomplish all your goals that you want to accomplish regardless of what happens. Now, you’ve got to get it turned around. Everybody understands that, but it’s just different. The marathon of a football season is different. There are so many things that are different for these guys who are stepping out of college football into pro football. The game’s played differently for a receiver like Smitty or Makai. It’s like the coverage is closer. They’re not used to being that tight, so you teach them and try to develop them in the physical aspects of this game. Again, sticking with receiver, ‘Hey, let’s get as many contested catches as we can.’ I know you didn’t get as many of those in college, but you’re going to have more here. You’re also trying to teach them the mental part of this as well, that it is a marathon, that when your old teammates are done with their season, we’re still going and probably have four or five games left. And also, not to ride the waves. You can still win a national championship even though you’ve lost a couple of games. You try to teach them everything like that, and those are conversations I’ve had with guys. All you can control is the process, your process and how you go about your business every single day.
I think those are lessons that are not just good for football, but good for everything and good for life. There’s a lot to be learned after every game. Sometimes there’s even more to be learned after adversity and more growth for you during adversity. That’s why we put all the weights on when we’re bench-pressing. Put more weights on there; more adversity equals stronger growth. I don’t bench-press anymore, if that’s what you’re wondering. But yeah, always good teaching lessons there.
Q. It’s been seven weeks between the time we last saw QB Tanner McKee practice and the time he started. How did he develop, and specifically, what made him the No. 2 quarterback when you made that change? (Zach Berman)
Nick Sirianni: think just that. He’s gotten more and more comfortable in the system and more and more comfortable with the different things we’re asking him to do within it. I can’t overstate this enough: The opportunities he has in developmental periods are huge because he can go and rep our plays and not somebody else’s plays. We’ll continue to devote a lot of time to that because we’ve seen it to be useful in developing guys within our systems. It takes the player being mentally focused regardless of the circumstances. I think, to your question, Tanner was the three, but Tanner didn’t budge. He didn’t blink. He continued to stay committed to his process, to our process and control what he could control. I think that’s a common theme: There are ups and downs. Can you stay locked in to the process and to what’s actually going to make you a better football player? I think that’s what he’s done.
Q. Are you guys considering shutting WR DeVonta Smith down? Seems like he hasn’t been able to sort of shake the hamstrings since the summer. (Tim McManus)
Nick Sirianni: I just want him to continue to get better. We’ll see where that goes. He works extremely hard. Nobody takes care of their body like DeVonta Smith. He is such a good example to everybody of how to take care of yourself. He’s the first one in here getting treatment and doing his prehab before practice. Sometimes the process doesn’t always produce the results you want, but that’s what you can control, and that’s what’s ultimately going to make you be the best that you can be. It’s been unfortunate there, but we’ll see where he is. I do love how he goes about his business, and regardless of the outcome, I know DeVonta Smith well enough that he’ll continue to go through his process, and that’s what’s made him the player that he has been.
Q. How do you view your backup quarterback situations? (Jeff McLane)
Nick Sirianni: I think we’re learning more and more each day about these guys, particularly with [QB] Joe [Milton] and [QB] Cole [Payton] getting reps, not only on the scout team but also during developmental periods. I’m looking forward to working with those guys. They bring different skill sets, and both are great athletes with the ability to throw the football and read through it. I’m excited about those guys and what they’ll bring and what they can be.