Nick Sirianni

Q. On Wednesday, you spoke about the importance of, I believe you said, ‘locking arms and staying together.’ Given everything that’s transpired the past few days, how do you feel the team responded? (Andrew DiCecco)

Nick Sirianni: I think we’ve had a good week of preparation and definitely felt that. We’ve got a lot of good guys and a lot of good people in this building. It’s been a good week of preparation and felt just like that. [It] felt like we locked arms and are attacking the week the way we need to.

Q. The former Eagles C Cam Jurgens trade, were you on board with that? (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: Of course. I love Cam, and he gave so much to this football team. I think about that NFC Championship game in ’24, where he was dressed, he was hurting, and [RB] Saquon [Barkley] goes up to him and just, ‘Hey, thanks for giving us everything you’ve got.’ He always gave everything he had. I’ll miss him dearly.

I feel really confident in the room of who we have in there and the direction we’re moving toward. Like I said, wish Cam nothing but the best, but feel really good about everybody that’s in this room.

Q. How do you explain it to the team? Because the day after T Lane Johnson retires, it’s obviously — they’re probably reeling already. How do you — (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: There’s so many things out of their control, generally speaking in everything. It’s just getting back to work. It’s getting back to work. It’s locking arms, and no message changes off of that. Everybody feels that way. Cam, all the guys. That offensive line, that’s a close-knit group. Of course they’re feeling that way, but they know that you’ve got to get back to work and go and make sure that you’re doing everything you can do during the week to put your best foot forward each Sunday.

Q. That’s a lot from a game planning perspective, I imagine. And C/G Drew Kendall’s not been able to practice yet. C/G Jake Majors might be involved. So, how much does that change the game planning? How confident are you with the young guys, whether it’s C/G Willie Lampkin, T Markel Bell or Jake? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: You’re always trying to do the things that your guys do best, and then you’re doing that with whoever you think may be playing. You also have your things that you do in your systems that are going to be important no matter what. Within the system, these guys have a ton of reps on those. When you implement a system, that’s the reps that you get throughout training camp and all those things. I’ve got a ton of confidence in the guys that are going to be playing in the game. That’s how it goes about, but you’re still trying to attack the defense the way you think you need to attack the defense. You’re thinking about all those things. You’re thinking about who’s in, what they do well, what you do, what you do well, what the defense is doing to try to formulate your best plan possible to go out and give yourself the best chance to win.

Q. The public has gotten to see a little bit of C/G Willie Lampkin so far through the preseason and learn a little bit about him, but they may not know as much about C/G Jake Majors. What do you think the fans should know about Jake leading into this game? (Dave Uram)

Nick Sirianni: Again, have a ton of confidence in that room, both those guys. It’s not only a 53-man roster. We treat it as — we’ve got 69 guys on this football team. There’s a reason Jake’s here; there’s a reason Willie’s here. Both of them had great camps. Both of them played well in their time when they went in and played during the preseason, whether that was at a joint practice, whether that was a regular practice or whether that was in a preseason game. Like I said, excited about them and who they are and the type of teammates they are and the type of players they are. They’re here for a reason.

Q. With TE Dallas Goedert back on the practice field this week, what did you see from him? (Andrew DiCecco)

Nick Sirianni: I thought he had a nice week of practice. Obviously, we’re not through practice yet. We’ve got another one coming up here today, but thought he looked pretty good out there, and excited that he’s back out on that field. He brings a lot to this football team, not just what happens with his play, but just with everything and the teammate he is, the way he works, the way he goes about his business. I can’t say enough good things about him, and it’s exciting to have him back out there.

Q. What have you seen from C/G Drew Kendall over the last three weeks that gives you confidence in him long term? (Johnny McGonigal)

Nick Sirianni: I don’t think it’s just a three-week evaluation. We obviously drafted him and loved that pick with Drew. He’s been solid, maybe didn’t get a chance to play as much last year, obviously, but been solid and he continues to get better. He’s shown that not only through the games that he’s been playing, but also just in his time here. He works extremely hard, great teammate, same thing, really, really intelligent, really smart football player and can set the table for the entire group to get everybody on the same page. Then he’s got physical tools obviously as well to be able to go out there and put the mental and physical part together.

Q. WR Dontayvion Wicks appeared on the practice report yesterday. Is it safe to say that happened in practice and what’s his outlook? (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, practice. We’ll see where he is today. Anticipating him being out there today. He’s tough as they come and really been pleased with him, just [with] everything, how he is and what he stands for. Obviously, the play on the field has been good, and he’s given us a lot of good production, but it’s also just how tough he is and the attitude he brings every day. We’re anticipating him being out at practice today, but we’ll see where we are at the end of the day.

Q. The amount of soft tissue injuries this year. Is it just the way it goes? It’s football, or have you guys looked into it? (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: We look into everything. You’re going to look into everything, especially when you have more than you’ve had in the past. That’s something that we’re constantly discussing and looking at and trying to find solutions [to] because, obviously, it’s so important. Again, the only way to get better at football is to practice football.

Then again, you have guys that — It’s a long season, and you’ve got to manage guys that way. We’ve done a nice job of that in the past, but your past successes mean nothing to the future. We’re entitled to nothing and you’ve got to work for it and prove it every day. Of course we’re looking at all that stuff to make sure we can get guys as healthy as we can while still getting them ready to play football.

Q. Talked to RB Dameon Pierce yesterday. You had said some positive things about him being elevated to the — (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: He’s fun to be around, isn’t he?

Q. Yeah. We asked him when he got his opportunity to look around, why did he choose to come back to the Eagles? And he said, ‘Nick Sirianni.’ Is there something to that relationship that — (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: We’ve had our eye on him for a very long time, since he came out of college. You know how it is when you go through a draft, a guy goes — which you only get, what? Six, seven, eight picks or whatever it is that year. There’re a lot of guys you end up loving that it’s like, ‘Oh man, he’s going to be good for them.’ I think it all started back then, and just like I said, it’s fun being around him. He brings constant energy to the football team. He’s obviously a very talented player and works extremely hard and runs extremely hard. I’m excited for his opportunity.

Q. What challenges does Jacksonville present based on the tape? (Dave Uram)

Nick Sirianni: This is a good football team. They’ve got really good players. [Jaguars Head Coach] Liam [Coen] and Coach [Jaguars Defensive Coordinator Anthony] Campanile do a phenomenal job of coaching the guys up, and you can tell on their tape, specifically defensively. I’ve watched a ton of tape this week [and] spent more time watching some of the defensive stuff, but the teams that tackle well, that come after the ball well, sometimes it’s like — Now, they lead the league in turnover differential. They are getting production, but sometimes you can even see the way they come after the football and the way they tackle, like, man, that’s a well-coached team. That’s how I feel about this team and with the players that they have in general. I think they’ve done a nice job, and obviously, they had a great year last year. They’re having a great year this year, and we’ve got to be ready to go.

I think [Jaguars QB] Trevor Lawrence has looked really good, and Liam’s doing a really nice job there. [Jaguars WR] Parker Washington on special teams is a heck of a football player. We’re going to have to be at our best when we’re tackling him and defeating blocks because he can really make some big-time plays. It’s a good football team, and we have to have our best week of preparation and today is obviously important in that process to go out there and play our best game because we’re going to need it.

Q. It’s rare in the run that you guys have had, this really good run, to be the level of underdog based on the line that you guys are this week. Is part of the ‘locking arms’ mantra embracing that underdog role going into this game? (Dave Uram)

Nick Sirianni: I wouldn’t say that. Anytime you go through adversity, it’s so important for everybody, not just a football team, for everybody out there — When you’re going through adversity, you need people on your side and you need people to have your back and you need people to lock arms with, whether that’s if you lost a football game or you’re going through cancer or a family member died, all those things. It’s time to lock arms with the people that you love and go through that challenge together because I do know this, the adversities that we face are uncomfortable. No matter how uncomfortable they may be at the time, when you lock arms and you go through those things together, those naturally bring people together, too. They bring people together; they bring teams together. Football has so many awesome correlations to life. I take a high privilege in being able to teach my experiences and what I believe about this game of football to not only my family, but also all the men in this building. I don’t take that very lightly.