Nick Sirianni

Q. Nick, you talk a lot about how important these practices are and what you guys get from them. What’d you think of your team’s performance yesterday? The first day of practices. (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah. I thought it was really good back and forth. Great to get this work in against a good team and get it in against coaches that I got a lot of respect for Cleveland Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski and the things that they do and so it was really good work and good back and forth yesterday. Great opportunity to evaluate our players against different players, so we got a lot of good work in yesterday.

Q. What’d you think of the offense specifically? (Eliot Shorr-Parks)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, again, there’s some ups, there’s some downs. That’s how any practice is going to go. I thought we did some good things running the football. I thought we had a couple too many negative plays. It’s hard to score points when you move backwards, so that’s always our goal and what we talk about in training camp or even any practice review or game review in the season. ‘How do you eliminate bad football and how do you eliminate those types of things that move you backwards?’ So that’s always our goal.

Q. You’re going to be without G Landon Dickerson for a while. How do you feel about left guard, how it’s evolving and how you feel about the position as a whole? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I like our depth at the offensive line position. We got a lot of guys that we feel good about and that we trust and that’s as a whole over there. I feel that way about a lot of our team with the depth of our football team and so this is a good opportunity for guys to work. Get in there with different guys, meaning different second team guys working with first team guys, so yeah. But I feel really good about the depth that we have on that offensive line.

Q. Did WR A.J. Brown have a setback? Is that why he didn’t practice? (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: Our goal is to get all these guys ready and be firing all cylinders when the season hits and not going to get into too much of that stuff. He’s working through some things and he’ll be back out there when he can.

Q. Is OL Brett Toth the guy if G Landon Dickerson is not out there, or are you guys cycling with different players at that? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: Again, I like the depth that we have there. Don’t have to name any starters or any backups at any position. Brett’s done a nice job and I like the depth that we have at that position and I know we have options there, but you asked about Brett, I think Brett’s doing a really good job and he’s got a lot of versatility.

Q. How do you balance the evaluation process? Maybe seeing other guys in there at left guard versus getting whoever is going to play there if you need it? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I think it’s one and the same. When you’re getting guys ready to go, you could evaluate them and I don’t think, yeah, it’s one and the same.

Q. How much can you tell about a player by how they react to going up against different guys that they’re not familiar with and haven’t seen? How much does that feel about? (Reuben Frank)

Nick Sirianni: You’re getting different, it’s not only a different guy that they’re going against, but it’s different schemes, right? Different looks. You can’t get enough of that and that’s how the season’s played, right? You’re going against a certain type of front or a certain type of offense or defense and then the next week it changes. So not only is it and obviously the guys change every week, it’s good for us to be able to do that and get that work.

Q. As far as the cornerbacks go, where are you in balancing that, ‘Hey, competition is a good thing versus you’d like to see someone sort of separate themselves a little bit at this point?’ (Jeff Neiburg)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, again, feel good about the depth in the room and feel good about the pieces that we have that are competing. Yeah, I know you guys want that answer and are looking for it now, we don’t have to come up with that answer for a while now. We still got some time to come up with that, so everything’s a competition. That doesn’t mean we don’t try to put the pieces where we think they should go as it’s playing out, but yeah, it’s just we’re not in as a bigger rush of doing that as you guys are, I guess to say.

Q. In terms of the offense being ready for a few weeks from now, how concerning is it that WR AJ Brown and WR DeVonta Smith haven’t had that many reps on the field together this training camp? (Dave Uram)

Nick Sirianni: That’s the ebbs and flows of training camp. I think if you look around the entire league, that’s probably happened. That’s happened here the last four years and every year that I’ve ever been involved in training camp, you get some guys that are in, they’re out. As far as them being in together, yeah, it’s great when those guys are in together so I don’t look at it that way. I just look at everybody’s on their own schedule. Everybody’s on a different schedule based off their health and different things like that. So we look forward to getting him back on the field when he comes back.

Q. What has stood out to you about WR Johnny Wilson’s development? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I think that Johnny can be used as an example, meaning Johnny got drafted as a wide receiver, but he contributed as a rookie in other ways, right? As playing wide receiver, but maybe not in the ways he contributed at Florida State. It was different, he had to find his role that was for this team and also on special teams. I think that’s a great example of how are you contributing and how are you playing your role? Are you mastering your role and doing what’s best for the football team? I think Johnny’s a good example of that.

Then that gives you time when you’re able to take the role that you have and be an excel at it. Well, that gives you time to develop in other areas like a pass catcher and I think that we’re seeing that. I think we’re seeing him make some plays as a receiver now, expanding his role, and we’ll see how that continues to go. But I think that’s just a good example of what I talked about and then also just the patience of that. This league, sometimes we forget that it takes time to develop as a player, as a coach and all sorts of things. So I think we’re continuing to see him grow.

Q. With the depth at wide receiver how difficult is that future decision becoming? You are going to have to trim the roster, with WR Terrace Marshall coming back and I think you guys opened with five last year, conversations, what goes into that? (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, just everything is a daily discussion. We love the competition part of it. I think, again, I think we talk about you can’t be great without the greatness of others. Well, that doesn’t just apply to [RB] Saquon [Barkley] running the football behind a great offensive line or [WR] AJ [Brown] and getting one-on-one looks because they’re crowding in the box to stop the run game. That also applies to competition. You get better through competition. That’s another form of you can’t be great without the greatness of others. [WR] Terrace having a good camp is going to force [WR] Johnny [Wilson] to have a good camp and is going to force [WR] Ainias [Smith] to have a good camp is going to force [WR] Darius Cooper to have a good camp, and that just elevates the entire room. I love that about, that phrase is true in so many ways.

Q. This is your fourth straight year with a new play caller, does your relationship, Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo, make it an easier transition? (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, had the same relationship, obviously with [Indianapolis Colts Head Coach] Shane [Steichen], very similar. Shane probably my relationship, very similar to [Offensive Coordinator] Kevin Patullo and I, and then [Washington Commanders Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Pass Game Coordinator] Brian [Johnson] also had been here. [New Orleans Saints Head Coach] Kellen [Moore] was the only one that out of those, that entire group, including Kevin, that was somebody that was new in the off season. I think there’s advantages to that most definitely. There’s advantages to knowing some of the things that have worked for us, some of the things that haven’t worked for us, the relationship he has with the players, the flow of a football game. I think, like I told you guys, after that last game, the flow was seamless, but Kevin and I have been doing that flow, even though Kevin wasn’t calling the plays for the last eight years, really at the end of the day. And so yeah, you’re confident about those things.

Q. What did you see from the running game yesterday, especially with RB A.J. Dillon and RB Will Shipley and how they did? (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: I felt like we different style front than we’re playing against in practice, so I thought it was a nice job by the offensive line, understanding that style. Did a great job of coaching that up. One thing I was really impressed by was just you look for your habits to reflect in each practice. I was really impressed with just the way we carried the football, meaning just the fundamentals of carrying the football. We just were crisp at that part, right. We obviously spent a lot of time talking about that, drilling that, reviewing that on tape, and I thought that really showed up yesterday, whether it was Saquon with the ball in his hands, whether that was A.J., whether that was Will, it just really crisp there. That’s something I pointed out in the practice tape yesterday, just how clean that was.

It was also, that it looked the same when DeVonta had the ball in his hands, and when [TE] Kylen Granson had the ball on his hands, [TE] Grant Calcaterra and [TE] Dallas [Goedert]. That’s what I was pleased about with that. Our fundamentals look really sharp, but it was good, to go against a different style of defense and be able to go through that course.

I thought our combo blocks were good against a really good defensive line. Obviously [Cleveland Browns Defensive Coordinator] Coach Schwartz got a ton of respect for him, and you look around his defenses over the years, they’re always good on the defensive line. It was a good challenge for us on that aspect. Like I said, had a couple too many negative plays, but there’s a lot of different things that contribute to that.

Q. Do you see less of a learning curve for QB Jalen Hurts this summer? And if so, what does that look like and how do you see that? (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: I think [QB] Jalen [Hurts]’s doing a really nice job. I really think he’s doing a good job of continuing to master the offense. That’s something that you can always continue to get better at. Going through your reads, getting through your reads, not putting the ball at risk and the more reps he gets at a certain play, those all build up. A lot of similar things, a lot of new wrinkles too that our future opponents won’t see until they play us game one, game two, game three. So yeah, I feel like it’s been a good transition. I think Jalen and I’ll let them talk about their relationship as far as, but I know that they’ve always had a good relationship and it’s cool to watch. You guys can ask them more, but it’s cool to watch them interact on a daily basis, whether it’s in the meeting room, whether it’s on the field, whether it’s in, I’ll stop by Kevin’s [Patullo] office. Jalen will be in there. Yeah, it’s great.

Q. Talked yesterday about the impact that Quarterbacks Coach Scot Loeffler left has had on in terms of his approach. Is there a certain area of way Scot handles coaching that stands out to you the most? (Cayden Steele)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, Scot is relentless on the details and fundamentals of playing the quarterback position. I mean, relentless, I’m not sure he sleeps. Yeah, sometimes you can tell in his eyes they’re heavy, but I know he’s in there just grinding all the time. Just relentless in his approach, he’s going to have something for him after every single play. My experience is guys want to be coached and they want to be coached hard and they want to get better and all your best players definitely want that. Jalen is definitely that. He wants to get better and I value that Scot’s doing the job that he’s doing and helping Jalen get better.

Q. I respect that you say there’s a lot of time, but you play a game three weeks from today, you have three practices next week and then camp is essentially over. In your experience, how long does it take for you to decide who’s playing? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I guess Zach, that was just my nice way of telling you that I’m not going to give you any information.