Nick Sirianni

Q. Hey Nick, wanted to revisit the deep shots. You mentioned you had to take a look at it. I know you mentioned the re-route at the stop, but at the top of the route, do you think it was a tracking issue, or you just got to sort of run through it? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: No, again, I look back at that and definitely see that the reroute affected us, that’s for sure. That’s what defenses do. I mean sometimes you’re expecting a certain look, they give you a different look or they reroute within the middle of it. That definitely affected it. I’m not here to assign blame, we’re just looking for solutions and that’s what we’re doing. That’s what today was about. That’s what the rest of the week will be about, defined solutions. But I definitely think that the reroute affected the play, so hat’s off to them.

Q. Just to ask you about QB Jalen Hurts, he only had the two runs yesterday. I think that’s only the fourth time in his career where he’s carried it so few times. Was he a hundred percent healthy or was it just something Denver was doing to kind of limit him and keep him contained? (Ed Kracz)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I think he saw a couple of things that we did, whether they were RPOs or whatnot, that he was able to have the receiver in the flat, or the tight end in the flat, or the running back in the flat. When you have that ability to get that to playmaker in the flat, you take it. So again, we’re always looking for the best mode to attack a defense. Sometimes that’s with [QB] Jalen [Hurts] running, sometimes that’s with off script plays. It’s just the way the game went yesterday. Like I said, there was a couple RPOs that he had really good plays with where there were guys opening the flat, that he has the ability to run those if the guy’s not opening the flat. So it’s just kind of the way the dictation of the game went yesterday within place.

Q. The last three games, whoever had the big lead early had trouble keeping the lead, obviously the Rams game in the last two. Why is it so hard to keep momentum when you have a big lead, and as a coach in game, what steps can you take to try to get the momentum back when you feel like it’s going the other way? (Reuben Frank)

Nick Sirianni: I think one thing when you see comebacks there, there’s some common themes. We talked about this after maybe last week, right? It’s offensively having quick drives, going three and out, offensively turning the ball over. We’ve had some three and outs, the Rams had some three and outs if I remember rightly. Going back, wasn’t really any turnovers there by us, and then defensively, it’s about letting them get a big play. I think those things are always going through our mind when we have a lead, but we want to still be pressing, aggressive, all those different things. You don’t really think until late in the fourth and depending on how much you’re up, it depends on when you start doing this in the fourth of when you start to be in essentially a four-minute mode. That’s not in our mindset at all in the third quarter. That’s not in our mindset until certain portions of the fourth, and so there’s different reasons.

I think the one thing yesterday is as the fourth quarter was starting, they were continuing a drive to go down seven. So not necessarily exactly the same thing, but there were some of the things. Offense had some three and outs that put the defense back on the field, so never just one thing. Those are things that we think about in those scenarios, but always trying to stay aggressive until the end, to be able to have as big lead, as we possibly can have, credit to them, they came back and got themselves back in the game.

Q. Hey Nick. With some of the ups and downs we’ve seen so far this year, what are the things offensively you think you guys can lean on going forward? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I think every game dictates different things. Like yesterday, we saw opportunity in the pass game to be able to take advantage of a couple things in a couple matchups that we were getting. I think for majority of the first half, and even into the first drive of the second half, we were having a lot of success with that, throwing 200+ yards there, a little bit over two quarters of work. Then some other things that happened that we didn’t finish out that game. But I think that every game calls for something different. We had some RPOs yesterday that were really good. Sometimes our RPOs aren’t going to be good based off how they’re doing. We have the players to be able to run and pass, right? That’s how we feel, and you want to dictate to the defense what you want to do, but there are times that you can’t just force something in there and you got to take what they give you in the run game and in the pass game no matter what. So, we have a lot of confidence, and we have got to build on that. We have to finish a game. We have to play a game all the way, through coaching, playing, everything. I think that’s something that we have, is the ability with the players that we have on this team, the ability to do it multiple ways, and we just got to do it and coach it more consistently.

Q. I know how much you enjoy discussing injuries, but do you have any update on the G Landon Dickerson status? Regardless of a firm update or not, he’s been laboring through something during the past month, missing time in two games. How do you weigh a player pushing through the injury and giving him time to try to improve? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: Always, always, always going to do what we feel is best for the player. If we didn’t, and we just made everything selfishly about ourselves as the team, that’s not good business. So, it’s always going to be in best interest of the player. I haven’t met with the medical staff yet. Obviously a busy day going into a Thursday night game, so we’ll have more updates for you. I know the injury report comes out later today, so we’ll see where he is there. I just love how Landon always battles, but we always are going to do what’s best for the player. Their health is more important than any game always.

Q. Hey Nick, when G Landon Dickerson goes down, can one guy impact your ability to run the football? And the other question in addition to that is when you sit down after a game and you’re watching, if RB Saquon Barkley has, I think he had one carry that was a penalty too. He’s got seven calls running the football. Do you say to yourself, yeah, we got to do better than that. Getting the football? (Bob Brookover)

Nick Sirianni: We want to get [WR] AJ [Brown] touches, we want to get [WR] [DeVonta] Smitty [Smith} touches, we want to get Saquon touches, we want to get [TE] Dallas [Goedert] touches. That’s just the flow. I think that’s why you have to look at the big picture of the body of work that we’ve had so far, as opposed to any in-game scenario. You’re doing everything you can do in-game to win. Now with that being said, of course we want to get Saquon the ball, but sometimes it’s getting him the ball through the pass game. Sometimes it’s through the running game, obviously more so through the running game with him because he’s a running back. As far as Landon, [he’s] obviously a phenomenal football player. So yeah, of course when you lose a guy like Landon Dickerson, that is who he is. He is a great football player, but we have so much faith and belief in everybody that’s on this 53-man roster. For that matter, the guys that are also on the practice squad have built up reps. [OL] Brett [Toth] built up reps with us, and [G/T] [Matt] Pryor’s got built up reps with us. We have faith in them when they go in because we’ve seen it, [T] Fred [Johnson], you name it. So it’s not something new, it’s the life of doing business in the NFL. So, have a lot of confidence in those guys behind Landon too. But of course we have a ton of confidence in Landon and the things that he can do.

Q. Hey Nick, last night you said that the play calls aren’t coming in late, so I’m wondering what can be done to help QB Jalen Hurts get to the line quick and get the plays off faster so that you’re not so deep into the play clock? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: I believe I said Jeff, that there’s never just one thing, right? Play calls could be coming in late, there could be communication errors with, I kind of went through all the different things.

Q. Oh, okay. Your first response was no to the direct answer. So I took it as- (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: Went through all the different things that go into getting up to the line of scrimmage, and I believe I also said, ‘Hey, it is never just one thing throughout the course of the game, we have to practice it better.’ We have to coach it better, and it always comes down to how you go through it in practice. So never just one thing. We have to get better at it though, as coaches and as players.

Q. If I may follow up, this has been, you guys have consistently been late in the play clock since QB Jalen Hurts has been the quarterback. So this has been kind of a running theme for the last several years now. He’s the one common denominator. So if he’s part of the process for a while now, what can be done to help him get the plays off quicker? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: Sure. Again, like I said, it takes a lot. It’s a lot of different things in this game. This isn’t tennis where you can assign the blame to one person. This is football and there’s multiple different things that go into each and every one of these things. We stress and we will detail out our communication from just all the things that from coach to quarterback. Then from sideline to huddle, you can ask [Wide Receivers Coach] Aaron Morehead when we talk to him. He’s got a tough job there and anytime that transition is slow, obviously he gets let known about it and same with the players there, then it’s knowing what to do and through your preparation, through the game plan and then getting up to the line of scrimmage and working that process in practice. Then there’s the motion, there’s the identifying things again, football is the ultimate team game. A lot of things that go into it. I’m never going to assign blame to one party, especially when it’s not one party that’s responsible. It’s a team and it’s a team thing.

Q. How did G Landon Dickerson’s injury affect the approach of running the ball in the second half, if at all, and how has the overall health of the offensive line affected the approach of the run game this season? (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: I think Bob asked me that similar question right there, and I said, I’ll repeat. Obviously when you lose a guy like Landon Dickerson, he is a heck of a football player, but we have a lot of faith in the guys behind him and you’re attacking a defense, you’re attacking players, different things like that. Sometimes when you lose a guy at a spot, it affects your plan. Sometimes it doesn’t and you got to go with what you planned, but we’re always thinking what’s best interest of the players. And the second part of that question was-?

Q. The overall health of the offensive line, if that’s affected the approach in terms of running the ball this season. (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, no, I think those guys are battling, gotten some different types of looks that we’ve kind of discussed with what we’re seeing from defenses. It’s always going to come down to us as coaches, putting them in positions to succeed and then the execution from the players. Again, full team, full deal with team. You guys get the injury report every week so you guys know what’s going on there, but got a ton of faith and they guys up front and they’ve been really good players for a very long time and we’re working through getting it to the standard that we all expect, but it takes time and there’s a process to it.

Q. Hey Nick, from a game strategy standpoint, what did you make of Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Peyton going for two and how did that affect the way that you thought about the final seven minutes or so of that game? (Bo Wulf)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, whether you’re tied in that final seven minutes or down one [it] doesn’t really change. You’re going down there in that time to try to score a touchdown, then you’re probably thinking you’re going for two off of that because [Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton] he pressed the two point, but hat’s off to him. He did something that you might not see quite often. He’s a heck of a football coach. He’s been a great coach for a long time, always been a fan of his and what he’s done in the NFL and everything. It might not change your approach of how you go attack, but it may change your approach if you score a touchdown and get to the end of the game right there and what you do after that touchdown, obviously to go up six, might not give you anything, but you try to go up seven if you go down there and score in that scenario, which we didn’t, but yeah, he did that and that’s where it kind of changes your mindset a little bit.