Nick Sirianni

Q. Being around as long as you have now, can’t imagine fan things surprise you, but 50,000 [fans for a] practice, being lined up at least four hours that I saw before. Does it ever surprise you, I guess? (Rob Kuestner)

Nick Sirianni: Oh no. I just know we have great fans that love the Eagles and it’s always fun during camp to be able to have one of these. I always find it very interesting in the sense of the new guys that are here. I can really remember in 2022, [former Eagles WR] Zach Pascal being like, ‘Oh my God.’ And it was like, ‘This is different.’ I’m used to it, but I really appreciate it and it just shows you the kind of home field advantage that we have because of how passionate our fans are. I can’t say enough good things about how much that helps us and how much we appreciate that, but it’s always fun to see. I’m interested to see Tay’s [WR Dontayvion Wicks] reaction tonight and [CB] Riq Woolen’s reaction. It’s always fun to see that.

Q. How did WR Makai Lemon and WR DeVonta Smith look in team drills yesterday? (Olivia Reiner)

Nick Sirianni: Obviously, they were ready to be out there for team drills because they’ve worked their butts off to get back and we’ve got good doctors and training staff and strength staff to help them get back. They were ready to be out there, so they were. It felt like it was good to have them back out there working and going and looking forward to having them out there tonight.

Q. What have you seen from the second offensive line group since camp started? (Reuben Frank)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, I really like the depth of that group. I think you have some really good versatility with guys. I think that [T] Fred [Johnson] and [T] Markel [Bell] have [done a] really good job at tackle, and [C/Gs] Drew [Kendall] and Jake [Majors] and Willie [Lampkin] have shown a really good job of being able to mix interior. All of them have versatility. [Offensive Coordinator] Sean [Mannion] and [Offensive Line Coach] Chris Kuper are doing a great job coaching them and [Assistant Offensive Line Coach] Greg [Austin]. Just really excited about where we are in that group. Again, just because they’ve developed the way they have to date within their new scheme doesn’t mean they’re entitled to continue to do it. They have to keep working and I know they will. It’s a good group of guys that pays a lot of attention in meetings and a lot of attention to detail in walkthroughs and practice. They’re the right type of guys to continue to develop, and excited about how they’ve looked.

That’s not even mentioning some of the other younger guys, but just the guys that have been working in that twos group. They’ve done a nice job.

Q. Big picture question. Former Eagles TE Dae’Quan Wright spent some time here in camp, went to the Browns, now he’s heading back to LSU and college. Just what do you make of that ecosystem right now? (Brooks Kubena)

Nick Sirianni: I’ve got enough going on thinking about what we’ve got to do here. I try not to think too much about anything else. I really don’t have a comment on that. I’m just so focused on what’s going on here, and then on Saturdays in the Fall, I’ll be paying attention to Washington & Jefferson College where my brother’s coaching, and that’s about it.

Q. How much joy has it brought to the entire team having DT Uar Bernard and OLB Josh Weru go through this process? (Dave Zangaro)

Nick Sirianni: One, it’s pretty cool that [T] Jordan Mailata’s history and his story of being able to go through the program and be here and be a successful story there. I think the guys have really enjoyed getting to know these guys, and these guys work hard. Every day is something new with the guys, like this new stuff to learn, and it could be the smallest thing. I think it’s been a joy and there’s been a couple times where Uar has broken down the team and guys rally around that. I think that’s pretty cool.

Q. With those guys specifically, I know you guys are a couple days away from making roster decisions, but they kind of present a different type of decision that you guys haven’t had in the last couple years. It’s probably a little bit new for you in terms of the risk of waivers and whatnot. I know you’re not going to give as much insight to where they stand, but what’s that process like for you? It’s kind of different. (Jeff Neiburg)

Nick Sirianni: You build these relationships with guys and then — I’m just going to speak generally — you’re thrilled for the guys that make the team and have worked hard to make the team and you’re crushed for the guys that didn’t because of the relationships that you build. Some of them you can get back on practice squad, some of them you can’t. It’s always a joy to tell a guy that’s maybe in the back end of the roster that’s worked really hard that doesn’t know — I think [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and I really enjoy telling those guys, the backend roster guys that make the team and it’s always a fun time, but on the other end, it’s very tough when you have to cut a guy too. That’s generally speaking how I feel about the cuts. There are some joys to it as far as telling guys they made the team, and then there’s a lot of tough conversations as well. Even on the other end, there’s tough conversations that lead to, ‘Hey, practice squad potential.’ So, it’s a little bit different with each guy.

Q. As a rookie, we know WR DeVonta Smith, he’s been here, he’s done it. WR Makai Lemon hasn’t. He talked about learning to be a better professional during this time. What have you seen from him behind the scenes? (John McMullen)

Nick Sirianni: Just the work in the training room to get healthy, the work in the walkthroughs and in the meeting rooms to understand his assignments when he gets back, being able to try to be in as best shape as he possibly can without the running. He’s worked hard. I think everyone is trying to establish a pre-practice routine to get themselves ready and a post-practice routine of things they need to work on. That’s not something that’s like, ‘Hey, here’s what a first-year player needs to do.’ Everybody’s body is a little different. Everybody needs to warm up just a tad differently. It’s really figuring out what process works best for each individual player, for Makai. Being able to perfect that through this time and kind of get his process down, pre-practice, post-practice type stuff, the things you can do without getting a lot of reps out there at practice.

There are always opportunities to get better. Obviously, the best way to get better at football is to practice football. That’s why we’re excited that he’s out there, but there’s things that you’re able to accomplish even when you aren’t practicing.

Q. As you look at your history in season openers, do you think that’s connected to the way you approach the preseason? (Zach Berman)

Nick Sirianni: I think that, as I’ve talked to you guys, there’s a lot of different style games that you play in a schedule that you have to have a plan for. First game of the season, you have to have a plan for. A September game at one o’clock in Tampa, you have to have a plan for. A Thursday night game, you have to have a plan for. A Monday night game, a game coming off of a Monday night game. All these things you have to have a plan for. You just try to continually perfect that process. You have to know exactly what you did each time, have everything written down, what worked, what didn’t work and be willing — One of the worst things I think people can say in this business is like, ‘Well, we’ve always done it that way.’ That’s not a growth mindset.

It’s figuring out what works best with each and every schedule. We always think about that. I think early parts of training camp, you’re thinking just about that day. You’re not thinking down the [line]. You’re just trying to get better that day. One thing that we constantly think about in training camp is conditioning, and that’s just not lining up and running gassers, right? That’s the amount of reps that you get in a row. That might be something that we do in the weight room on the VersaClimber or the bike. That could be gassers, that could be a no huddle period, a two-minute period. I do think that one thing that we’ll always focus on, because I think how important it is without giving too much away is early on in the season, it pays dividends to be in the right weight, and it pays dividends to be in good shape.

There are ways to get in good shape of we feel good about what we’ve done. Just because we’ve been really good in those first games doesn’t mean that we didn’t say to ourselves, ‘Hey, this can be a little better. Let’s make this adjustment here,’ which we have for this year as well. It’s just a process with every different schedule and paying very close attention to detail with every different schedule that you’re presented in the NFL.

Q. When Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion was asked about QB Jalen Hurts’ performance in the joint practices, he mentioned what he did well, and he also mentioned the interception, and he harped on how they needed to be corrected. You didn’t know much about Sean in terms of scheme or how he would call plays, et cetera. You probably didn’t know much about him in terms of how he would coach guys, will he be a hard guy? Now that you’ve been with him right now, will he point out mistakes? Will he be hard on them? What’s he like in the meeting room when it comes to — (Jeff McLane)

Nick Sirianni: Yeah, obviously it’s such an important position. Anybody you bring into your program, it’s a huge position because they’re touching the players, they’re helping the players become better. Very similar to a draft process. Yes, you’re doing an interview that may last five, six, seven hours if you combine some of those, but you’re also vetting that person as well and everybody they’ve worked with. In Sean’s case, teammates, guys that coached him. We felt really good about the person, and you want coaches to check a lot of different boxes. Can they help guys get better fundamentally? Can they help put them in positions to succeed, especially at the coordinator positions? Can they coach them hard? Can they have good relationships with people? So we felt really good about Sean with everything, all the vetting that we did on him.

And Sean, I think does a really good job of — The tape is what it is. Our guys know that. ‘Hey, that tape goes on and you either held your end of the standard up or you didn’t,’ and it’s praise when they do and it’s correction when they don’t. Some corrections call for different ways that you correct them every different time. I think Sean does a really good job of holding the standard of what we want as a team, what he wants, what he wants as an offense while also praising that standard when it’s met. I think he’s got a really good balance on it. I think sometimes coaches can swing one way or the other. I would say probably early on in my career, I went more towards the, ‘Hey, this is how you’ve got to do this,’ and the correction was a little bit harsher. I think, again, there’s times where the correction needs to be harsh. There are times where the praise needs to be great, but I think it’s a balance of being able to do that. I think he’s got a great balance and does a good job on both ends of there.

Q. Back to having DT Uar Bernard break down the team, what were the circumstances behind that? Was that a reward for something or what made you give him — (Tim McManus)

Nick Sirianni: I actually don’t recall. I don’t know if somebody — I don’t remember. I’m sorry. Yeah, sorry. I don’t know why he was the one breaking down the team the one time. I don’t recall. Yeah, sorry about that.

Q. The final preseason game, how important is that for guys trying to make the roster and everything? I know obviously you have the — (Martin Frank)

Nick Sirianni: It’s just another great evaluation tool. Tonight is such a good evaluation tool. Yes, we get to see Philly and all the fans that are going to be here a little bit, probably get the lights on at some point. Maybe they’re on already, I don’t know. But tonight’s a great evaluation piece for us. Obviously, you grade every practice, but we actually put a game grade on the three preseason games, put a game grade on the two joint practices. We put a game grade on every one of our operational practices, which we’ve had one already. This is our second one. We’ll have another one coming up here soon. You come away with eight to nine, depending on how many operational practices or joint practices, you have eight to nine game grades from the preseason. That doesn’t mean that the practices that aren’t graded as a particular grade don’t mean anything. No, everything’s evaluated, but we come away with about eight or nine of those at the end of the day.