The Eagles were back to work after a mini-bye coming off their Thursday night home opener, and head coach Nick Sirianni spoke to reporters about some of the performances in their Week 1 win.
As they prepare for the Chiefs in Week 2, he isn’t putting too much thought into facing a team that might be looking for a little revenge, and said that the message to the team is to stay focused and worry about things that they can control. Sirianni expects Andy Reid to have his team ready, and the Eagles will
need to be ready, too.
Here’s what else the head coach had to say:
On the passing game
“There are so many things that dictate a play and where the ball goes. That could be coverage, that could be progression, that could be protection, that could be– there’s so many different things that dictate that. There’s no secret about it– we always want to get the ball to 6 [DeVonta Smith] and 11 [A.J. Brown] and we’re always trying to, so we will do an even better job as coaches trying to make sure that happens. That obviously starts with me, but what I do think that we were on offense, was very efficient. The ball was moving forward consistently. We didn’t have a lot of negative plays. I believe we had one sack, not a lot of penalties on offense, and the ball moved forward, and so we were efficient.
Now, do we have a ton of things to clean up? Yes. Do we always want to get the ball to A.J. and DeVonta? Yes, because we know our pass game goes as they go– Jalen [Hurts], Dallas [Goedert], Saquon [Barkley], A.J., DeVonta. But it was good to be able to see Jahan Dotson get some great attempts and opportunities that he took advantage of. All that does is build confidence in the group when Jahan is making the plays that he did and it forces the defense to have to cover the entire field.”
Sirianni went on to talk a lot about how players have roles, and in moments like on Thursday night when those roles aren’t utilized as much, they look for other ways to contribute. Whether that’s the receivers blocking downfield on a Barkley TD run, or making sure they stay ready.
One of the things Sirianni shared with the team this week was how A.J. Brown hadn’t had a target all game, but when they were in a four-minute drill at the end of the game, he was ready and made a big, impactful game.
“What about that mental toughness by A.J. Brown to go, ‘Okay, the ball hasn’t come to me in three quarters.’ That might be the first time that’s ever happened to him in his career as a football player because he’s such a good player and you’re always trying to find ways to do that. But he makes a play in a critical moment when his number was called. You look for moments like that to really show and preach the stuff that’s important to your core values and your culture.”
On the secondary’s performance
Sirianni wouldn’t single out any one player, and noted that it’s a team sport and everyone has positives things they do in a game, and negative things. As for Adoree’ Jackson specifically, Sirianni acknowledged that there were some moments that were good challenges, but he also gave up a couple plays.
“We had some positives, and we had some negatives, and the thing that you do is you go back to work. You’re constantly trying to get better. What you try to do every single week, especially early on in the season, is find ways to win, which I was proud of our football team to be able to do that, and then take those moments and try to get better from them because your goal is to be playing your best football by the end of the year. That’s for everybody.”
On Jalen Hurts’ performance
Sirianni said that Hurts has always been dynamic in his ability to scramble and make the decisions about when to do it. He credits the QB’s instincts for always being good at that, but also admitted that all facets of Hurts’ game has improved over the years because of the work he puts in and the habits he sticks to.
On Jihaad Campbell’s debut
“I thought [Jihaad Campbell] did some really nice things in the game. I think you saw his speed, his length, his range in coverage, and I think you saw some of his ability in the run game. And there’s things that he has to work on as well, like we all do.
Look forward to getting back out there with him on the practice field because I think this is a guy that’s just going to continue to get better the more he plays football. Another guy that loves this game, has great work ethic and great work habits, and excited about the direction that he can go in that we see, but it takes what it takes, and he is going to have to work at it every single day. And I love that about him, that he has that in his DNA, that he is going to want to do that and to continue to get better.”
On the special teams effort
Sirianni explained that they faced a big challenge in their season opener with Cowboys WR KaVontae Turpin and keeping him from being explosive on kick-off and punt returns would require the whole unit. They knew that ball placement on punts and kicks would be important, and they would need all 10 guys to have detailed block destruction and tackling.
“I was really excited about the way we beat blocks and the way we tackled. You’re always looking for ways that you want your team to show their toughness and their physicality because that’s the game of football. I think we could see that through that.”
