Nick Sirianni

Q. Last week WR A.J. Brown, I think jokingly, said that when you were coming into a meeting room, the rookies would look up straight and get very serious. What has the reaction been when you bounce around rooms in terms of reactions? (Rob Kuestner)

NICK SIRIANNI: I guess I don’t notice if the rookies do that. That’s not always a bad thing if they straighten up a little bit more when I’m in there. But no, the reaction is just, again, you’re trying to see everything that’s going on and listening to different coaches. One of my jobs is to coach the coaches, right? And so, when I’m in a meeting room, afterwards I’ll give them some pointers on, ‘Hey, this was really good,’ ‘This was outstanding,’ ‘Hey, maybe next time when you’re trying to get this point across, show this tape, this clip,’ or something like that.

Then it is, it’s just naturally in meetings, if you’re serious, serious, serious in a meeting, no there’s a flow to a meeting. There’s times to be completely serious. There’s times the guys are going to joke around together, bam, back into serious, so you just get to be involved in that, and that’s just building the connection and being a part of the team.

Q. Do you plan on looking at T Mekhi Becton on that right side at all? (Bob Brookover)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, he’s going to get some work in there today. I’m looking forward to that. Mekhi has had a good camp so far and looking forward to getting him some work next to [T] Lane [Johnson] and continuing to work forward with that.

As bummed as we are that [G/T Tyler] Steen is going to be out for a little bit– and not giving the timeline there. It shouldn’t be something that’s long– give other people opportunities to work, and Mekhi is going to be one of those guys.

Q. What’s been your assessment of QB Jalen Hurts early in camp? Has he looked pretty sharp from your perspective? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think he’s looked really sharp. He’s been in complete command of the offense. I’ve really liked that some of the plays that he has where it’s not the — obviously you’ve seen him on the deep ball, the intermediate, the short passes — but some of the ones that I really like is if there’s a little bit of a pressure he slides his feet, and he hits [RB] Saquon [Barkley] on a check down or [RB] Kenny [Gainwell] on a check down.

I think he’s had a really good camp so far. I’m really excited for him to continue that. There’s ebbs and flows in camp and he’s been on the high end for the last four days, so really excited about him and how he’s looked so far.

Q. It seems like there’s been an added emphasis on conditioning so far these first three days. Has that been a directive from you? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah. So obviously, one thing that’s really important to us is we play with relentless effort and with great toughness and with great detail. Toughness, detail, those are part of our core values. You can’t play with relentless effort without being in great shape. You can’t play with great detail without being in great shape. You can’t have population to the football on defense where they’re constantly running to the football without being in great shape.

Yeah, we’ve made a push there as far as doing some extra conditioning. Conditioning doesn’t have to look like gassers, right? Where they’re just lining up on the line and running back and forth. It can look different ways, whether that’s in periods, like you see some of the periods that we’re doing — I actually got the idea for the period that we’re doing from my buddy from high school that he used to do in wrestling.

So, it’s kind of a simulation of what he used to do in wrestling, what he does with his team. He’s a high school football coach now. Actually another couple of our guys on staff have done a version of this, too, and I think it’s good for us because we’re getting plays while we’re conditioning. We’re getting work on our detail while we’re conditioning.

Again, to be able to do what we want to do and play to our core values of detail and toughness, we have to be in great shape.

Q. What has changed in the plus-one game quarterback run game this season for QB Jalen Hurts to be more successful than he was last year, or the offense in general to be more successful? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you know, again, the things that we’re doing in the quarterback run game, there are a lot of similarities in the things that we’re doing from last year, and then there’s also some new wrinkles that we’re able to have.

I wouldn’t say it’s been a huge change as far as the quarterback-run game goes, but there are definitely new wrinkles and new ways to get to things and new ways to hide things and new ways to disguise things.

When you hide things and disguise things kind of like what we’re doing right now, the points change sometimes. The way the math plays out changes sometimes because the defense has to react to the motion or to the shift or to the different formation or different personnel group that we’re in.

Q. What’s been your assessment so far of the receivers outside of WR DeVonta Smith and WR A.J. Brown? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I’m really excited about this group. I really am. Without going into detail of all the guys, I think that everyone brings a little different skill set to the table that everybody can contribute to.

[WR] Paris [Campbell] has had success in this league through different things that he’s done. He has toughness. He has speed. [WR] John Ross has got excellent speed. [WR] Johnny Wilson, big, physical, can bring an element of toughness and blocking to the group. [WR] Britian Covey has had a nice camp thus far. He’s got some great quickness, and you can see how he is with the ball in his hands.

You get to see that every Sunday, and you got to see that the last two years every Sunday with the way he is with the ball in his hands. [WR] Ainias [Smith], we’re excited about the things we saw on him on tape, and he’s working to keep getting better. [WR] Joe [Joseph] Ngata has had some bright spots in the camp and he’s big and he’s physical, similar to some of the things we talk about with Johnny Wilson.

And I like the back end, the other guys, too — I wouldn’t say back end, the guys that just kind of became part of the Eagles from other teams. I’m looking at [WR] Austin Watkins right now, [WR] Jacob Harris, so I’m excited about all these guys, to work with all these guys. Now I’ve got to mention everybody because I have two more guys in there. [WR] Shaq [Shaquan] Davis I’m excited about, too, and [WR] Griff [Griffin Hebert].

Again, it’s a good group, one of the best groups I’ve had 1 through 13 in my time in the NFL, and they all bring different and I’ll be excited to see how that plays out as we go through the rest of camp.

Q. How much of a setback is it for G/T Tyler Steen, new position as a starter, to miss any time this time of year? (Reuben Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Obviously anytime you miss time, it’s going to be a setback. I’m not going to sit here and say that it’s not. But that’s football. You’re going to have that with a lot of guys. So, what’s important is — they can’t control that now, right. That’s done. He can only control the things he can, which is his rehab in there, which is coming out here to practice and getting the mental reps, which is going to walk-throughs and getting the mental reps, being highly detailed in the meetings. The thing that he’s missing out on, as we talk about ways to get better each day, we talk about high detail in meetings, we talk about full speed to the snap in walk-through. We talk about high intensity at practice. We talk about being intentional about our core values. He can still do three of the four.

But yeah, it hurts that he’s not in there right now getting those full-speed reps because you get better at football by playing football, but I know he’ll do the right things, and I know his coaches — we’ll keep him on track. We had a great training staff with [Vice President of Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer] Tom [Hunkele] and the guys in there and the girls in there. I know he’ll be back as soon as he possibly can.

Q. For the past few summers, you’ve spoken about throwing the ball to the backs and it hasn’t often materialized. Is that something you want to be a function of the scheme or organic within the progression? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, sometimes you can force that to be a function of the scheme and sometimes it is part of the progression. If you look around the backs, around the NFL, I think you’ll see a lot, like, they are part of the progression. The check-down is the way they get the ball, but it needs to be both.

We know we have the backs capable of being able to get the ball in the pass game. They’re going to get their touches in the run game. They’ll get their touches in the screen game but then being part of that pass game, and we’re looking forward to that with the guys that we have — the pass game offense is still going to run through [WR] DeVonta [Smith], [WR] A.J. [Brown], [TE] Dallas [Goedert], and then who’s the committee of No. 3 receiver, who’s the second tight end, who’s the back that we’re trying to get the ball to start things off in the pass game.

I know this is cliche, but there are only so many plays in a football game, and there is only one ball. But we do think we have the guys here in all those positions to contribute and help make plays.

Q. With C/G Cam Jurgens over the last couple years and recently, what are some of the things that you’ve seen that tell you he’s comfortable and confident and prepared for the moment that he’s in? (Brooks Kubena)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, this isn’t his first rodeo. He played all last year. I know he missed a couple games due to injury, but for the last two years he’s sat behind one of the greatest centers of all time in [former Eagles C] Jason [Kelce] and learned from him. Shoot, you ask me would you like to sit right there with [Kansas City Chiefs head coach] Andy Reid, would you like to sit right there with [former New England Patriots head coach] Bill Belichick, would you like to sit right there with [former San Francisco 49ers head coach] Bill Walsh and learn for a couple years? Yeah, that would be great.

Obviously, he was able to do that, but also he played meaningful snaps. So, it’s not a projection. He played meaningful snaps, and he played some good football. So, it’s not a projection of what he can do. Now, is it a different position? Of course it is. But we’re excited about him. He works his butt off. He works hard. We’re really excited about his progression, the things that he’s doing at practice, look forward to when the pads get on. We’ll get our last day of our acclimation period today and then we’ll get our pads on tomorrow and a lot will be said.

Q. How do you handle a situation like CB James Bradberry’s, a former all-pro, seems to be down on the depth chart at his position. I would imagine it’s tough in part for him. How do you handle that as a coach? (Tim McManus)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I’m excited that we’ve seen guys go from corner to safety or corner to nickel or nickel to safety in their careers, so I’m excited for this opportunity for him. You’re right, he has been an all-pro, right, and that wasn’t that long ago.

I’m excited for this opportunity. He’s done some good things out in the field. He’s really picked it up, and he’s a really smart player.

The depth chart, he’s working with the twos right now, but that’s fluid. That can change, and you’re always going to need depth, and there’s always going to be competition. So, I’m excited for this opportunity for him.

He’s handled it great, and he just wants to continue to contribute, and he still has the ability to do things at corner.

That versatility will play well for us in the secondary.

Q. You’re doing a lot of mixing and matching on defense. What has stood out to you or who has stood out to you on that side of the ball with all this mixing and matching going on? (Ed Kracz)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, again, we’re looking for guys to play with great detail, great toughness. I’ve seen the toughness really show up. I’ll single out a couple of the defensive ends where I’ve really seen that toughness really show up, that physical toughness, that relentless effort. [OLB] Patrick Johnson, [OLB] Nolan Smith, [OLB] Jalyx Hunt. I’ve really seen them hustling to the football, just the relentless effort and the toughness really shows up with those three guys and been excited.

There was a lot of mixing and matching and we’re trying to get an evaluation on everybody as guys learn how to play together.

But I would single those guys out as far as their relentless effort, their toughness that they’ve been playing with throughout camp.

Q. On the conditioning stuff, just to circle back on it, what goes into the planning for that when you know you want to ratchet it up? Do you have to talk to the sports science group to see how far you can push the guys? How does that work? (Bo Wulf)

NICK SIRIANNI: Sure, you take all the information you’re going to get, but at the end of the day I have to make the decisions. It’s like anything, any product that’s out on the field, my name is on it, and that’s my responsibility. So, you take a little bit from everybody. You talk to the trainers. You talk to the sports science. You talk to the guys and see how they’re feeling, you talk to the position coaches, see what you think their shape is in.

Again, we came back in great shape. The guys killed the conditioning test. They crushed it. They came back at the right weights. So, we felt like we’re in a good place right now to be able to push them.

It always comes down to how the guys feel, and so I have to listen to a lot of different opinions of what everyone’s thought is because I’d be foolish not to because it’s a collaboration, but at the end of the day I have to say, hey, this is what we’re going to do today, and sometimes it’s like — you can see it sometimes with players, like oh, shoot, we’re doing this. But the only thing we’re trying to do is help them be in the best shapes of their lives so they can play, again, with that great detail and that great toughness we talk about.