Nick Sirianni

Q. You’re 10-2 for the third straight year, been really successful. When you have a team coming in that doesn’t have a great record, do you feel the need to put an extra emphasis on locking in, or is that something you don’t really get into because you have a veteran-led team? What’s your philosophy on that? (Jason Dumas)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think our philosophy, no matter who we’re playing, what the record is – I think somebody asked me last week, I don’t remember who it was – is there a little bit more that we’re playing the Ravens? I think that would be malpractice by us as coaches and as players, if we were up for some games and not up for some games.

We know that this is a talented team that’s continuing to play good football. You can look at their last four games. They’ve played really good football. If you take anybody lightly in this league, it will humble you fast.

This is a good team that has our attention, and our job each and every week is to be focused on the job at hand and lock in every single week. You don’t have to go there when that’s just your mission. That’s our standard, that’s our culture, and that’s what we do each and every week. Put our heads down and work and control the things we can control.

Q. Why do you think they are playing a little bit better over the past month? What have you seen? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think there are new guys in there with [Panther Head] Coach [Dave] Canales being new in there, and then everybody just kind of finding the way of what they’re doing. We didn’t start off very well in 2021, and we got it going as the season continued to go on.

So there is probably a little bit of that. I think the quarterback is doing a nice job. He’s a good player. He was drafted where he was drafted for a reason. I think they have talented players and talented coaches. I’ve always been a fan of their defensive coordinator. I think he’s really good.

So I think it’s just, again, talented players, talented coaches, and they’re meshing together with their culture right now. And it’s showing.

Q. With you having a very physical football team, I’m trying to figure out where that was born this year. Did you change training camp in any way to make it more physical, or practices this year, or anything like that? (John Clark)

NICK SIRIANNI: Physicality, we can talk about it as much as we want as coaches. And we talk about it a lot, and we highlight it a lot. We practice it a lot. It comes down to those guys going out there and being physical. And to be physical, you have to have physical guys.

So that starts in the draft process, picking up guys in free agency. And [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and I talk a lot about that, being tough as a team, mental toughness, physical toughness, relentless effort. It starts by getting the right guys in here, so I can’t say enough about our guys.

Do we emphasize it as coaches? Absolutely. But [G] Landon Dickerson is physical. [T] Lane Johnson is physical. [T] Jordan Mailata is physical. [G/T] Mekhi Becton is physical. [C] Cam Jurgens is physical. I could go through the whole D-line too. They’re physical players. They were physical players in college. [DT] Jalen Carter was physical at Georgia, and he is still physical.

We emphasize it, but we’ve got physical dudes on this team.

Q. How much has DT Milton Williams grown as a player, and how much has he taken advantage of DT Jalen Carter getting so much attention? (Bob Brookover)

NICK SIRIANNI: [DT] Milton [Williams] is a guy that, when we got him here in 2021, we were really excited about him. He’s just continued to get better. He’s been contributing on this football team for the past four years, and he continues to get better. And he is taking advantage of those one-on-one opportunities he’s getting.

There was a play in that game [when] he beat the left guard so fast. He dumped it off to [Ravens RB] Derrick Henry, and he got a good gain off it, but he beat the guy really fast.

It was such a good rush. Those types of plays have been showing up. You love his energy, you love his physicality when he makes a play, and how the guys respond to him.

So he’s done a nice job. We look for him to continue to grow as a player and take advantage of opportunities that he’s getting.

Q. You mentioned watching every plus 50 punt in college and in the pros each week. What is the most obscure thing you watch every week or the most minute detail you watch? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: When it comes to that?

Q. When it comes to anything. (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: That is a big one that probably is unique. We watch every interception, every fumble. We watch every fourth down decision throughout the league. Watch every four-minute, every two-minute. Those add up. Those start going.

I can’t say anything that’s more unique than that to be quite honest with you. It’s just, hey, let’s learn from everything that we can. Again, I’ve said to our guys, good teams learn from their mistakes; great teams learn from the mistakes of others and the good things that others do.

That’s all you’re trying to put yourself into and watch all those different things like that. I’ll have to think about that a little more, see if there are any more crazy things we watch.

Q. What’s the biggest thing QB Jalen Hurts has done to cut down his interceptions since the bye week? (Reuben Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think the thing is, he’s cut down his interceptions and he is still being explosive as a player. That’s a very tricky thing.

Hey, we want to win the double positive. What do we talk about double positive? Again, win the explosive play battle, offensively and defensively, and win the turnover battle.

You have to take risks at times to create explosive plays. Not risks, but you’ve got to make some great throws with some great reads and all those different things.

So he’s just playing really good football right now. He continues to play really good football. There is a reason that we’re winning, and a big reason is [QB] Jalen Hurts.

I think what he’s doing so well is that he’s reading the defense, he’s taking what they’re giving him. And when it’s not there, he throws it away or he creates an explosive play with his legs.

That’s something so unique to Jalen. Again, he’s just doing all the little things, all the minute, boring details that a quarterback needs to do to have his team be successful.

Again, when your team is successful, your quarterback has got to be doing good things. And he really is. There are things that aren’t obvious to the eye of everybody, things he’s doing to help us win. Whether that’s checks, whether that’s throwing it away when he needs to throw it away, whether that’s scrambling when he needs to scramble.

We all see the highlight plays that he’s made, but he’s just playing really clean football and doing a great job leading this football team.

Q. On those details, there was so much focus heading into the season about the pre-snap operation with former Eagles C Jason Kelce gone. And QB Jalen Hurts has talked about ‘Even when you’re wrong, you’re right,’ meaning he knows where the weaknesses are. How responsible do you think that is for your better numbers against the blitz? (Bo Wulf)

NICK SIRIANNI: We’ve all gotten better. Us as coaches, [Offensive Coordinator] Kellen [Moore] has done some great things to help out in there. Teams being unwilling to blitz you at times. There was a play early in our game against Green Bay where Jalen and [WR] A.J. [Brown] do a great job being on the same page, and they have one guy left to tackle A.J., and A.J. breaks for 20 yards or whatever it was.

Everything plays into that. Jalen and Cam and Landon being able to set the table of where we start, and Jalen having all the cards at the end to do what he needs to do so he knows where his problem is.

So he’s just done awesome. Credit to everyone involved, particularly Jalen, who has the ball in his hands every single play.

Q. Do you expect to have TE Dallas Goedert this weekend? And what does TE C.J. Uzomah bring if he has to step in? (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: We’ll see on [TE] Dallas [Goedert] as the week continues on. As far as [TE] C.J. [Uzomah] goes, veteran. What a great teammate he is. As you look back and you talk to teams that he’s been on as we got him here on this team, everyone says the same thing: What a great teammate.

I think you could ask his teammates, particularly in the tight end room and the offense, what type of guy he is, and they’d say the same thing: Great teammate. Glue guy. Has done some nice things on special teams and has taken advantage of some of the opportunities he’s had.

Had a really good play in four-minute the other day that he came through and led through on a block on a really good player and was able to get movement there.

He just brings veteran reliability, and, again, bringing guys together on the football team. And then, he’s had some big production where we know if we can throw him the ball, he can do something with it and make plays. And then what he does as a blocker.

Q. You’ve said T Lane Johnson is not only the best right tackle in the league, but the best tackle. What about your other guy? How do you think he is playing this year? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, he’s really, really good. I love Jordan Mailata. Hopefully you guys know how much I love this football team. I feel like everybody you ask me about I’m like, ‘Oh, man, not only is he a great player, but a great teammate.’

Man, there is a reason Jordan Mailata is a captain of this football team. That’s what his teammates think of him to vote him a captain. Man, he’s somebody that is just always willing to help other people.

I think that’s what is so cool about Jordan. He’s constantly trying to help other people get better. Who knows, maybe there will be coaching in his future.

But he’s playing really good football. Yeah, he is powerful in the run game. He and Landon are able to work double teams together. When they don’t, he’s able to move guys in the run game, whether it’s inside zone or outside zone, blocking down, blocking out.

And then very reliable in the pass game. Such a big body to have to get around. He’s a huge dude.

One thing is the type of shape he’s in. I don’t think it’s talked about enough. He’s a big man. He’s a huge man that could weigh a ton, but he works so hard at his body. He works so hard at being in good shape so he can be there for his teammates.

I can’t say enough about the teammate, and it’s really very obvious how much he wants to help his teammates. Everybody involved, from the scout team players to the defensive guys to his backup with [T] Fred [Johnson] – how much he helped during that, when Fred played well during his stretch. That credit needs to go to Fred, but Jordan helped with that as well.

Just can’t say enough good things about him. He’s playing really good football right now.

Q. What do you like about the fullback/lead blocker position in this offense? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think what it’s done is give another layer for the defense to have to pay attention to. I’m not going to get into the scheme of it, why it’s been helpful for us, but one of the benefits is the layer that it gives the defense to have to defend, and have to spend time on, and have to study.

It’s been pretty productive for us this year. I haven’t been on a team that we’ve utilized the fullback in quite some time.

Sometimes you go into it and you’re like, do we need a fullback? And you say, eh. Then you get into it, and you start doing it, and you’re like, man, okay, this has been a good benefit for us. And you build on that.

So [because of] the confidence that you get because things are being successful, you look to put a little bit more in. That’s how we are with players. That’s how we are with plays. That’s how we are with personnel groupings. Oh, this is good. Let’s add a little bit more. Oh, let’s add a little bit more, let’s add a little bit more.

So, yeah, we’re excited about that. We’ll continue to use it as we need to.