Here’s what Eagles coach Nick Sirianni had to say to the Atlanta media Wednesday:
On attacking the Falcons’ left-guard spot: “We study anybody that’s across the ball from you. It’s not anything that we are thinking about. We know the tendencies and things of what guys do against us and our techniques. Everybody in the NFL is a good player and they are here for a reason.”
On being a first-year coach: “Obviously, I’ve gotten to know coach (Arthur) Smith. We were in the same division. We were coordinators in the same division. I’ve got nothing but a ton of respect for him. He’s a heck of a football coach. He always has those tight offenses. Very sound. Very aggressive. Very physical. You saw what he did with Ryan Tannehill and how he got him playing is a credit to Ryan, Arthur Smith and their staff. But yeah, the advantages that I think that we have is that they don’t really know what we are going to do and we really don’t know what they are going to do. It’s kind of a blank slate right there. We’ll have a talk before the game and talk through some of those challenges and the things we are going through as first-year coaches. I look forward to seeing him. I look forward to talking to him. I just can’t say enough good things about him and what I think of him as a football coach.”
On Arthur Smith and Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s relationship: “They’ve coached together and they’ve been in the same division. Jon was our defensive-back coach in Indy for the past three years. Coach Smith has been the coordinator for the two out of three years that we were there. Their conversations for the most part have been about how the family is doing, the good times they’ve had together. More so than football, particularly because we’re in the same division. I know they are friends.”
On leaning on his brother (Mike Sirianni), the longtime Washington & Jefferson football coach: “Yeah, a little bit. He’s a college head coach. My other brother was a high school head coach and my dad was a high school coach. Coaching is coaching, but things are different for what you are dealing with as the head coach goes. I do, one thing that my family and I have because we are all in coaching is we have this special bond together where if you’re at a dinner table with us, our main holidays, we get together Easter and the Fourth of July, if you’re at the dinner table or the picnic table with us, there is always a conversation about football. Always, and that could be the scheme of a play, because we are all offensive guys. That could be the scheme of a play or how you run your football team in general, problems or things that you go through. I lean on my brother for a lot, but it’s different. College and professional (football) is different, the issues and the challenges that you go through. But I lean on my brother for everything in life. Coaching is no different.”
On how much can be gleaned from the film of the Colts vs. Titans games in 2019 and 2020: “I just think our teams are completely different. You always scheme your offense to fit the players that you have. It’s obviously a different offense. Different players. So, we are going to be obviously be different ... than those two teams.”
On preparing for Falcons rookie tight end Kyle Pitts: “That’s a good question. The one thing we do know is that he’s a heck of a football player. We did our homework on him. ... We probably have more information than anybody because his offensive coordinator is our quarterback coach here. We know that he presents issues regardless of what he showed in the (exhibition) season because we all watched the tape of what he was at Florida and who he was at Florida and the type of DBs he was beating at Florida. I’m excited to watch this guy’s career. He’s an exciting player. We have our hands full.”
On Jalen Hurts taking over at QB for the Eagles: “I’m excited for Jalen, first of all because of the person he is. He loves football. He’s tough. He’s smart. He loves football. He wants to get better every day. Then again, I just think he has a lot of skills as a player. He can make a lot of plays in a lot of different ways. I’m excited for him to get out there and get going with our new staff and see what he can do as a talent.”
On his impressions of the Falcons’ defense: “I just see playmakers at each level. Grady Jarrett has been doing it for a long time and is very talented. He always causes problems when you play against him. Again, Deion Jones, I’ve got a lot respect for him at the second level. Dante Fowler has made a lot of plays over his time. You have a younger corner in A.J. Terrell. We liked him when he was coming out as well. Again, they’ve done a good job of getting some playmakers in there. Erik Harris, I have experience of playing against him every year as well. I’ve just got a lot of respect for the talent that they’ve acquired there in Atlanta. I know coach (Dean) Pees well. ... I have a ton of respect for coach Pees. I know who he is as a coach. Great football coach. It feels like when you play his defenses, they’re sound. They play hard. They play physical. They tackle well. They get off blocks well..”
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