Nick Sirianni

Q. I know you’ve mentioned about your son and how excited he was during the Phillies’ run. I’m just curious if he’s bought into what’s happening across the street with the Sixers and the Flyers? (Rob Kuestner)

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, we’re all excited. My kids are excited. I know that one thing they get really excited about is that they get to stay up a little bit later to watch into a couple periods or into halftime of the Sixers game. So yeah, it’s an exciting time. It’s an exciting time. We’re pulling for them and wishing them luck and looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. Now that you’ve gotten to see Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion in front of some players a little bit more, what stands out about his approach in front of a room? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, you do your homework, you go through the process, and then you get to see these things before even the players get in here with the way they present in front of the coaching staff and with me. I think he’s just got a good confidence, calm confidence, conviction about the way he goes about it, very detailed, and it has been fun. It’s been fun sitting in the back of the room listening to him talk, listening to him at install and building a connection with the guys. He’s done a good job so far and just got to keep stacking days upon days.

Q. Now that you’ve done this for a while, how has this sort of onboarding process, has it changed for you at all? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: Your processes change and tweak over time. You’re constantly thinking of ways to get better. I think at the end of the day though, this weekend with these rookies is about establishing the behaviors that are important to winning football games and trying to get those behaviors [to] become their habits. We show them what– I mean, really at the end of the day, we show them and tell them what we kind of think. The ‘tough, detailed and together;’ that’s the easy part. Show and tell is easy. Now, the hard part is being relentless of coming back to those behaviors and those actions every day, living those things. Then when there is turmoil, doubling down on those things and being aligned there.

But it is a very important part of the process to make sure that the job description’s very clear. Again, like I said, you’re just trying to develop these habits that you know are important, that result with wins and losses. Has the process changed throughout the years as we enter year six into rookie minicamp as me being the head coach? Yeah, there’s been tweaks, but the general principles and the goals of what we’re trying to accomplish this weekend remain the same.

Q. What’s the first impressions of DT Uar Bernard on and off the field? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: Again, with all these guys, you’re getting to know them. You’re getting to see them, talk to them, connect with them. There’s a lot of information coming at them right now, but excited to have him here, just like we said after we drafted him. Excited to have him here. Really excited about that. You talk about being able to develop habits and things like that. There [are] things that are brand new to him, so that’s an exciting thing. Excited to have him here and look forward to working with all these guys.

Q. What stands out about WR Makai Lemon and TE Eli Stowers both in the few days you’ve had them here and then maybe on the field from what you saw today? (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: It’s early. It’s really early. These guys are doing everything they can do to get themselves ready to go out there and know what to do, first and foremost, so they can let their talent shine. Both of those guys did a nice job today, did a nice job in meetings, being able to answer questions both in position meetings and in offensive meetings. Just like you are, looking forward to getting to know them better and looking forward to continuing to see them grow as players. That’s our job as coaches is to develop these guys to help them reach another level as a player. That’s what we’re working on right now with that and with all the guys right now.

Q. What was it like working with former Assistant General Manager Alec Halaby for the last five years and what do you think about his departure? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: I really value and will miss Alec. I can’t say enough good things about Alec. Really enjoyed the time that I spent with him. Gave me great insight of the way he saw things and was able to communicate things with me. Good friend, good teammate, and I wish him the best. I’m going to miss him.

Q. The league gives you 10 OTAs, three days of minicamp. Why not use the full allotment, especially in a year with a new offense? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: You have to do different things to make sure you’re looking at it from a big picture standpoint. It’s just what I’ve decided of what’s the best decision for this football team in the offseason to make sure that they have enough time after OTAs, after minicamp and that summertime to get the things done that they need to get done in that time. We’ve stuck to that schedule of the way we kind of go about that. We’ve had a lot of success as far as the way our injuries and the way our health of our football team has [gone].

Again, that doesn’t mean there’s not tweaks to the schedule as far as what you do because you’re constantly looking at ways to get better, but you do follow a format when things are going well as far as how we come out of camp and into the season and all those different things. Listen, there [are] no shortcuts.

You have to work your butt off to get better. To work your butt off, it’s not just the practice time, it’s the extra time that you put in as a player, as a coach, because everyone’s practicing. What are you doing extra? That’s kind of what I said to the guys today. What are you doing extra to continue to get better? That practice time is a very important part of it as well, but there is a balance between the time that you put in with practice and then the duration of a season. That’s where we are and why we are where we are.

Q. What do you like about the group of undrafted free agents that you’ve assembled? (Olivia Reiner)

Nick Sirianni: Our scouts do a great job of finding tools, guys that have tools in their body and guys that love the game of football and are tough and all the intangibles as well. You get some guys I think that have tools in their body, and excited to work with these guys. Like I said, it’s day one and to say who looked good out there, who are you excited to work with; I’m excited to work with every one of these guys and teach them the way we do things here at the Philadelphia Eagles. Just looking forward to that.

Like I also said, our scouts do a great job of finding guys that have talent in their body, [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] does a great job of finding guys who have talent in their body that can [be developed]. I think that you’ve seen it every year that we’ve been here, we’ve been able to have guys that are undrafted free agents that make it, whether that’s [NFL CB] Josh Jobe or [NFL S] Reed Blankenship or [NFL TE] Jack Stoll. I’m missing a bunch of guys, but those are the first three that I thought of. [Former Eagles CB] Eli Ricks, a bunch of guys that have made this team. It’s exciting to see the first steps of who’s going to kind of emerge from that group.

Q. Are there any challenges from a coaching perspective with a lefty quarterback when he gets thrown in the mix? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: No, I think that you do as much as you possibly can to balance things out. Now, a righty, you may boot a little bit more right than you do left and vice versa for a lefty. But I think a lot of coaches too also balance that out because they know they have that tendency sometimes to make them go the opposite way. I think the hardest thing, having a son who’s a lefty and plays quarterback, the hardest thing is trying to show him some things in his drop, and you try to flip it around and you kind of are feeling unnatural doing it that way. I think that sometimes is the hardest thing, but no, I don’t think that that’s been an issue and is not an issue for us here with [QB] Cole [Payton].

Q. I’ve asked you this in past, but you have 30 tryout players and a very small window to look at these guys. What do they have to do to sort of open your eyes? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: We really want to make sure that we’re getting work in here and getting them, again, these habits started and getting them running plays to start that process. How many times can they get an opportunity to call a certain play and run a certain play both offensively and defensively? We think it’s important. I know that some of the league doesn’t do rookie minicamp quite as much. We still think that’s an important part of the process for many different reasons.

We think it’s really important to be able to bring guys in because they’re not in football shape right now. We think it’s important to bring a wide variety of guys in so you’re able to practice because if you just had one deep in this camp, we’d wear these guys out pretty darn quick. It is important, and it’s important to also be able to cast a wide net and have different types of players in here that you’ve had your eye on or that have popped on tape for different things, and to be able to get a look at them and see if you can steal a guy that way. I think that’s always exciting to bring those guys in, one, so you can practice, but two, to see if you can get a steal out there in some way, some shape, some form.

Q. In the past 24 hours, has there been a moment that’s shown what DT Uar Bernard’s embarking on? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: I was over there with him in drills a little bit today. It’s all new to him. I think it’s all new to him. He hadn’t played football before, so I don’t think there’s been an, ‘Aha, whoa, that looked really new.’ But yeah, everything’s new to him. From putting on your helmet to however that is and the drills and getting in a stance and being in a huddle, it’s all new to him.

Q. So from a coach’s perspective, is that the ultimate challenge? Because at the end of the day when you’re at the pro level, you kind of expect that guys have reached a certain level of accomplishment and yet he hasn’t? (Rob Kuestner)

Nick Sirianni: I think it’s really important to start at phase one with everything and everybody and not assume. I think when you assume this guy’s been taught tackling or the way that we want — because he’s had a good coach in college, this is just speaking to anybody, but they might not teach tackling or ball security or takeaways the same way that we do. There’s an element of newness for everybody.

I think one thing that’s very eye-opening is watching these guys go through ball security drills and then comparing it against our guys that have been doing it for the last handful of years and the vast difference of what that looks like. There’s an element of newness to everybody, and we try to start at square one for everybody, just like you would — [LB] Zack Baun knows the defense inside and out, but back when we get back here at this stage and we’re in day one of phase one, we’re starting from ground zero. It’s the same thing with our fundamentals, and it’s the same thing with everything.

I think it’s a challenge for us as coaches to get everybody caught up to speed. The guys that have been here back to where they were, try to get them back to where they were as quick as they can at the end of the year and the guys that are brand new to this to try to catch them up as quick as we possibly can.

Q. Did you guys make sure that P Luke Akers had to wear number two? (Bo Wulf)

Nick Sirianni: No, but that’s pretty cool, right? He punted the ball really well today. I know that.

Q. The veterans, have you noticed anything because you’ve had a longer offseason and last year with the Super Bowl and everything, just about their conditioning, their mental state and everything like that? (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, they’re hungry. They’re hungry and they’re hungry to be back here. They’re hungry to continue to connect with each other, connect with their new teammates. I’ve really seen them spend a lot of time together knowing how important this phase of the offseason is to be able to come together as a team. Sometimes in the season, you don’t have these opportunities that you work till midday and then you’ve got a long portion of the day to be able to do some things with your teammates.

I’ve seen them really working hard at that because we know how important that piece is for our football team to come together as a football team. They’re working really hard at that. They’re working really hard in the weight room. I wouldn’t say I notice a different level of conditioning. Everything starts right back at the beginning and we’re building it as if we’re starting from square one again. Not only in the schemes, not only a new scheme with offense, the same [with] scheme on defense, same [with] scheme on special teams, same thing with our strength and conditioning, same thing with our core values, same thing with our relationships.