Shane Steichen

Q. Can you talk about Eagles run game coordinator/offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland and what he’s meant to the offensive line, especially getting the younger guys up to speed? I mean, you see other teams, they lose a player here or there, they completely fall apart. (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: Just being around him, he’s a tremendous teacher. The X’s and O’s part of it, and then the fundamentals and details, when someone goes down, the next guy steps up.

He grinds during the week to get those guys ready. And you see it in the individual drills, the meeting room, the passion he coaches with. It continues to show up and those guys are playing at a high level.

Q. How has RB Boston Scott played the last couple of weeks? (Mike Kaye)

SHANE STEICHEN: He’s been solid. He’s running it well. All those backs are running it well. But he’s seeing it good, he’s hitting the holes, he’s sticking his foot in the ground. He’s been tremendous.

Q. Coming into this last game, it was good on good, your running game against their No. 1 ranked running defense, you run for over 200 yards. What’s the adjustment that you expect to see from defenses now that you have proven that you can run on anybody? (Bo Wulf)

SHANE STEICHEN: Well, I think possibly they can put an extra defender in the box, try to load the box up a little bit.

Like I talked about last week, when you got a quarterback that can run like our quarterback is running right now, they got to account for that. We’re plus one in the run game, and they have to account for that, so we are going to continue to do what we do and go from there.

Q. Do you plan for that during the week? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: Absolutely. No doubt about it. You got to expect the unexpected when you got a quarterback that can run like ours. We got to be ready for everything going into every game.

Q. What’s your level of cringe when QB Jalen Hurts gets hit? (Bo Wulf)

SHANE STEICHEN: When he gets hit, you have to be cautious of that. But I think what he does is really well, he’s very athletic and he does a good job of getting down.

He knows how to take a hit. And then when he doesn’t want to take a hit, he slides. And you see that on Sundays. And he’s continuing to do that.

Q. When you’re drafting plays and you have a center that can pull like C Jason Kelce, how much does that help you formulate screens and maybe draw plays? (Mike Kaye)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, there’s no doubt about it. He is, without a doubt, I think the most athletic center in the NFL. The way he moves, sees the game. He’s seen a ton.

Coach [Nick Sirianni] said it the other day, his accelerated vision in the run game, screen game, he sees it before it happens. That’s a ton of credit to him. He studies a ton of tape and he’s a tremendous football player.

Q. Is there a sense, even though you’re not throwing the ball a whole lot as far as volume of plays, that you need to get more of TE Dallas Goedert and WR DeVonta Smith involved? (Reuben Frank)

SHANE STEICHEN: Well, I think this, our team is very unselfish. And it’s all about the team. And however we need to do it to win the football game, that’s what we’re to do week in, week out. Obviously, we want to get everyone involved, that’s the goal. The stats are great, but the bottom line is winning the football game.

Q. One of those guys who got involved late was, obviously, WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. What have you seen out of him the way he’s kind of persevered this year? (Martin Frank)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no doubt about it. He’s a tough, scrappy player. He’s done so much on special teams. He goes in there and blocks. And then to make that play there in the fourth quarter, that 23-yard reception, that’s a credit to him and the hard work he’s doing. And he keeps doing that and keeps getting better.

Q. It looked like on a couple of those zone read plays, Jalen Hurts held the ball there a little bit more. Is that something that you practice, and what does holding the ball a little bit longer do to the defensive ends? (Chris Franklin)

SHANE STEICHEN: We say read each of those independently. How’s the defensive-end technique, how’s he going to play it, is he going to slow play it, is he going to run up the field? So, each of those plays are different, so he’s got to read it differently.

Q. I know RB Jordan Howard might not be out there on Sunday. But how did Jordan and RB Miles Sanders complement each other style wise? (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: They were great. Our group of backs are all tremendous players. And I thought they did a good job. Miles was good. He hit it good.

He had that big, long run down the sidelines. He can jump-cut. And then, obviously, Jordan is a downhill runner. So, it’s been good.

Q. Is it too general to say Miles Sanders is better outside and Jordan Howard is better north to south? (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think that’s game to game. We’re going to have runs up for both of those guys. That could be the same run. Those are both good players.

Q. Not all mobile quarterbacks are the same. What about Jalen Hurts’ running ability is unique to him? (Zach Berman)  

SHANE STEICHEN: You know what, he’s a special player. He’s continued to do this [motions upward with hand] every single week. You saw it again on Sunday.

He’s playing really good football right now. And that third-down run he had when he stuck his foot in the ground and made that guy miss and cut across the grain, that was probably the best run I’ve seen by a quarterback live in person. So, a credit to him and the work he puts in every week, and it continues to show.

Q. As a follow-up to that: In the spring and summer, you obviously couldn’t see Jalen Hurts run much because the way practices were structured. At what point in the season did you realize he was different as a runner? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: I mean, I think you saw it early on in the first couple weeks. And then now that we’ve been meshing and gelling together and continue to grow together as a group, it’s really coming together. But we got to continue to keep it going and stay focused on the present and focus on beating the New York Giants.

Q. It’s a pretty large sample size now. You mentioned you are plus one in the run game. Jalen Hurts is so effective. How much have you noticed as the season has gone on how defenses have changed and shifted and say, ‘We got to deal with this guy?’ How much change have you seen from the other side? (John McMullen)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I mean, there are different ways to try to stop it. But, again, that’s the preparation part of it. When we go into a week and the game plan, how are they playing that and how do we counter it? How are they going to take away the quarterback and how do we counter it if they want to take away the quarterback?

And without getting into too much scheme, if things like that happen within the game, we have great coaches and we do great sideline adjustments to get that right.

Q. Boston Scott’s best games have come against the Giants so far. Doing that tape study, what’s the why behind that? (Tim McManus)

SHANE STEICHEN: I haven’t been here, but I know he’s had really good games against those guys. And, again, the offensive line has done a tremendous job opening the holes for him. And again, making guys miss in open space, he’s been really good at doing that.

Q. Obviously the volume of passes hasn’t been as much, but the yards per attempt are still good and maybe better than it was previously. You guys started to balance it. Are you noticing that defenses it does open up a little bit more space downfield because you’re having success on the ground? (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I absolutely think so. When you can run the football like we’ve been running it, it does open up the windows down the field to throw it.

And, obviously, if you run play action and they all sink out of there, he can check it down, and he also uses his feet when nothing is open, so it’s been good.

Q. We have seen you guys do a lot of pre-snap motion with Jalen Reagor. How are defenses responding to that? (Mike Kaye)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think Reagor is a special player that you can do multiple things with. So, to put him in different spots and see how defenses adjust more than anything else how are they going to play him differently than somebody else. So, it’s been good to see.

Q. You mentioned earlier Jalen Hurts’ ability to avoid hits, not take too many. How rare is that in a quarterback and how much do you have to teach that or is that natural? (Martin Frank)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think you talk about it. But he has a natural feel for that. There are guys that have a natural ability of knowing how to get down and when to get down. And I think he does a great job of that and he’s been doing that his whole career, obviously, probably through high school and it’s shown up in college and now in the NFL.

Q. We heard Nick talk about playing with nastiness to the team after the game. Is that easier for some guys than others? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s a mentality. And I think it starts with those guys upfront with the leaders we got with [T] Lane [Johnson] and [C Jason] Kelce.

I mean, those guys are nasty football players, and they play physical and hard and I think that just trickles down.

And when you got a coach like Stout, a passionate coach and coaching his butt off every single day, I think it breeds the energy within that group and that’s what we want.

Q. It seems we’re seeing more of that out of T Jordan Mailata as the season has gone on. What do you attribute that to? (Tim McManus)

SHANE STEICHEN: I think it’s the same thing. I think it’s being around those guys. He’s got a rugby background. And seeing his highlights where he’s running dudes over with that ball, I mean, he’s a physical football player. We’re excited to have him.

Q. Since the last time we spoke to you, Dallas Goedert signed the extension. What’s the next step in his game do you think? (Zach Berman)  

SHANE STEICHEN: I think he continues to improve and get better. He’s a big-play guy. He’s awesome in the run game. He’s a do-it-all guy. He’s getting better every week and just keep getting him the football.

Q. What have you seen from the Giants on film? (Jeff McLane)

SHANE STEICHEN: [Giants DL Leonard] Williams is a really good player. It starts upfront with him. He’s good in the run game, pass game, rushing the passer. And then on the outside with [Giants CB Adoree’] Jackson and the other corner, [Giants CB James] Bradberry, those guys are good players.

I think this, and this is my first year in the division, but any time you play a division opponent, I mean, it’s going to be a battle.

It doesn’t matter what the records are, how anyone’s playing, it’s from start to finish when play a division opponent, so we have to be ready to go.

Q. How did you watch that game last night? (Zach Berman)

SHANE STEICHEN: It was on TV, so we watched on TV and then we got in this morning and watched the normal copy.

Q. Do you find they play a lot of zone coverage? (Mike Kaye)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, they play some zone, but they’ll mix in some man, as well.

Q. Were you guys all together watching the game on TV last night? (Bo Wulf)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, we were game planning and we had it on mute in the background. We were game planning, we’d peek up at is, but really getting ready for the game and watching their previous games. 

Q. Did Nick finally get you guys pizza? (Dave Zangaro)

SHANE STEICHEN: No. [Jokingly] I need to talk to him about that. But he has gotten us some other stuff during the week.