Nick Sirianni

Q. Have you seen Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Shane Steichen? (Ed Kracz)

NICK SIRIANNI: [Jokingly] Yeah, I saw him, that ‘son of a gun!’ Yeah, we had a little staff get-together yesterday here just to kind of go over practice and everything like that, so it was good to see him and the guys on the staff that I was with, as well.

Q. During your time with Shane Steichen, what’s one thing that you learned or took away from the way he does things? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: Obviously, I was with Shane a long time, all the way back to the Chargers.

He was just very meticulous in everything that he did, a good friend and meticulous in everything that he did, always looking for every answer he could possibly get, and that’s what I remember about him.

Q. What factored into going down to one punter? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Obviously, there were some things — sometimes it’s roster spots that you need roster spots here and there, and so that went into the play. At that point in time, we thought that [P] Arryn [Siposs] had done enough that we have seen, and then it comes into a numbers game with some guys that got dinged and need numbers somewhere else.

Q. With CB Zech McPhearson, kind of a jack-of-all-trades. What does that injury mean to the team, and does it impact it maybe more than the average fan? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Obviously anytime somebody goes down with an injury that’s going to keep him out a year, your heart feels for them. Having gone through injuries, I think as some of us coaches have, that prepares you for those conversations because I know my own self how hard it is to be out for an entire season.

First and foremost, it’s just that you feel for the kid because you know what he’s about to have to go through. But as far as — he’s been a key contributor to this team for the past two years, and so obviously we’ll miss those contributions that he gave to us, not only as depth at corner but also on special teams.

Q. LB Myles Jack seemed really excited when he got here a couple weeks ago. What was his message to you about why he wanted to hang it up? (Reuben Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Sometimes it’s just time. I obviously won’t get into any private conversations that we have together, but felt like it was his time to not play anymore. So, you always have to respect that decision, as disappointed as we may be, because to do that now is when it should happen, right, because you don’t want it to happen later in the year.

For him, it was just time and I respect that decision.

Q. With LB Shaun Bradley and CB Zech McPhearson out, what’s the plan as far as the special teams unit … (inaudible)? (Mike Sielski)

NICK SIRIANNI: Sure, yeah, the next man up. Next man up there. Got some guys that we feel really good about, with some different guys that have been in the mix here at both corner and at linebacker, and looking forward — we’re really happy with the guys that we have, and that’s credit to [Executive Vice President/ General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and his staff, the amount of depth that we have here.

The sad part is when a guy gets hurt, right, and then the exciting part is somebody else has an opportunity.

Q. Are you ready to say that C/G Cam Jurgens is your right guard? (Bo Wulf)

NICK SIRIANNI: [Jokingly] Nope. Cam is our right guard. I mean, geez, he’s been in there every snap. [Jokingly] Now I’m going to start yelling at you guys.

Q. What are you waiting for? (Mike Sielski)

NICK SIRIANNI: I don’t need to make a decision. I don’t have to say anything.

Q. Speaking of making decisions, safety. It’s late August, opposite S Reed Blankenship, it’s still rotating. Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai said that was the plan. Shouldn’t you be whittling things down by this point? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Shouldn’t we be? [To Senior Vice President, Communications Bob Lange] How much time do we have until that first game?

BOB LANGE: 22 days.

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah.

Q. What’s the time limit on your disillusionment with the Colts organization over how they treated Frank Reich? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: No hard feelings anywhere. I have a lot of good people in this [Colts] organization that I’m looking forward to saying hello to after we practice against them and even guys I coached with in the past that are on the staff.

Sometimes I get emotional after games.

Q. A lot of players have talked about how excited they are for DT Jalen Carter, seeing him play. How have you seen him handling that behind the scenes? (EJ Smith)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think he’s [DT Jalen Carter] fitting in really well with the team. It obviously helps that he’s got guys that he came here with that he knows well. He’s done a good job so far. Haven’t played any games yet, but we’re looking forward to the contributions that he’s going to make because I think that he’s shown that he’s really going to be able to help us. But he’s just got to put his head down and keep getting better every day, which I know he will because he’s done it the last two months here.

Q. The schedule does change after today. What’s your biggest takeaway or what have you learned about the team over the past few weeks? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think, again, you just learn a little bit more what you do well, what you might not do well, what you want to focus on. So that’s the constant thing you’re doing during this time period, right, is focusing on hey, what are we doing well, what do we need to get better at, what do we need to scrap.

It’s the constant evaluation of the players on your team and the schemes of your team and what fits your players.

Besides that, you have to be really intentional about relationships and connecting, and so I’ve noticed our guys have done that, of really knowing that. One thing that we were really good at last year was being a team, and you feel the same things here, and I feel like they’re just working hard not only in the process of football but also hard off the field creating those relationships.

Q. The way Indianapolis Colts Head Coach/ Former Eagles Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen kind of has helped QB Jalen Hurts develop over the last two years, what do you think with Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson, how he has developed? (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Obviously I’ve never even seen [Indianapolis Colts QB] Anthony [Richardson] practice or anything like that, but I know he’s in really good hands with [Indianapolis Colts Head Coach/Former Eagles Offensive Coordinator] Shane [Steichen], and Shane’s resume and what he’s done speaks for itself.

Obviously, we don’t play the Colts this year, so I’ll always be rooting for Shane and his success, so I look forward to watching how he [Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson] grows as far as a player because I know he’s in really good hands.

Q. When Bill Parcells, when one of his guys used to get a head coaching job, he had a little list he gave them of things to get ready for. Did you have one or two things for Shane Steichen and Arizona Cardinals Head Coach/Former Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon that said, maybe this is not what I expected, be ready for this? (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: [Carolina Panthers Head Coach / Former Indianapolis Colts Head Coach] Frank [Reich] was really good at that with me, that he [Frank Reich] would just give me a lot of pointers, information, and he was very intentional about doing that: Hey, this happened today; you’ve got to be ready for this.

I’ve tried to pay that forward.

It’s funny, I have a list for everything, so I have a list for that. It constantly gets added to, and I’m doing it with the guys too this year.

Hopefully I did a good job of paying that forward to [Indianapolis Head Coach] Shane [Steichen] and to [Arizona Cardinals Head Coach] Jonathan [Gannon], and I’ll continue to try to do that because my job is to coach the players, my job is to coach the coaches, and I feel like it’s my responsibility to get the coaches that are going to be head coaches on our staff ready for their opportunity.

Q. This time last year S Reed Blankenship was going into his third preseason game trying to make a name for himself. A lot has changed in a year. In your mind what has changed? How has he grown? (Rob Kuestner)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, it’s funny, I’m looking at my talk to the team for tomorrow night, and there’s some similarities of tomorrow night’s talk and last year on the third preseason game’s talk. I’m looking at Reed’s — because we kind of said ‘Hey, Reed is going to play in the third preseason game. What are you going to do tomorrow to take advantage of your opportunity and make this team?’ Looking at his college highlights, we showed some of his college highlights, and we showed his stats. He had like 419 tackles in five years at Middle Tennessee State.

So obviously he was all — why I say all that was it was exciting to look back at that and see us highlighting [WR Britain] Covey and Reed and them going out and taking advantage of their opportunities and making the team.

But Reed has always had this playmaking ability, going back to the 419 tackles at Middle Tennessee State. He just keeps developing.

One compliment you can give a guy that in our locker room is like man, he’s just a good football player, and he’s just a good football player, and that’s how I feel about Reed, and he’s continuing to get better. He’s continuing to see everything as a safety and make strides there in his football IQ.

I’m obviously pleased with where he is right now and the growth that he’s had in the past year.

Q. This is one of the defenses that you struggled against last year. What kind of value does this joint practice bring to you? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: No, we know how talented they are. We know they’re really well-coached. Coach [Indianapolis Colts Defensive Coordinator Gus] Bradley is not only a good friend of mine, but I know how good of a football coach he is.

We know they’re well-coached. We know we’re going to get great work. We know they have good personnel. So, we’re looking forward to getting that work against them knowing that they did a great job against us last year, so it’ll be good work today.

Q. What’s a good fact that you found for tomorrow night’s speech? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Well, sometimes I’ve got some guys working for me that say hey, here’s the list there, and sometimes I have a little stat on my own. I don’t have any stats on my own, so I’m going to wait and see [Assistant to the Head Coach] Tyler Yelk, what he pulled together, but I’m sure he’s been working hard at — my assistant Tyler Yelk has been working hard to get me some fun facts for tomorrow. There’s going to be some things that you’re like, ‘whoa, this guy did all that?’ That’s the reason why they’re here, right?

Q. With final roster cuts coming next week, how do you balance these next few days, giving those final evaluations to guys who may be on the bubble, while also making sure your team is where they need to be? (Gabriella Galati)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, again, that’s where the opportunity periods come from, and obviously today will be some ones versus ones, twos versus twos, but they’re going to get some opportunities in the game, as well.

Just those final evaluations to be able to see where they are because it would be hard to make that — there’s a lot of good players out there, and it would be hard to make the final decisions today. That’s why we have some good opportunities here today, and then also within the game to get those final evaluations.