Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni spoke to reporters on Wednesday for the first time since the Damar Hamlin tragedy on Monday night. He talked about how the team made sure there were resources available for the players, as well as how they balanced having tough coverage with preparing to play a game on Sunday.
Sirianni also spoke about the team’s use of the QB sneak, why Gardner Minshew was sacked six times against the Saints, and also gave an injury update.
Here’s what the head coach had to say:
On Damar Hamlin and how it affected the team
Sirianni explained that whenever something happens outside of their building that needs a discussion, they do it and make sure the guys know they have people who care about them and people to talk to. who they can talk to, if necessary.
The head coach stressed that obviously everyone felt for Hamlin and his family and prayed for a speedy recovery.
“The first thing you do when you see this is just shocking. You don’t see this very often, so it shocks you.
Many emotions and things go through your mind. My first was as a football coach and as a former football player, which was on my mind. Then my thought process turned into how do you frame 80 guys in a tough situation like this? Then it became, well, my son plays football.
There’s just a lot of emotions you have to go through, but to me, that’s just the support aspect. The last thing on my mind is how do I convince them that, like you said, they need to go out and play.
We’re just there for them right now and trying to be there for them, and it’s an opportunity for us to practice what we preach. Do we really believe the connection, or is it all just BS? This is an opportunity for us to not only say that we are here for you, but also to be there for them.
So all we care about is that they know they have a lot of people. All the guys, all the mentally ill, know there’s people in this building who care. First of all, they have the resources in this building to be able to talk things over if they need to talk things over with all the different people we have. But they also have their teammates and their coaches and a front office that cares deeply about these guys.
Just like we do anything, do it together and get through this tough time. There’s been other things that we’ve had in the last two years as well that you go through, you have tough conversations, and you go through them, but at the end of the day you just want them to know you’re there for them and that you will do whatever you can.
Then one thing that we talked about was, hey, there’s a lot of advantages to this game. This game gives us a lot of different things, and we’re completely grateful for that, but the best advantage it gives us, this are the relationships. If you ask somebody, if you ask a player or a coach who is no longer involved in the game, of course we can report a few wins or a few games or whatever, a nice restaurant in Philadelphia where we came from or something, but the first thing that’s going to come to everyone’s mind is relationships.
So that’s what you hoped you had built so far so you could help guys through a tough time.
Sirianni said he didn’t feel any hesitation from any of the players when it came to returning to the pitch, but he was honest they haven’t really talked about it yet as they try always working through their emotions of what happened. He also admitted it was hard to have those conversations and get ready to play a football game, but said it was enough to do that and move on to the next thing as best you could.
On the use of QB sneakers
It has been pointed out that the Eagles have used the QB sneak more than any other team since 2000 – the Eagles have performed it 30 times this year. Sirianni said execution breeds confidence, and while he noted they weren’t able to do that against the Saints, they have a lot of faith in these guys in this scenario.
He pointed out that it starts with the three guys up front, and when you have Jason Kelce, Isaac Seumalo and Landon Dickerson pushing the way, plus the passing QB, they have a lot of confidence in the play call – they scored.. a lot of touchdowns on it and made a lot of third conversions.
“In terms of sheer numbers we were pretty good in the first and second downs, obviously except for the last game, but we were pretty good in the first and second downs where we get into positions to run these games because we have a lot of short range games.
So the reason they’re so high is that we’ve been in a lot of goal-to-goal situations. We’ve been in a lot of short-term situations, and that’s where we’ve been comfortable handling those games. So it’s credit to the guys for what they did on the first and second try, that’s why the number of those.
On Gardner Minshew sucked 6 times in Week 17
Sirianni was asked about the offensive line allowing six sacks against the Saints, and whether he attributed that to missing Lane Johnson or Minshew holding the ball. He explained that there was a lot of blame to be had, including the coaches.
“It’s the best team game there is, and so it really takes all 11s to do it, and it also takes us as coaches to put them in the right place. So a ton of blame for that, and that starts with us as coaches to make sure that we help guys open up in those ways.
I thought Jack [Driscoll] did a good job coming in and playing against a player who’s a good player, and he’s been fighting, and he’s going to get better, so no complaints with Jack.
Injury Updates
JALEN MAL
Sirianni said Hurts is still day to day and they have yet to decide if he will play on Sunday. He explained that they will see how he is doing over the next two days, especially on Thursday, when they really train in relation to a guided tour.
JOSH SWEATSHIRT
Obviously, we all know what happened to him on Sunday, but it was good to see him back here today and a smile on his face. I will probably bother to play. We’ll see, but we’ll take it day by day. I’m glad he’s back in the building with his teammates.
others
- Sirianni explained that they open the training window on Wednesday for the two CJ Gardner Johnson and Robert Quinn.
- Adonte Maddox is still day to day and has been in the rehabilitation of the building, but he did not want to put a schedule on his return.
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