Nick Sirianni

Q. There’s been a couple players— S C.J. Gardner-Johnson made a comment on social media and CB Darius Slay said something on his podcast about wondering why you guys are going to Brazil. How are you managing how they’re framing it and how you’re managing that? (Jeff Neiburg)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we’re going there to play and win a football game. That’s our goal. That’s our only goal as we go down there.

And so, it’s just getting everybody in the right mindset of what you need to be when you go down there. You can control the things that you can control. Like, we’re going to Brazil to play. That’s what it is. We’re excited about that.

We’re excited about the opportunity to play in a neutral site and have a slightly different schedule of things that happen. Like you have a big bye, like a mini bye, coming off of it. So, there are a lot of positives in it. It’s also to spread the game to a new country, which is exciting.

But make no mistake about it, all those things right there are what they are, but we’re going there with one goal in mind and nothing else.

So, I think that is the main thing that we’re all saying: We’ll control the things we need to control. Just like when a game rains, the team that handles the rain and looks at the rain as a — that they’re ready for it, is going to be able to play better in the rain.

Same thing in a neutral site, whether it’s in London, wherever it is. It will be good for us. It’s going to be good for us to go play in a neutral site and handle the different things that pop up in the NFL. You play on a short week. Oh, this game got changed to that game. These are things you can’t control. What we can control is our effort, we can control our attitude, we can control our core values, and we’re going to focus on that this week.

Q. What happened with DB James Bradberry? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, he got dinged in practice, and he’ll be out for a little bit. That’s why we put him on IR.

Q. What about the challenges physically with the long flight, guys sitting in the same position for long time, dehydrated. How much conversation has there been about making sure you get to kickoff physically okay? (Reuben Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, a lot. A lot. Again, we have great doctors and training staff and strength staff. We’ve already talked about our plan of what the flight’s going to look like and what the post-flight’s going to look like with IVs and things like that, because a flight like that can dehydrate you.

But that’s our job, again. The flight is what it is, the nine-hour flight is what it is, or whatever it’s going to be. Now control what you can control: Fluids getting in your body, the IVs, the stretching. All the things that we’re going to do to make sure we’re ready to go physically for this game.

Q. At right guard, what did G/T Mekhi Becton do to earn that job? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: You know, obviously don’t have to name any starters at any position yet, so you guys will see who rolls out there for game one. Mekhi had a good camp.

Q. With the captains, WR DeVonta Smith is the only guy who was captain last year and is not this year. Is that a conversation you had with him? (Bo Wulf)

NICK SIRIANNI: There were a lot of guys that got votes. I had to go with the guys that got the most votes there. Just because DeVonta didn’t have as many votes as some of the other guys does not mean he’s not still a leader on this football team.

That goes for a lot of guys. That goes for [RB] Saquon [Barkley], who has been a captain for many years. Again, Chauncey [C.J. Gardner-Johnson], all these guys. So just because they aren’t the captain and have the C on their chest doesn’t mean they’re not the leaders of this football team. You just can only have so many.

Last year I felt like I had a couple too many. Again, here is what the guys are voting. Where do you cut it off? It’s always a tricky thing. There are a lot of guys deserving of it.

Q. Did you talk about it with WR DeVonta Smith? (Bo Wulf)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, of course. We talk about everything. Connection is at the heart of what our program is, and of course you talk to your guys when anything could be on their mind.

Q. With TE Dallas Goedert and CB Isaiah Rodgers, are they on schedule to play on Friday? (Tim McManus)

NICK SIRIANNI: You guys will get an injury report Tuesday. You might not get it quite as early as you normally have it. You kind of know where I am on injuries and talking about injuries and stuff like that. They’re working hard to get back.

Q. Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio has been pretty vocal about wanting more practices. How do you guys come to some sort of agreement on what he wants versus what you want? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Sure, I think if you talk to — everybody will be selfish in their areas. Everyone will want more as far as practice time or less practice time. Everyone will have a selfish ambition within that.

My job as the head coach is to listen to all the information, everybody’s information. Position coaches, coordinators, the doctors, the trainers, the strength coaches. Where are we? What is the beat of the team of where we need to go as far as the age of our team and where do I feel like we are rep-wise offensively, not only defensively, but offensively and special teams too.

Vic is not shy about telling me. I love that I have a guy in Coach Fangio that he’s going to tell me what he thinks from his perspective. You don’t want guys that say, ‘Yeah, whatever you want.’ You want guys to be able to say, ‘Here is what I’m thinking, here is why I’m thinking it. You’re the head coach. Take the information as you need to.’

I’ve really valued his opinion and his thoughts. And even with practice today, how we’re kind of doing practice today as far as the schedule of practice and then a little bit later in the day, that was an idea that Vic had. And I was like, ‘Man, I really like that,’ for different reasons why.

So, again, I have to manage it from the 30,000 foot view. Other coaches and other people, they got to manage it from their point of view.

Again, it’s trying to find the balance of what the team needs at the end of the day.

Q. When it comes to offensive game planning, I know that was a really big role of yours in the past. How much has that changed with Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore here? (Dave Zangaro)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, obviously love going into the offensive game plan meetings. Obviously we’re two days into — or we’ve been game planning a little bit longer than that — but going in there and sitting in there and listening and contributing.

But also, being able to step out if I need to go talk to a player or being able to step out and go talk to [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] about the roster or being able to step out and check in on the defense.

I find that very freeing that I’m able to stretch myself to different spots that I’m needed and not have to be hunkered down. You ask Howie and he’d be like, ‘Man, I couldn’t get in to see Nick for Monday, Tuesday. After the players left, just wasn’t a lot of opportunities.’

Being able to do that is really important. But also, being able to give my expertise in the offensive room is really important as well. An offensive game plan is not just particularly the plays that you call. It’s also how situations are played out and game management is played out, which at the end of the day is something that I take a lot of pride in, our game management, how we go about that.

Kellen and I have to be on the same page of that game management and of those different things. It’s still really important that I’m in there, but it is important that I’m able to stretch out and talk to other guys as well.

Q. This past week, WR Britain Covey was talking about Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore, and he said there is a difference between being smart and teaching smart. Being in the offensive meetings with Kellen, what makes him such an effective teacher? (Cayden Steele)

NICK SIRIANNI: I think Kellen is just an outstanding football coach who communicates to try to touch every guy, right? Meaning some guys here learn well from the pictures of the game plan; some guys learn audio; some guys learn visual from the film.

Kellen hits every one of those things and he has a good way about him of how he teaches and how he is implementing and installing things.

I sit pretty much in a lot of the — when it’s a team group meeting, I’ll sit in the back there and listen to the offense of how that goes. Defensive room is a little cramped so sometimes I don’t have a seat in there.

I go to all the different position meetings, and here I’m in this offensive one and he has a really good way of connecting and talking to all the guys to be able to hit all the different types of learning styles there are.

Q. Have you noticed QB Jalen Hurts being a little bit more engaged this year? He was on the radio earlier this week mentioned maybe not having as much autonomy as he wanted, kind of affecting him. (John McMullen)

NICK SIRIANNI: Ever since I’ve been here, Jalen has been all win, trying to do everything he can do to win. To say it’s been more — like he’s done everything every year, 2021, ’22, ’23, he’s done everything he can do to help this football team win and put every bit of his heart and soul into it.

I see the same Jalen, a guy that’s working his butt off to help us win this first game, working his butt off to make sure the team is in a good position, and that he’s playing his best ball, because we know we need him to play good football for us to have a chance week in, week out.

And again, I think he’s had an outstanding, outstanding training camp, you know, just with everything: the way he’s played, the way he’s passed, the way he’s led, all those different things.

That’s what I’ll say: I feel like he’s had an unbelievable training camp, and every year I’ve been here I’ve felt his desire and will to win. The guy is a winner. He’s been a winner his entire life and he knows how to win.

He goes about that process every day to win better than anybody I’ve ever been around.

Q. How much growth has QB Jalen Hurts shown in that area over the summer? As far as being able to like see things better at the line and everything. (Martin Frank)

NICK SIRIANNI: Jalen Hurts is a player that has just continued to evolve as a player year in, year out in anything that he — you know, if he feels like there is a part of a game that he has to work on and if we feel like there is a part of a game he does, he attacks that thing harder than anybody.

It’s really remarkable, just the strides he makes year in and year out. You see it in that aspect, but you also see it in every part of his game because he’s working his butt off to continue to improve.

Q. I think what QB Jalen Hurts said specifically was that he was basically told he didn’t to have worry about certain protection stuff because former Eagles C Jason Kelce handled that. Was that accurate? (Jeff McLane)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I mean, different guys — again, there are things that happen at the line of scrimmage, some teams that it’s all the quarterback; some teams that it’s all the center; some teams that’s a mix.

And so, it was Jalen being able to do some other things at the line of scrimmage and Kelce handling a big portion of it. Yeah, what he said is 100% true.

Q. With C Cam Jurgens, now that he’s the guy in charge of the offensive line, have you noticed any differences in his demeanor, now that he has to be that guy? (Bo Wulf)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think Cam is just a natural leader as well, but Cam wasn’t making the calls last year. He didn’t have to, right? So now he does. He does now, right?

You get up to the line of scrimmage, you put everybody on the same page with the run game, put everybody on the same page with the pass game. So, yeah, Cam has done a nice job. We got a bunch of guys up there that can lead and kind of help out.

Really, at the end of the day, and I’ll say it how I’ve said it to the guys, this game is so hard, right? You got great athlete against great athlete, and we’re going to lose some one-on-ones here and there. What’s important is you don’t give up any freebies.

Communication and everybody being on the same page is so important, right? Because that’s what leads to an explosive play is everybody being on the exact same page. Why football’s so cool, is there are 11 guys and then there is 53 guys on the same team that have to be on the same page. There are 11 guys on a play that have to be on the same page for that play to work. When you’re not on the same page, that leads to a negative play which kills drives and stops points.

Again, we have so many guys, different guys that can do that. But that’s what, again, is so cool about football. Man, we are a team. If we all link together as a team that will give us our best chance to win the game, that is going to give everybody the chance to be the best version of themselves.

Q. In week one games you’re 3-0 in your career, one of only three coaches to be perfect in week one games. As much as you’ve tried to change things, have you looked at what’s worked going into a season? (Zach Berman)

NICK SIRIANNI: Of course we have. What are the keys to each — and I’m not going to get into, ‘Hey, here are our keys to this game or that game.’ But, as I’ve told you, I’ve done so much studying as far as, ‘What’s the key to coming off a bye week? What is the key of going into a Thursday night game? What are the keys to opening up the season?’

And every coach I’ve ever been around that I love and respect and look up to and use as a mentor have been in a first game of the season. [University of Mount Union Quarterbacks] Coach [Larry] Kehres may not have ever been in a — I say Coach Kehres because I call him for advice still.

He may never have been in a Thursday night game, but everybody has been in an opener. It’s the same stuff that all comes back to you in openers. This is important, this is important. You guys saw [former NFL Coach] Tony Dungy at practice the other day. I asked him what’s important in your eyes when you were a coach for the openers?

So, it’s the same things that come back to you. What you try to do is really focus in on those things that you know deep in your heart and through the research that you’ve done through different coaches, players, stuff like that, of what has been important for success in game one, and for our success in game one and try it repeat those things. That’s what we’ve done.

Q. With all the changes you made offensively, what gives you the most confidence that this won’t grow stale this year? (Brooks Kubena)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we’re just excited about the pieces that we have, excited about the coaches that we have. We’re excited to go rip it.

Q. Every year you have a meeting when it comes to roles for every guy in specific teams. How is QB Jalen Hurts’ role changing from last year to this year? (Chris Franklin)

NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, Jalen is at the forefront. This is his team. He’s a captain. He’s the quarterback. You know, he touches the ball every play. Felt like there were a lot of very similar coaching points that I was saying to him as far as his role goes that I’ve said the last couple years.

You know, he’s the one who is touching the ball every play so he’s the one that has to make sure everybody is on the same page. Yeah, there were a lot of similarities. And some guys did have similarities; some guys have new roles, and some guys have the same roles.

I do think what’s important is everybody knows their role and has to dominate their role, and everybody’s role — while not being the same, everybody’s role is important