Nick Sirianni
Q. Considering everything that has happened the past few days, DE Brandon Graham’s comments, did you talk to QB Jalen Hurts and WR A.J. Brown yesterday? And I know you’re not going to go into the details, but if you did, can you give a general outline? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)
NICK SIRIANNI: I talk to these guys all the time about anything and everything, right? From the game, to life, to everything. Like I’ve said, that’s just part of our process, is to go through everything. You work on that every single day.
So of course I’ve talked to these guys. As far as everything there, again, I see guys that are continuously trying to get better and better and better and working.
Let’s just talk about [QB] Jalen [Hurts] and [WR] A.J. [Brown]. I see them working to get better. I see them working to get better together. Whether that’s after an install meeting, where they gather right here and talk about how A.J. will run a route or how Jalen will read, all those different things. They spend so much time on that.
I said this the other day, I think I probably said it on the radio. You guys get to see three hours every Sunday where emotions can play as high as they’re going to play. You get to see three hours of that. I get to see these guys every single day, how they go about their business and interact with each other. I get to see them after practice, working on routes together and talking.
I know there were assumptions of things, which we get how that goes. I can only go off my personal experience of how these guys interact every single day. And these guys are locked in and focused on getting better and getting better together so they’re on the same page to go and accomplish the things we want to accomplish. I witness that every single day.
Like I said, all these places are talking. I know there will be a lot more questions on this. I can see guys getting in their seats ready to ask me another question. But that’s what I witness every day.
Very similar to when you asked me about my relationship with Jalen at the beginning of the year. All I can go off is what I see in my personal interactions. But I understand there are definitely questions that you guys are going to have based off the last couple days.
Q. You said the other day this team has more 2022 vibes. What has changed to make this team better equipped to handle any potential hurdles or internal strife down the stretch? (Jeff McLane)
NICK SIRIANNI: We’ve put so much work into getting better every day. But getting better every day is not just a field thing. We talk about tough, detailed, and together. And togetherness has been something that we’ve worked on from the end of last year through the off-season program.
What we all went through as a leadership council group together, myself, the players that were on it, and coaches, we’ve worked so hard in that. We’ve worked so hard in our connection as a football team.
I think, again, the moments that you guys can see in the three hours on a Sunday – and I know you’re out at practice as well and talk to the guys that are in the locker room – but the moments where you can see it too are [in] the joy you see after touchdowns and different things like that.
I’m so confident that the work – just like you’re confident that the things you work on on the field continuously at practice are going to show up in the game, you have that same level of confidence in the things you work at in the classroom and your culture.
That has been something that, again, myself, a couple of the other coaches, and the leadership council, some of the leaders on this football team, worked so hard in the off-season and have continued.
I’ve seen those guys in that game room in the back doing things together more so than – maybe last year, we had a little less of that. It feels again like the 2022 season. I see the guys and hear about them going to dinners together and spending Thanksgiving together.
Again, there has been so much work and so much emphasis on it, just like our tackling, just like our ball security, just like those different things. That’s where you have the confidence and that’s where you see.
Because you have a feel of what every year is like. That’s where you see, hey, this is the vibe right here that I have. Again, I completely understand that, with what’s transpired the last couple days, why there would be questions on that.
But you go back to the things you put work into, and the personal interactions, and the things that happen in the building on a daily basis.
Q. Is that a directive from you? If so, how do you relay that in terms of making sure everyone is connected and doing those things? You talked about it with the leadership council. (Dave Zangaro)
NICK SIRIANNI: I think at the end of the day, when I said, ‘Hey, here is what our core values are: bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.’
As you come in there, I’m not saying something crazy. Our core values are teams that are tougher win; teams that are detailed win; teams that are together win. Those are just known truths of our identity, what we want our identity to be.
And as we talk through it and we go through it, my job as a coach is to teach what exactly it means and what exactly it looks like, and then you go from there.
But it’s not like, why do guys buy into that? Or however you want to say it. Because everyone knows those are the truths of football, and you work every day to try to get better at those things.
Q. Was your feeling when you were done talking to those guys, this is not what everybody on the outside is thinking it is? (Bob Brookover)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah. To how I answered Eliot, you go on your personal reactions 100%, but we also understand why it could look that way.
I won’t get into what we talk about in team meetings or what my personal talks are with these guys, but we address anything and everything that we need to.
Because we address it. And I would like for you guys to ask me the questions about the Steelers because it’s going to be a tough game, but I understand that these are going to be the questions today.
I can’t dictate what questions you guys are asking me, but I can do this in the team. You address it, you talk about it, you put it out there so that you can be here and here only for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This is a really good football team coming in here, and we’ve got to be on our A game. Again, all our focus now, after you talk about it and after you go through all your conversations there, is, boom, now our focus is on this.
But to answer your question, yeah.
Q. If you go back to the bye week, T Jordan Mailata and T Lane Johnson specifically gave you some feedback about the running game. Recently, has there been any feedback expressing frustration about the passing game? (John McMullen)
NICK SIRIANNI: We talk about everything. We try to get better at everything. Whether it’s the run game, whether it’s the pass game, we go through the same process each and every week. We try to make sure we’re getting better in all areas of our game.
So that’s been part of it.
Q. Did you feel, with the team meeting, with the team back together, with all the noise out there, there was a little clearing the air with the entire team? (John Clark)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think that’s kind of what I was saying there. Again, you address it to be able to move on. Same thing I said earlier.
Q. Do you feel like you have more time and ability to address something like in this season compared to last season given the presence of Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio and Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore? (Mike Sielski)
NICK SIRIANNI: That’s a good question. Obviously when you’re wearing more hats, you have a little less time. You still go through all those processes that you go through with the offense and the defense and the special teams.
But you are able to step out a little bit more. I think I’ve talked to you guys about this. I’ve been able to go to the defensive line room for a meeting as opposed to always being in with the quarterbacks or with the offense.
So that applies here as well, yeah.
Q. What are the Steelers doing that allows them to be plus-17 in the turnover differential? That’s way above the norm. (Merrill Reese)
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, those defensive ends they have, that defensive line that they have is special, with [Steelers LB T.J] Watt, and [Steelers LB Nick] Herbig, [Steelers LB Alex] Highsmith, those guys are outstanding, and [Steelers DT Cameron] Heyward. They’ve got a lot of really good guys there.
I think [Steelers Head] Coach [Mike] Tomlin has done a good job there. This is who they’ve been, and the physicality of a team coming after the football and protecting the football, running the football well.
I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Tomlin and how he’s done it, the consistency over this time for this many years.
And then they’ve got good players in the secondary and at linebacker. [Steelers S] Minkah [Fitzpatrick] is an outstanding player that has a knack for the football.
What I always tell these guys is, I want the opposing teams to see how we take the football away and how we take care of the football with our fundamentals. That’s important to me.
You definitely can see that on the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s always on their mind. They’ve got good players, they’ve got good coaches, and you can see the culture they have is outstanding.
Q. You’ve talked in the past about your message to the team. Overall, what was your message this morning? Secondly, what’s the overall mood of this team going into this Steelers game? (Sal Paolantonio)
NICK SIRIANNI: Again, won’t get too much into the message. But just tried to overall emphasize tough, detailed, together. That’s what we’ve talked a lot about this year. Tough, detailed, together. Tough, detailed, together. Tough, detailed, together. Those are the things that embody all our core values.
What was the second part?
Q. What’s the overall mood of the team? (Sal Paolantonio)
NICK SIRIANNI: Ready to go. Ready to go to work. What I’ve noticed about this football team is they’re so locked in and determined to get better each day. Again, we don’t really want anyone else talking to us about anything other than the Pittsburgh Steelers.
‘But what about this scenario for the NFC East? What about the one seed? What about this?’ We’re not focused on that.
These guys are so locked in and determined. How do I know that, how do I see that? I see them every day here. I see them in moments like the week of Thanksgiving, where nobody really blinked, and the day after Thanksgiving, where it was just so locked in.
Whether coming off a tough game where you’re banged up a little physically and going into a Wednesday practice, locked in. Whether you are coming off a big win, or a tight win, or a loss, it’s been the same laser focus. That says a lot about our team, and our guys as teammates, and our leaders on this football team.
Q. What would you like to see QB Jalen Hurts improve on as far as the passing game is concerned? (Martin Frank)
NICK SIRIANNI: We’ve all got things to get better at. What I do know is, what he’s done really well is take care of the football at an outstanding rate. You guys would know this better, but I know he’s got however many touchdowns and interceptions in this winning streak, how good he’s been. He’s accurate with the football. He’s been able to make plays with his feet as things break down or something’s not open.
He’s done so many good things. I think there is so much talk. I know. I’ve got to get ready to talk to you guys and hear all the talk about this. At the end of the day, the thing that doesn’t get said enough about Jalen Hurts is he’s, what 45 and 19 over the past four years? That’s pretty darn special.
Do we all have things to get better at in the passing game? Yeah, I think that’s obvious. I think that’s what we’ve been talking about. We all have things that we’ve got to get better at. Coaches, players.
But this is why this is the greatest team sport there is. It takes everybody. It takes every single person being together, every single person for the success to happen. It’s just not a one-person thing.
So we’re all working to get better. We’ve had moments of being good. We’ve had some moments of not needing it. We’ve had some moments where we haven’t been good enough. All those things are true, right? Moments of being very good, moments of not needing it at all where we haven’t done it very much because we didn’t need it in that game, and moments we need to be better.
That’s the nature of this game of football.
Q. In protecting against the Steelers defense, how have you seen T Jordan Mailata step up this year? And how have you seen him embody captainship since you made that official? (Brooks Kubena)
NICK SIRIANNI: Jordan [is a ] really outstanding leader. I think what’s special about Jordan is he cares. He is somebody that is constantly trying to help other people. I think that is probably what people voted him a captain for. Jordan is more worried that other people are taken care of before he is.
That’s a sign of a really good leader. I really admire that about him. That’s a hard quality to have because there are so many things you’ve got to worry about for yourself. But he’s always focused on, how do I help somebody else out, how do I get this guy better, how do I get that guy better?
I remember when my brother came with his coaching staff during OTAs, he had his O-line coach here. I look over after practice, and Jordan and Lane are sitting there talking to my brother’s O-line coach for like 30 minutes. I’m like, what in the hell are they talking about?
I’m like, ‘Mike, who is that? What coach is that?’ He’s like, ‘That’s my O-line coach.’ They sat there and talked to him for 30 minutes, giving him ideas of how to get better.
Jordan and Lane didn’t even know that guy. I think that just speaks to – I’m grouping them both in this now. Lane is a lot like this as well. They recognize everybody, that it takes everybody from the scout team to the starter to the quality control coach to the head coach. They realize it takes everybody. They value everybody. And they’re willing to help.
I have goosebumps thinking about that. I appreciate the question. That’s how special I think Jordan Mailata is and how special – I brought Lane into it too. That’s how special I think those two guys are.
Q. Steelers QB Russell Wilson, what are you seeing differently this year with him versus maybe what you saw in Denver the last two years? (Ed Kracz)
NICK SIRIANNI: We didn’t play Denver the last two years, so that’s something I can’t answer. I just know that he’s been good for a really long time. He’s playing really good football right now.
I don’t remember the last time that I have been on a team that’s gotten ready to play – I don’t think I’ve been on a team here that has played [Steelers QB] Russell Wilson.
You see him sometimes on crossover tape, but that’s not how you’re watching. Go back. If the Denver Broncos were playing the Kansas City Chiefs and we were getting ready for the Chiefs, I’m watching the Chiefs defense. I’m not necessarily watching Russell Wilson.
But, man, good player who has been a good player for a very long time. A lot of respect. A lot of respect for him.
Q. In these four years, you have been asked so much about personal relationships, whether it’s coach-quarterback, quarterback-receiver, go on down the list. How much does that matter in a professional setting? (Zach Berman)
NICK SIRIANNI: I think big time. Any time you go through any adversity, you need personal relationships. Any time you go through any success, everything comes down to that.
I go back to this: you’re willing to fight a little bit harder for somebody you care about. You’re willing to stick up for the person a little bit more when it’s somebody you care about. You’re willing to work a little bit harder when it’s somebody you care about. You’re willing to scratch and claw and die a little bit more for somebody you care about.
I think that’s important. I also think on the other end of that, you’re able to get your coaching points across of what’s important because that person knows you care about them. It’s not an attack on him. It’s how you’re trying to get that person better. Guys have got to believe that based off how your relationship is with them.
There are so many things. You want the extra effort. This game is a game of inches, and it’s a league where the parity is so tight. You want that extra effort from everyone. That’s not why you do it. You do it because that’s why we got into this. That’s why I got into this: you are still part of a team, you still have the relationships with players, you still have relationships with the other coaches.
But those are the fruits of it, they go a little harder. Also, you open their ears a little bit more to, okay, this guy and I are tight. Let me hear what he has to say even more so here.
Because football is different. Way back, it was like ‘You do it because I said so.’ No one talks like that. You have to build a relationship to get your coaching points across.