Nick Sirianni

Q. Obviously, RB Saquon Barkley went out with a hamstring injury. Do you see him being available on Sunday, or is this potentially a multi-week deal for him? (Johnny McGonigal)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, we’ll see. These guys are going through different things with treatment and all those different things. We’ll see how everything responds and then have more answers for you probably Wednesday on that stuff. I know he’ll do everything he can do to get himself back, and obviously, he’s a great player and a great teammate. We always need him on the field.

Q. With the offense, just trying to pick your brain as far as why there has been so much gun. Is that more a personnel thing, or is that more that QB Jalen Hurts is just more comfortable in that aspect of it? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: There are things that — There are times where it calls for being under center, there’s times where it calls for being in the gun. Every game plan’s a little bit different, and it’s a good, healthy sample size right now. I don’t think we really know our identity of what we want to be — We know where we’re going, we know what we need to be able to do, but there’s still some identity questions that we still have to continue to answer as we continue through this. That doesn’t necessarily mean that us being under or in the gun will continue to that extent, but we’ve got to be able to do multiple things, and that’s what we’re doing and we’re trying to figure out right now.

Q. One question you will answer and one question you probably won’t answer. I just want to know if you had any update on T Lane Johnson, if you expect him in the building soon and any word on that. The other question is just you guys have always been so good on goal line and short yardage. Any thoughts on what the issue is on those type of plays? (Reuben Frank)

Nick Sirianni: We obviously didn’t get the one at fourth-and-1, and then the third down at the 2-yard line, obviously didn’t get that either. We’ve got to be able to be effective in those areas, as we know. It’s never just one thing. We’re working through that of what our best answers are, what our best solutions are. That’s what today’s is about: to watch the tape, to figure out what went wrong, what went right, to hold everybody accountable, yourself first, then coaches and players, and then move on and get better from it. No doubt, we do have to get better from it and find solutions to it. That’s what today’s about. You’re right, no update on the other thing.

Q. I know you were asked about T Markel Bell last night and how he played. After you saw the tape today, what was your review of that and how big of an ask was that for him to come in on such short notice? (Ed Kracz)

Nick Sirianni: I think Markel did some really good things. Just like all of us, we want plays back from yesterday also. By no means did he play a perfect game, but he did some really good things. I think that watching the tape with the team today, with some of the things that we show, he got some really good movement on some double teams and second level stuff that we were able to show and highlight and point out for his teammates to see. Like anybody in this game of football, you never pitch a perfect game. There are things that we got to correct as well. I thought he was solid.

Q. How would you assess C Cam Jurgens’ play at left guard for these three games? And is there any thought of making a switch before this next week? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: No, I’m pleased with where Cam is. Again, with everybody, obviously we didn’t put out there the product that we want to put out there offensively yesterday, and then also combine that with a loss. There’s going to be plays he wants back, but there’s good moments also. I think that’s the consistency of everybody, from our coaches to our players, has to be the thing that continues to rise. That’s Cam, that’s everybody. But Cam is definitely doing good things and like us all, got to be more consistent at times as well.

Q. I would assume that you would think that the protection issues are one of the biggest problems for your offense right now, particularly against the blitz. What needs to change? Why are the assignments wrong all the – most of — a lot of the times? And who is making the protection calls? Is it QB Jalen Hurts? Is it the center? I think it’s not clear who’s making those calls. (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: I don’t think I need to answer who’s making the calls. There’s a process that we have for it, so I’m not really going to get into that. I think you had some absolutes in there that are probably not fair, but we didn’t protect well enough in aspects with some guys, and it’s something different. Just like on third downs, it’s not just one thing. Just like the negative plays that put us behind the sticks aren’t just one thing. It’s the same thing with protections.

Obviously, with that, there are coaching things that we have to do better as coaches. There are times when we’re losing a matchup or a group of matchups, when there are three guys working against three guys, and then sometimes they get you on one. There are multiple different reasons for that. Again, same deal. We’re working through those things, but it has to be better. There were good moments as well, but not nearly as consistent as we want it to be. That’s every phase of what’s happening on offense right now.

Q. I’m curious, you mentioned the word identity, maybe not knowing it yet. Why do you think that may be why you’re struggling to find that identity and is it concerning at all that you don’t necessarily know what it is at this stage? (Cayden Steele)

Nick Sirianni: I think a lot of teams are still looking for what that is this early in the season, after a quarter through the season. We’ve had different seasons where we felt really good about where we were at that particular time, and we’ve had seasons where we haven’t, and we’re able to figure it out along the way. It’s constantly a process, and just because you say your identity is one thing at this particular time, that may stay the same all the way through, but that could change too.

There’s a lot of things that go into that, and you’re always trying to do exactly the things that your players do best while also running the schemes that you want to do. That’s fluid throughout the year. I would just say it hasn’t been consistent enough, so you do search. When you haven’t been consistent enough in both coaching and playing, then you are searching for the things that you’re supposed to do well.

I think that identity is kind of a buzzword that we like to use. But again, it’s not consistent enough right now in any aspect, and that’s fluid. Then when you do figure out things and start to get on some rolls, that becomes fluid as well.

Q. One of the other things you said was being able to do multiple things. And I remember two years ago, obviously you guys got off to the two and two start and then you guys focused on becoming a run team first. How difficult is it to be able to do multiple things when you have a lot of guys who are out? I mean, WR DeVonta Smith didn’t play, TE Dallas Goedert has been out, now RB Saquon Barkley could be out. How hard is all of that to incorporate while you’re trying to find that identity? (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: I think everybody’s going through the same thing. Sometimes you can look at things that you’re going through and be like, ‘Man, I’m the only one going through this.’ That’s in life and that’s in football. But this is the NFL. Everybody’s going through something like that. We’ll never use that as an excuse because that’s life in the NFL. You’re going to constantly have different pieces working in and out, and we’re having that right now. We feel really good about the guys who come in and take the reps and are always happy for those guys that they get an opportunity and that they’re well-prepared. We’ve gotten enough reps there with those guys who have been in that we don’t think of it that way.

Q. Some logistics questions. What’s the travel schedule this week? Have you adjusted the practice schedule? And I assume you guys did extensive studying on this. Why did you choose the path that you’re taking this week? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: We felt like leaving Friday was best for our team and this team and with the schedule that we have with the weeks coming up. A lot of research obviously went into it. You guys know when I’ve discussed these things with you about short weeks, long weeks, rain weeks, hot weeks, whatever it may be, international weeks, of how to go about it. Obviously, this one’s a little different than our last international trip because it was on the first game of the season, and we’re trying to get a full week’s worth of practice in before we go up there. We felt like this was through the studies that we did and through all the things that we looked at, we decided on this. At the end of the day, I’ve got to make those decisions, and this is the decision I chose with the help of great people, no doubt, but at the end of the day, I have to make this decision. This is the one I chose to help this team get ready for this game this week.

Q. A quick follow up. Are you concerned about jet lag, or I guess how do you avoid jet lag in that situation? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: Again, we went through all this of when we get there. I don’t want to get into too many specifics there, but like I said, we feel like this is giving our team the best chance to win, taking everything into account, jet lag included.