Nick Sirianni

Q. Can you tell us how big this game is this week? (Jeff Skversky)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you can definitely feel it. I can’t tell you how many times since I’ve been here having an interaction with a fan, it’s, like, ‘Hey, beat Dallas.’

And I think that’s really cool. I think that’s awesome. So really love the fact that I’m able to partake in this rivalry and it means a lot to the city, to our team, it means a lot to this building.

Q. Are you wearing that shirt all week? (Jeff Skversky)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah. I got another shirt I got, too. It’s awesome. Like, these shirts, I still have my Mount Union, John Carroll shirts from 2003. I love wearing those around. And so, it feels the same way.

Yeah, I’ll be wearing this all week. My kids got it, my wife has one. And, yeah, we’ll be wearing them.

Q. The last time we talked to you, you hadn’t yet been with the players. How have they responded after the first loss and are you getting the level of focus you want from them? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, the corrections were made. Because we’re playing a Monday Night game and the way we did our schedule this week, you had to sit with it for one more day. Everyone had to sit with that loss before we made the corrections for one more day.

But it was the same thing after — and it felt the same way for the players, too. Like, my message was the same. Like, we make our corrections from this and get better from this and we move on.

And that’s the message that I had. That’s what I felt them doing. And so, it’s a long season. It’s such a long season. You get held up on a loss for too long, you’re not going to be able to respond to the next game.

But everybody’s mindset has to be, ‘Hey, how do we fix the mistakes, how do we move on and get that confidence back that we started with last week?’ And I think that’s what practice is for and the preparation is for.

Q. In terms of game planning, in TE Zach Ertz’s case, did you think on having Ertz for Monday or are you planning on not having him? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Everything’s got to be — you have to have double-plans out there. And so, without getting too much into that, it’s just everything has to be double-planned.

You have to back it up of what you want to have in. Do you want to be in 12-personnel, do you want to be in 11-personnel? And so you just have to back up everything.

And so that just means a little more preparation on some of the wideout spots. Maybe on [TE] Jack Stoll, also. But that’s just the way it goes in these scenarios.

And these happen all year, right? There’s a guy, he’s questionable. And you got to do the same things. This isn’t new to us. This is just something that we’ve had to do and the nature of the business in the NFL.

Q. Do you believe in bulletin board material? And that being the case, do you think your picture is going to be posted in the Dallas locker room? Obviously, you don’t even care because you’re wearing the shirt. I don’t know if it’s really real bulletin board material. (Howard Eskin)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I’m sure they’re going to have the picture of this shirt on there. And that’s fine. This is about a great rivalry. And that means a lot to this city, that means a lot to our building.

And it’s a division game. And with the rivalry and it being a division game, I don’t know if anyone needs — our side, their side needs any more bulletin board material or if it’s even going to help because we know how big the rivalry is and how much it means to both sides.

Q. Have you been asked about replacing DE Brandon Graham on the field? And in terms of leadership, what about the energy? Who’s going to be your energy guy now? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: It’s never just one person that’s, like, ‘Hey, he’s in, he’s out, you’re in, right?’ Especially with a person like BG. It’s by committee.

It’s going to be by committee in practice — or pardon me, on the field and in the play. And it’s going to be by committee by energy, as well.

So it’s just going to take everybody. It’s going to take a little more from the coaches, it’s going to take a little bit from Coach Rocker [Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker], Coach Wash [Director of player personnel/senior defensive assistant Jeremiah Washburn], Coach Gannon [Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon], a little more from Fletch [DT Fletcher Cox], Sweaty [DE Josh Sweat]. All right, so it’s just by a committee thing.

But it’s just a guy you’re going to always miss. He’s just a great — you guys know him. He’s a great person just to be around every single day. He’s always got a smile on his face, always great energy.

So, there’s no doubt we’ll miss him, but look forward to the challenge of everyone else stepping up without him here.

Q. You lost G Brandon Brooks, as well, on short-term IR. OL Landon Dickerson, really tough spot for him coming in. First week back at practice. Is he going to be the starter this week or is G Nate Herbig going to be involved or are you not at that point yet? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you saw what we did last week. You know, it’s going to be Landon. But Nate’s got to be ready just like he was last week. To be ready to go in, if anything else happens.

And so it was a good learning experience for Landon. I know he made the corrections and he’s looking forward to getting out there practicing today to get better.

Q. You mentioned TE Jack Stoll. What has he shown you when he’s gotten a few snaps the first couple of games? What has he shown you as far as his blocking? In the summer, it seemed like he caught the ball pretty well, too. (Reuben Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, he’s gritty and tough. And we love that on this team. We love those guys that are gritty and tough and they just do what they have to do to get their job done.

That’s what I felt out of him so far. There’s no doubt you think about Jack and I think — I think with Zach and with [TE] Dallas [Goedert] you’re, like, ‘Oh, Jack’s just a blocker.’ And that’s part of his role, but you’re right, he can catch the football.

He runs good routes. He’s technically sound. I think that — I’m really pleased that we have him on this team. And great job to our staff, our scouting staff of finding that undrafted free agent that’s made the team. That’s an awesome thing.

So, yeah, we got high hopes for Jack and we’re happy with the way he’s been playing in his role so far.

Q. What’s the toughest thing for a rookie wide receiver like WR DeVonta Smith, with the ups and downs with the season? I guess we kind of saw a little bit of in the first two games. (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: It’s just a different game. And so there are going to be some games where it’s tight and tight coverage. And you just got to get those reps of catching the ball in tight coverage.

And I’m not sure — I’m not saying that he had any drops there. It’s just different than what he’s experienced in the past.

And to be honest with you, though, the SEC is the closest thing to the NFL for a receiver because the coverage is tight in the SEC.

So, he’s not making a completely different — it’s not completely different. Like, I don’t want to name conferences, but SEC is the closest thing you can get to to the NFL when we look at receivers, when we look at corners, we always think about that.

It’s just that everything’s more contested, everything is a little tighter in and out of the break. Everything is contested at the catch point a little bit more.

And so those are the things that you got to get used to. And we do our best to simulate that in practice. And he’ll get used to that and keeping working on his game.

Q. Your offensive line starters are going to average about 50 pounds more than their defensive line starters per guy. Obviously, it matters if they are good or not, but do you look at something as basic as that and game plan towards it? (Jimmy Kempski)

NICK SIRIANNI: Sure. We’re always thinking about every matchup we’re going to get in a game. Whether it’s a — you know, it could be the size of a tight end versus a defensive end and the strength or the size of an offensive line, defensive line, or the speed of a running back and linebacker.

So, I mean, we’re looking at those things all the time. Everything is taken into account when game planning. And I said it in the past, it’s always about the players first.

And what you’re saying is exactly right, it’s player versus player. So it’s players and matchups and then plays. And that’s always taken into account.

Q. Does the SEC comparison translate to the offensive and defensive line when it comes to a guy like OL Landon Dickerson? (EJ Smith)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, yeah. I think that’s fair. I mean, I got — you know, there’s no secret. There are so many good players there in the SEC. And it’s always the one.

I always think of it a little bit more on the skill side, just because of the style of play. But I think that’s fair what you’re saying. But I guess I’ve always thought about wide receivers/DBs when I’m evaluating those two positions.

Q. How does QB Jalen Hurts take to when mistakes are pointed out on the film? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think he’s very coachable. Very, very coachable. And as a matter of fact, I don’t think that’s — I think this whole team is coachable.

And I think when you’re making corrections on film, as long as a coach — this is my job as a coach, is to — there’s a standard, right?

There’s a standard that is set on each play. There’s a — the job description on each play, we feel as coaches, are very defined. ‘Hey, here’s your job description on this play and here’s the standard.’ And we’re showing what that looks like. And we hold everybody accountable to that standard.

And so as long as it’s — everybody’s getting corrected, my experience with guys is everybody is coachable. Everybody is really coachable when the standard is set and then you hold the guys to that standard.

And when the standard is set and that standard is met, you get excited about it and celebrate it. And so that’s our style. And Jalen is no different than the guys on the team.

Q. To follow up, when I asked you after the game about holding the ball too long, when you were watching the tape, were there certain third down passes where you felt he had to rip it? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Again, he just made so many plays with his legs when things kind of – there was a thing that broke down here or there. I still didn’t feel that.

I mean, there’s one that we talked about we wanted him to set up a little bit earlier, Jeff. That we wanted his setup point to be a little earlier on a movement. But as far as holding it, I didn’t feel that, again, watching it. That was one of the deep balls to [WR] DeVonta [Smith].

Q. What’s the main takeaway you have from the offensive approach last week that you are going to apply moving forward starting Monday? (Tim McManus)

NICK SIRIANNI: One thing is that we work so – like, guys, the amount of time before we get into game planning Dallas, the amount of time that I spend self-correcting is a lot.

And I can only say – I mean, you just got to believe me. I spend a lot of time self-evaluating myself before I even do anything with the team.

So, the amount of time I beat myself up on calls, and, I mean, I drug myself through the mud pretty good this week. And for – you know, hey, I should have. There were plays that didn’t work.

But what I said to myself coming off of that, like, when I – because at some point, you got to switch. You got to switch your mode and be, like, ‘No, I’m here because I’m a good coach and I’m ready to go and get our guys in the best position to beat Dallas I possibly can.’

And there’s got to be a switch that flips. And so, what helped me this week is – just the preparation, like, ‘Hey, trust your preparation, trust what you did all week, trust the seven hours you spent on third down that you want to make that call. The other seven hours on red zone that you made educated decisions here, trust that process.’ Trust your process, stick to your gut, trust your process, be ready to adjust.

And that’s just – again, get better from the mistakes that you made. And so, that’s been the message to myself of – and then with the staff, just continuing to use the guys on this staff that have play calling experience and that are good at what they do.

I look at Jim Bob [Cooter], he’s coming out right now, he’s got play calling experience, [Eagles Offensive Coordinator] Shane [Steichen] has play call experience, [Eagles Passing Game Coordinator] Kevin [Patullo] has it, [Eagles Tight Ends Coach] Jason [Michael] has play calling experience. [Eagles Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland] Stout has good experience there. [Eagles Quarterbacks Coach] Brian Johnson has play calling experience.

I mean, my goodness, I got great guys at my disposal to help me make good decisions. And so, my thought is there, again, trust your process of what I went through and what this staff has went through all week and then lean on guys that have had good experience calling plays in this league.

Q. As far as that self-correction, from your perspective, you may have heard it, you may not have heard it, but attacking the middle of the field, do you make notes, like, ‘I got to get to this, I got to put this on film?’ Or how do you approach that? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: You always self-scout yourself and you don’t ever want to be predictable to the defense. Again, it’s sometimes, like, ‘Hey, what are they giving you and what are your players good at?’

And it’s more about what they’re giving you. It’s both/and. But sometimes, the middle of the field is not there for you to take. So, I don’t get too caught up in that.

But, yes, you’re always self-scouting yourself. It’s, like, hitting the play in the middle is very similar to the scenario of, ‘Hey, every time I’m strong in the gun, I run this.’

You want to correct that so that the defense doesn’t have a tell on you. And that’s every phase of the game.

Q. Would you like to see QB Jalen Hurts run a little bit less? He leads you guys in rushing right now and you talk about that he’s trying to get a feel for things — (Jeff Skversky)

NICK SIRIANNI: I really believe that he’s going through his reads and making his reads. If something breaks down upfront, he runs.

Or he had a scramble play to DeVonta and he threw it. I know we gained seven yards on that. So, I don’t feel like – like, I would feel that way if I felt like he was unnecessarily leaving the pocket.

And you don’t have to have something break down. It’s also the play wasn’t there. Like, in the case of him and [TE] Dallas [Goedert] in the Atlanta game on the touchdown, the play wasn’t there. He made something happen because he had to.

And so, I’m good with how he’s playing the game right now because I don’t believe he’s leaving the pocket early. He’s leaving the pocket out of necessity.

Q. In DE Josh Sweat’s case, we haven’t asked you about his new deal. How soon after you got here did you identify him as someone you want here long term? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Oh, he’s a guy you get – you look at guys and you’re, like, ‘That guy can ball.’ And you get around him at practice and you see what type of person, leader and player he is. Right away, he passed the look-test right away. You guys see that.

And then just every day at practice, showing us who he was day in, day out at practice has helped us, as well.