NICK SIRIANNI: Before I get started, I'd just like to say how awesome it was to have LeSean McCoy over at practice today, you know, as he's announcing his retirement.
Just a huge fan of his and what he was as a running back and what he was for this city as an Eagle. You know, just remember so many plays that he was on highlights, making plays.
A little loose with the ball security (laughing) but, you know, he didn't fumble it very often. But it was just good to see him and see -- the first time I met him was today. So just great to see a great Eagle that's retiring. What a phenomenal player and it was good to have him at practice.
Q. Rodney McLeod, will he have a role? He was practicing in full --
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, for competitive reasons, we're not going to dish that out. But, yeah, if he's up, he'll have a role. Obviously, we saw him right here and he's full and he'll definitely have a role.
Q. What was your assessment of Andre Dillard's performance on Monday night and what does it say about how he handled not winning that job?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you know, I think his performance on Monday night was -- I thought was really good, against two really good pass rushers. They got some good pass rushers over there at Dallas. And he played an outstanding game.
And then you think about that game he played against the Jets, and then you think about the game he played in this one, he just had two stacked games right back to back in a row where he played really well.
And, you know, he's showing us that at practice. What I think it says about him is you want everyone to think, like, I'm one snap -- if I'm a backup, I'm one snap away from going in and my role is to get myself ready to play. And if I'm on scout team a little bit, it's to get the defense ready to play. But it's ultimately for me, myself, to be ready to play. And he was and attribute to him and he played his role really well.
Q. Hey, Nick, did you meet Andy Reid when he was coming in to KC and you were going out and you being here the past few months, I guess have learned about him from his time here?
NICK SIRIANNI: So I was coaching there as Coach Reid got there. Well, I was in there 2012 and Coach Reid was there in 2013. And so, you know, I was a wide receiver coach, then. So Coach Reid was charged with the task of telling me I wasn't working there anymore.
So, you know, he was awesome. It was actually an awesome conversation I had with him. And I really respected the fact that he took time to meet with me, tell me what he had heard about me. But he had a guy, David Culley. And David Culley who's now, obviously, we know all know where he is.
And so, you know, but he took the time to meet with me. In fact, I thought about that when I had to do the same thing this year when I had to tell a guy that I had a guy in place here and I handled the situation like Coach Reid did for me because I always respected that.
As far as -- yeah, I just know what type of coach he is, a really good coach. And I always say guys that I think are really good coaches are, you know -- that his team plays with fundamentals and puts them in good positions to win. He's a good scheme coach.
So those two things; I always have high respect for coaches that have those two things and, you know, just obviously the record that he has, just think highly of him and as the rest of the NFL does.
Q. Nick, as a play caller, how much do you look at -- or do you look at other guys like Andy who have been doing it for so long and have had so much success?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think with everything -- like everything, I just am a big fan of studying great coaches in the past, great players in the past, and great teams of the past.
And so I definitely watch how different -- you know, obviously, when you're in a game week, you know, the time isn't there until maybe the little bit at the end of the week.
But I'm definitely always looking for a way to learn how to get better. Like, if I want the team to think in this mode of one percent better every day, get better every day, then I got to be thinking that, too. And that's how I've played my whole career.
And so, always looking at that of how different guys call games. And that doesn't just have to be NFL guys, that's college guys, too.
You know, I have college ties. My old college roommate is the head coach at Iowa State. And so, I watch how they call things, too.
So any good coach that I feel like they have good scheme, I'm looking at that. My brother is a heck of a coach. They score a lot of points in Division III. And so, I look at his stuff and how he calls a game, as well.
Q. Acknowledging that you don't want to discuss the extent of Rodney's role, what's it mean to get his leadership back?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, it's huge. It's huge. He's shown every single day, whether he was going to be -- whether he was not practicing at all or whether he was out there practicing, or whether he was getting ready to play in a game, he's shown to be the same person every single day. And he's shown to be the same leader every single day. And that's just huge.
That's huge to have that veteran leadership out there. And so, really excited that he's going to get back out there and be able to contribute in this game.
And because, you know, we need those guys out in the field that have that type of leadership that Rodney has. So really excited to have him back.
Q. Rodney and potentially the two other guys that you have on IR, how much concern do you have with guys having not played for a while? Obviously, they've been in practice. But when the bullets are kind of flying, how much do you have to weigh that?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you know, I think that just you watch practice and we evaluate practice like we evaluate the game.
But we, obviously, keep an eye on that to see how he's getting in there. And sometimes it's -- it takes a little bit of time. But sometimes it just takes that one hit that you give or one hit that you get to be ready to go. And so, I'm not concerned about that. And just ready to get him out there and rip it out there.
Q. Landon Dickerson's been pretty critical of his play in the first two weeks he's gotten a chance to. What's your view on that? Are you okay with a young player being that harsh on himself or do you have to kind of make sure he doesn't get too much like that?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you always want them to have confidence in themselves. And I don't think Landon doesn't have confidence -- I know Landon has confidence in himself.
I just think that -- you got to hear how he says it, too, and how -- but it's just our -- it's just us holding ourselves accountable.
Like, I don't feel that -- you know, I don't feel that he's down on himself. I just feel that he's a player that wants to get it right, wants to not make the same mistake twice, wants to be better than he was the day before. So I look at it that way.
And knowing Landon and talking to Landon and being around Landon every day, that's how he's handling it and just trying to get himself better through it.
So some guys look different when they do it. Some guys drag themselves through the mud just to get themselves better. And so, Landon is just critical of himself. But it's all in an attempt to get himself better as a football player.
Q. Concerning the offense line, you're going to have three new guys who weren't starting when the season began against the Chiefs in whatever order it is. How do you feel about their readiness, you know, those guys? I know you talked about Andre Dillard and whoever else might be starting.
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I'm a -- again, we know this league is everybody from 53, really, to 70. The first 53 to, really, the first 70 have to be ready to play, the amount of guys that you keep on this team. Because it's a long season.
There's bumps and bruises throughout the entire season. And so, we're preparing everybody. I'm confident in the guys that we have in this building, especially at that position, the depth that we have at that position.
Again, I'd like to just -- Howie and his staff have done such a good job of getting the offensive line depth. And so, excited for these guys. Obviously, we're going to miss the guys that are going to be out. But excited for the opportunity for the guys that are about to play.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports