Nick Sirianni

Q. Before we get into football today, obviously a really tragic situation in Dallas with DE Marshawn Kneeland. First your thoughts, but also, you guys have a really big game to plan for and now there’s this very human, very raw element. How do you strike that balance as a head coach? (Breland Moore)

Nick Sirianni: The NFL is a brotherhood and so, obviously, that was on our mind this morning, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and the Dallas Cowboys. It just puts things in perspective, and I don’t really want to speak too much more on that.

Q. When you bring new guys into the building, not the football side of it, but I guess indoctrinating them into the culture and just becoming Eagles. What steps do you take to make that process work? (Reuben Frank)

Nick Sirianni: We kind of have an orientation for that just to catch them up on everything, every department. We’ve been doing that for a while. Every department has different things. [With] coaching, [we] have different things that we do. Just an orientation essentially to get them caught up. Our coaches do a good job of that. I spend time with them, my assistant [Assistant to the Head Coach] Cole [Peterson] spends some time with them with the standards of how we practice. It’s not like this is our first time doing that, right? You do that even when you bring a new practice squad guy in. We’ve had a lot of practice at that, but I think the most important thing that we want to stress is a little bit [about] how we practice, what the culture is, our team rules, [and] stuff like that.

Q. Can you give us a general overview, just of the three guys that you acquired, two corners and OLB Jaelan Phillips? (Ed Kracz)

Nick Sirianni: Looking forward to being able to coach those guys. Every one of them has familiarity with a different guy on our coaching staff, which is always really good. That doesn’t always happen that way, but in this case it did. Talented guys that have played a bunch of good football in the NFL, each bringing a different thing and bringing depth to our positions. I was really, really excited about our roster how it was, and it’s been awesome to be able to add to it. Thankful for [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] to add to it, and we’re really excited to get these guys going and get them involved. We’ll see where they are at the end of the week and what that means for this game this weekend.

Q. Having been around Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman now for as long as you have and seeing his aggressiveness in moments like this, has any of that rubbed off on you or has it changed the way you view the NFL? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: No, I think naturally [it’s] probably why I’m here. I have the same theories, same thought processes in that. One thing I think is always funny is at the end of free agency or right at the beginning of free agency, if we don’t do something or we don’t do something that everyone thinks we should do, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ There’s a lot more time to be able to add to the roster, and I think Howie’s showed that every single year of adding to the roster at different times. Really meaningful pieces to our teams that have had a lot of success. I’m just grateful to have a partner [like] Howie of being the best guy in all sports as a GM at his job.

Q. What do you like specifically about OLB Jaelan Phillips’ game? What have you seen? (Cayden Steele)

Nick Sirianni: Explosive player, able to get to the quarterback, violent in the run game, can create a lot of disruption. Just a lot of how we like to play that position. [Defensive Coordinator] Vic [Fangio] having familiarity with him is obviously big. It takes away some of that learning curve of getting ready to go. A lot of things to like about him. Obviously, you do a lot of work on these guys when they’re coming out of college and [we] liked him then, and it’s been fun following his career. We were able to practice against him a couple years ago, really showed some really good things in that. I’ve played against him in 2023. Just a lot to like about him. Really good player. Getting to know him a little bit, really liked the person. Excited to add him to the mix.

Q. How realistic is it to have those guys up to speed in order to play Monday night? (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: We’ll see. Everything’s different. Everybody’s a little bit different. It was nice to be able to get some time with these guys with a couple days off and be able to catch them up [when] we have a little bit more time as far as playing a Monday night game this week. We have more time to decide who’s up and who’s down and all that stuff.

Q. You guys had success offensively going into the bye week. How did you make use of that time and what were the more productive things that came out of some examination there? (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: How did we use the bye? Yeah, our normal process. Our normal process of what we go through, there’s always things that you add to it. We worked our days that we worked, we took some time off. Little tradition, some of the coaches came to my house to do some more work on one of the days off. I like doing that. I don’t know if they do.

But yeah, just our normal process. I’m obviously not going to get into everything that it is, but it adds and it continues throughout the time that we’ve been here and throughout their time in the NFL, but we like our process there. We’ll see what that looks like come Monday.

Q. What’s that day like at your house? (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: I don’t know, normal workday just at my house. I think my dog was right at [Offensive Coordinator] Kevin [Patullo]’s feet for long. He must’ve pet him. It’s kind of an annoying dog. If you pet him one time, he doesn’t leave you alone. [Jokingly.] I’ve learned not to pet him, but I think Kevin did and I think he was sitting at his feet pretty much the whole time begging him to be pet again.

Q. At corner, would you like to settle into a top three, or is it realistic to mix and match? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: I think whatever’s best for the team at that, we will do. I don’t have a preference one way or the other. All guys bring different things and excited to have the depth that we have at that group.

Q. Apart from the systematic things that you found over the bye week that you don’t want to share, but when you did get a chance to review the first half the season, are there any overarching themes you saw that you would be willing to share, you feel like you learned? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Nick Sirianni: I think we’re doing a good job fundamentally across the team, just as far as tackling, catching, taking care of the football, coming after the football, all those different things, blocking. I think that’s as general as I could possibly be, but we spend a lot of time on all the fundamentals of football. The fundamentals of football are what make [or] break every single play. I like where we are fundamentally, but we’ve got to continue to get better at that. We’re not entitled to continue to get better without the work. We’re entitled to nothing. Everything we do and everything we have coming to us is earned.

Q. Looking back at what Green Bay has done in the last season or so, what do you see out of that team with what they’ve put on tape this year and how they’ve been playing? (Jason Dumas)

Nick Sirianni: I think this is a talented group of guys, both offensively, defensively, and special teams-wise. A lot of respect for their coaches. I think [Packers Head] Coach [Matt] LaFleur does a phenomenal job. We’ve always thought that and looked at his offenses and how his teams play from afar. I have a lot of admiration for him and the job that he does.

I think they play hard, they play with good fundamentals, they have good schemes with good talented players. So, a lot of respect. A lot of good players throughout every layer of their defense, a lot of good players through every layer of their offense and special teams. But like I said, I feel like they’ve got good players with good coaches, and that’s why they’ve had the success that they’ve had. A lot of respect for this team.

Q. WR A.J. Brown and RB Saquon Barkley both went into the bye week banged up. What can you share? (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: You guys will get an injury report a little bit later today. We’ll see how practice looks today. I know that both the guys are working their butts off to do everything they can do to be ready to be available.

Q. A player that you’re familiar with, but you’re seeing him for the first time as a Packer. Kind of two-part question here. When you think about Packers LB Micah Parsons, what has he brought to the Green Bay defense thus far, and what did Carolina do so well in containing him in the last matchup? (Krystal Rich)

Nick Sirianni: Micah Parsons is a phenomenal football player that can hurt you in many different ways. It just creates a lot of disruption, and I think sometimes you think about it just only in the pass game. He creates a lot of disruption in the run game. I think about a fumble that he caused in our game against him in 2022. It had nothing to do with the pass play; it was a run play. So much respect for the player and who he is. I can’t say enough good things about him. Thankfully, we only play him once a year. Well, we played Green Bay twice last year, so we will see how that goes.

But Carolina did a good job of– I know they stayed efficient on first and second down, stayed out of some known pass situations where he can be even more disruptive. But again, like I said, he’s disruptive in everything he does. They’re doing a good job of moving him around, putting him in different spots. You have to account for where he is, but it’s hard to account for where he is because he is moving around so much. So, a lot of respect for their defensive coaches and what they’ve been doing there, but can’t say enough good things about him. He’s really good.

Q. What do you remember about OLB Jaelan Phillips and the joint practice you guys had down there? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: You’re just saying in that joint practice, is that what you’re talking about?

Q. I remember he stood out for various reasons. I think he also had specific signed jersey for having a good practice the day before, if I recall correctly. (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: I didn’t know that. Just again, the disruption that he can create. Our guys do a great job with all the good players that we have here of letting iron sharpen iron, and then when you’re able to go against a guy on another team in a joint practice that’s doing that, too, it just helps those guys. It helps [T] Jordan [Mailata] get better, helps [T] Lane [Johnson] get better. Very similar to how I felt when we practiced against Cleveland. Again, all those things are great opportunities to help you get better.

I remember thinking, ‘Man, this guy can go and he’s big.’ Have you guys been up to him yet? Big, huge dude, just enormous. Sometimes when I meet somebody in person for the first time, they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re a lot taller than I thought,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, I’m 6’3”.’ But I do stand next to Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata. Well, he does the same thing. He towers over me just the same way those guys do. Like I said, just so excited to have him and to get to work with him.

Q. What is your perspective on the season that T Lane Johnson has had so far? (Bo Wulf)

Nick Sirianni: You have heard me say this a hundred times. Lane’s one of the best players in the NFL, maybe one of the best players of all time at his position. The things that he can do are freaky and I see him continuing to do that. I love the consistency that Lane has. He’s a super star football player and he does it week in, week out and I continue to see that through the season. Feel the exact same way about him as I’ve felt about him the last four years. He’s having a great year, and we need him to have a great year. He’s one of our best players.

Q. All-Pro caliber players trying to rebuild their career, whether it was former Eagles WR Julio Jones, former Eagles LB Shaq Leonard, former Eagles DB Robert Quinn. In CB Jaire Alexander’s case, how do you stay clear-headed about the player you respect compared to the player you have now on the field? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: We obviously think highly of the player that we have now on the field. That’s why we went and got him. You go to work, you practice, you see where he is and you see what it’s going to look like on Sunday. So, excited to get out there with him today and watch him go. Normally, I go to all the linebacker drills, or I go to the D tackle drills, or I go to the DN drills and really kind of mix into the offensive line drills. But today, I’ll probably be over there a little bit with the DBs, a little bit more with the DNs, and take a look.

Q. Should he be made available on Monday, for a guy who’s done so much for the city: retiring, coming back. What’s it going to be like seeing DE Brandon Graham get out there again? (Krystal Rich)

Nick Sirianni: We’ll see where he is at the end of the week, but it’s been great having him back in the building on a consistent basis. Just the energy he brings, the smile that he has on his face every day. Still one of my favorite things, I remember showing the clip in 2023 of him running down [Cowboys QB] Dak [Prescott] and stopping a two-point conversion. It’s like, ‘Hey guys, you don’t play fifteen, sixteen, whatever year he’s on now, years in the NFL without all the extra stuff.’ All the talent alone never does get you that far. It gets you in the door, but it doesn’t allow you to go as far as Brandon Graham did. So, he has all those things that you like to point out on film. It’s nice to have that back. We’re kind of thinking that way now in the sense that he’s back on the field practicing, but when he’s able to go back out in the game, that’ll be exciting.