Nick Sirianni

Q. RB Saquon Barkley is on pace for 377 touches this year. Where are you on monitoring that? I know you give him some Wednesdays off practice, but do you get concerned about that number when it gets real high? (Reuben Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: You try to take care of them and do what you need to do to win each and every football game. You try to take care of them throughout the week.

I think the two games – obviously not last game, but the game before that and the game before that – we were able to get him out in the fourth quarter.

So you try to monitor it as much as you possibly can. And that’s really our jobs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and being aware of it on Sunday.

But, yeah, always considering that with each and every one of our players with load management. I think our strength and conditioning staff and our trainers and our doctors give me really good insight on how to do that. And give our staff really good insight on how to do that.

Yeah, always on our mind with how many touches he has.

Q. On that same note, the edge rushers, actually their snap counts are way lower. I think OLB Josh Sweat has the highest snap count for any one game, 42 or something like that. Last year they played a ton of snaps. (Jimmy Kempski)

NICK SIRIANNI: Sure. That’s the flow of the game. Last game was 53 snaps. I think last year we had a game with 90-something against Buffalo. Yeah, that plays into it.

You’re thinking about that with everybody, but not every position has rotations. Offensive line doesn’t rotate. Defensive line does. Running backs do.

But the flows of the game, the way the game is being played, that can dictate a lot of different things. So every season is not apples to apples. I know it’s the same amount of games, but every game is a little bit different in how they are playing out.

We’re also aware of that, and that’s good for our guys. And I think that is good that our depth has that that we’re able to do those things at defensive end.

Q. Why did you guys ultimately not make a trade before the deadline? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think that would be a good question for [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman]. I know you don’t get him until the end of the year.

Speaking on my end of it, I really feel strongly about our team and where we are when talking through all those different things. Just feel so strongly about our team, and [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] has done a great job building it to date. It didn’t feel like, at that time, that there was anything to do.

So, yeah, I feel really good about the people we have here, the guys we have here. Feel strong about the depth, the starters at the positions and the depth at that position. So that speaks for the work that [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and his staff have done from the draft until now, at the end of the day.

Q. What’s DE Bryce Huff’s role going forward? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Still be in the mix, in the rotation of the rushers. Again, I think the ability [to have] less rush reps for some of those guys – one part of it is that we played fewer plays, but also that we feel good about the rotation.

I think all four of those guys have done a nice job.

Then we’ll see [OLB] Jalyx [Hunt] getting into the mix as well. I think he’s been doing a good job at practice to be able to go.

So we feel like we have five guys in that rotation that can get after the passer, that can crush the edge on the run.

So, yeah, I’ve got a ton of faith in him. You guys know he had something going on after warmups last week. That is just the way that game went and how he was feeling.

Yeah, I’ve got a ton of confidence in him and the things he can do.

Q. This franchise has lost six in a row in Dallas. You’ve been here for three of them. Every year is a new team, but what do you make of this team’s, franchise’s struggles down there recently, and how eager are you to snap that? (Dave Uram)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you’re always eager to get out there and win the next football game. I think the way I feel about the team – obviously, we haven’t won there since I’ve been here. I kind of look at this the same way as New Orleans. Same question was provided for us in New Orleans.

‘Hey, you guys haven’t won there since whenever.’ Merrill made it very clear that we hadn’t won in Cincinnati ever with the awesome voice he has.

And that doesn’t mean anything to us. Unless it was something like the weather or the dome, we’ve just got to go out there and play a good game against a good football team. And handle their crowd and their noise and things we do for any football game.

We’re treating this week like every other week. We’re looking to get better this week to give ourselves the best chance to win against a really good opponent.

Q. The defense has been really good since the bye week. Is there one thing you would attribute that to, it clicking, coming together? What do you think that is? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think just everybody continuing to be on the same page. I think Vic calls a really good game week in and week out. That’s why he’s one of the better defensive coordinators in the NFL.

But defensive football is always going to be about tackling. It’s always going to be about physicality. It’s always going to be about being on the same page. It’s always going to be about relentless effort, getting to the football, and playing team defense.

We’re getting better at that. I think that we’re getting better as a football team because of the way that we’re practicing and the way we’re meeting, the way we’re walking-through. You can see signs of us getting better with our tackling, getting better with our ball security, getting better with the way we’re on the same page.

There is no secret to success. The secret to success is to work your butt off, have good people in place, and try to get better each week. And control the things you can control.

So I’ve got a ton of confidence in the defensive staff and how they’ve been getting these guys better. [Inside Linebackers Coach] Bobby King, you want to talk about somebody that’s so focused in on the fundamentals. All he cares about is getting these guys better at tackling, getting them better at block destruction, getting them on the same page. All he cares about is how the guys come out there and try to take the football away.

So I think that’s a buy-in from everybody. We know fundamentals are how we reach another level. Again, it’s just not how you do team periods, it’s how you drill, it’s all those things.

I think there is a price to pay for success. It’s working hard.

Q. Are you expecting to get TE Dallas Goedert or CB Darius Slay back? Do you have an update on WR A.J. Brown? (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we’ll see on all those. You guys will get an injury report later today. We’ll see how today goes and where we are. Still got a little bit of time before practice, so we’ll see where they are.

Q. What does Inside Linebackers Coach Bobby King bring to the off-ball linemen, specifically? Had three changes there. (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think that Bobby is – have you guys talked to Bobby?

Q. Yeah, not in a while. (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: I was fortunate enough to work with Bobby with the Chargers. This guy is a relentless worker. Like I said, like I just find him [to be] somebody that he’s always thinking about how he gets players better.

We missed something in the game – without getting too much into it – and he was like, ‘hey, here is how I’ve got to drill this, here is what I’m thinking here.’ I admire that. I admire, okay, the linebacker missed this, and he’s thinking what he can do to help them be better at that.

That’s coaching. That’s why we as coaches put everything on our plate when something goes wrong on the field. Because we have the opportunity to bring them the things we think they need to get better at, and then the opportunity to do so.

So I really admire him for that. You guys see it. He puts that vest on, and they strike the crap out of him. They put their hands on him. He’s jarring his back. I’m assuming he’s only got so many more years of letting them hit him in the chest because it’s probably been happening for a long time.

He’s obsessive. They’ll hit the crap out of him, and he’ll be like, ‘Nope, that was too bendy’ or ‘That was too strike’ or whatever it is. I admire that he’s always trying to get them better at fundamentals.

As a position coach, the coordinator, it’s a group effort when you’re coming up with a plan. There is no doubt about that. You take input from everybody. But as a position coach, your biggest job, your most important job, is how you get those players better at their fundamentals.

You’ve got all different types of players. It’s how you get those guys better fundamentally, how you get them to understand their job more. I knew that about Bobby and seeing it firsthand as he continues to do grow in his coaching.

Yeah, can’t say enough good things about him.

Q . Do you think, across the board, you’re getting a higher level of coaching from your position coaches this season? (Bo Wulf)

NICK SIRIANNI: I’ve really been pleased as far as our position coaches throughout the time we’ve had here. We’ve had a lot of success. That success has [been] contributed [to] through the entire organization. First and foremost, [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] getting the guys in here, giving us the talent here to help us do our jobs at very high level. The players making the plays, and the position coaches and the coordinators doing their job to get them better.

I’m not going to compare one to the other. I think, like I said, we’ve had a lot of success and won a lot of games. Everyone shares in those successes.

But the guys that we have now, love our coaches that we have. I’ve been with [Tight Ends Coach] Jason Michael, this is seven years. I’ve got so much confidence with the type of coach he is.

And [Wide Receivers Coach] Aaron Moorehead, going back to when he did an internship with us for Indy and now him being the wide out coach.

[Running Backs/Assistant Head Coach] Jemal Singleton. Didn’t know him before we got here. We hit a home run with Jemal.

I love what [Senior Defensive Assistant/Defensive Line Coach] Clint [Hurtt] is bringing to the table as far as how he gotten the defensive tackles better.

[Defensive Ends/Outside Linebackers Coach Jeremiah Washburn] Wash has been here. Wash is one the guys – and [Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland] Stout – guys that were here.

I think we’ve got really good position coaches. A lot of them could be coordinators and have been coordinators, and they know how to get guys better. I mean, I could go on. I want to be able to say everybody’s name.

But I’m really pleased with the guys that we have here right now, and they’re doing a great job. They work their butts off. They have relationships with these players. The players trust them.

And they’re getting our players better. That is very obvious.

Q. Along those lines, is there an example from your career in the NFL where you or another coach really helped change the way a guy who had been in the league for a while was doing something and improving? The idea being that a guy who has been in the league a while is set in his ways, and yet a coach was able to really help him improve. (Mike Sielski)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think what players want from you as a position coach, coordinator, is how you get them better. I think I’ve never really run into a guy that was like, nope, this is how you do it, and I’m not doing it any other way.

Why is that? I think the reason is that you show them that you know what you’re talking about and you provide them an opportunity to get better. They get better, and then you’ve got them hooked, I guess to say.

So I haven’t experienced that. I get that that happens. Yeah, I have not experienced that. I guess I’ve been around really good guys.

Again, like I said, what are you doing to get them better? And that’s got to be the first and foremost. If we’re not doing anything to get them better, they’re buddies, older buddies. I guess I can say that now. I’m a little older as a coach now.

Our job is, yes, to have a relationship with the players so we can get them better. But our job, first and foremost, is to get them better. And work tirelessly to do that through, like I said with Bobby King, drills and thinking of different things and the coaching points.

Really comes down to, as a position coach or as a coach, being a bulldog. If we keep telling you the same thing, at some point you’re like, ‘This guy is going to be relentless. If I keep messing this up, this guy is going to be relentless. And now I’ve got to fix this because he ain’t going to shut up about this.’

There is something to that, being a bulldog. I know Stout is a bulldog. I know we’ve got a lot of bulldogs on this staff. You mess something up, they’re going to tell you. They’re going to keep telling you over and over and over again.

Q. QB Jalen Hurts said coming out of the bye week that it was one of the most efficient bye weeks he’s ever had. And then he comes out and has played four very good games. Do you see anything he’s doing differently over the last month that he wasn’t doing in the first month? (Ed Kracz)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, again, the things that you do in the dark eventually show up in the light. He worked his butt off, and he’s been working his butt off.

It was a great bye week. Just the conversations, the film watching together, the collaboration of things.

You know, he has. He’s played great football this past month. He’s a great player, so you love when that happens. Because, again, you’re constantly promoting, hey, make no mistake about why we’re getting better. We’re getting better because of the work. We’re getting better because we’re capable, because we have good players and good coaches in this room.

We’re getting better because of the work. That doesn’t matter if it’s in practice, walk-through, meetings, the bye week. You get better because of the work. It’s such a long season, and you just want to continue that rise.

[QB] Jalen [Hurts] played really well this past month and has done a great job taking care of the football. He’s done a great job leading this team.

Yeah, I’m proud of how he’s been going.

Q. With Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore real quick, he has a long history in that building. It’s been a while, but he knows them, they know him. Complicate things? Help things, in your experience? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you’re always looking for any advantage you can get in everything. I’m sure they are, too.

We will turn over every stone we possibly can. I’m sure they will as well. So sometimes you can get too wrapped into that. So, go through the process of what we do when we have information there and use what we can. It takes discernment, wisdom to know what to use and what not to use. You do that through your studies and the tape and everything like that.