Here’s what the head coach had to say:

On Jalen Hurts

Sirianni was asked about Hurt’s accuracy and how it’s improved every season, culminating in a new franchise record for having a completion percentage of over 73 three weeks in a row.

He explained that it’s a culmination of things, including Hurts getting more comfortable in the system, making the right reads to avoid incompletions or tipped passes, and getting the ball to his targets in a timely fashion.

On Dallas Goedert’s injury and the TE depth

Sirianni acknowledged that they’re limited in terms of being able to trade for a tight end, but they’ll always look at their options to make the team better. That being said, however, he was sure to note that he’s confident with the other guys in the TE room.

“We’re hopeful that Dallas [Goedert] will make a good, clean recovery and be back when he’s ready to be back. But, we’ll always be looking — I know Howie [Roseman] does a really great job at always looking to improve the football team.

And so, we like the guys that we have on this roster. We’re excited about them, and we’re excited about them getting an opportunity.”

He went on to say that there’s different things they can do to supplement for the tight end, including utilizing other personnel groupings.

On the 3-and-outs late in the game

• On one, they were backed up on the minus one-yard line and were limited in what they could do. They were able to get some breathing room on the first down off a sneak, then missed on the second play, and then didn’t convert on third down. Still, they were able to get enough room for Braden Mann to punt.
• The second drive, Sirianni explained, they were in a 4-minute situation and were trying to get the Cowboys to burn their timeouts so they were being a little conservative.

The head coach acknowledged that they would have preferred to keep those drives going, but they were played the way they were played because of the situation in the game and where the ball is on the field.

Sirianni said that on the one 3-and-out that ended in an incompletion by A.J. Brown, he liked the aggressive play call by OC Brian Johnson, and it’s a play that has a high success rate for them. He noted that Brown might have lost the ball and wasn’t able to track it for whatever reason, but Sirianni said the coaches have to do a better job preparing the guys and then they have to go out and execute.

On the nickel position

“We feel like we have options.

We have to put guys in position to succeed, and then the guys have to go out and execute. So, that’s a team thing of how we do that, and we have confidence.

The reason Eli [Ricks] and Sydney [Brown] were out there yesterday is because we have confidence in them to do the job.”

Sirianni acknowledged that the stat sheet didn’t look pretty from Sunday’s game, allowing 375 yards, but the scoreboard looked good, holding them to six points in the second half. He also said that they’re excited to get Bradley Roby back

On the run game

Sirianni acknowledged that the run game is executing differently, but when you’re not just looking at the stat book, you can see the whole picture. When they hit D’Andre Swift on a jet sweep for 22 yards, that’s counted as a pass, but it’s a run. He disagreed that the run game wasn’t as effective as it was earlier in the season, it’s just different.

“REPORTER: So, I just want to clarify, Nick: You’re okay with the way that the run game is going right now?

SIRIANNI: (points finger at the camera)”

Other notables

• As for A.J. Brown running into D’Andre Swift who then fumbled the ball, Sirianni said that it was an “execution error” and didn’t care to elaborate further.
• The head coach said he admired Darius Slay for wanting to be responsible for covering CeeDee Lamb late in Sunday’s game, but acknowledged you can’t always give one look or stay too predictable.
• Sirianni talked about rookie RG Tyler Steen, saying that he would like some plays back, but overall he did a good job. He also noted that anytime a young player can get those live reps, it’s really beneficial.
• He admitted that anytime they’re at the bottom of the league at something, like they were in red zone offense, it pisses them off. So, the team’s improvement the past few weeks is because they’ve worked hard to improve in that specific area. The head coach didn’t want to get into too many details, but said they made some philosophical changes to what they wanted to do in the red zone.
• Sirianni lauded Jack Driscoll for coming in cold for the QB sneak after Dallas Goedert left the field. He emphasized how important it is for the backups to have the mental toughness to prepare during the week without the first team reps at a play, and still be able to execute when called upon.

By Alexis Chassen@Lovelybuckeye