Q. Now that Lane is back, is the expectation for him to play, or do you think he's going to need some time to get ready?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we're taking that day by day. Just really excited that he's back in the building, back with his teammates, and just super excited to see his face every day.
Q. Is he practicing today?
NICK SIRIANNI: He'll being limited.
Q. Follow up on Lane and his situation, your experience with mental health, how does your coaching staff prioritize those conversations?
NICK SIRIANNI: The first thing with all our conversations with players is we want to start with connecting. You know, connecting has to go beyond -- has to go beyond what you do on the field. Has to go into the personal lives, family, has to go into anything.
Because if you want to have that relationship with your players you got to have something beyond the football field. So the connecting piece is so big for us, and so that's with any tough thing that they have to deal with, whether it's -- I mean, I could give a ton of examples, but mental health is no exception.
Anything our players deal with we want to be there for them. I feel like that -- again, that's what we've based everything on, is this first of our core values of connecting.
So, yeah, I feel good that we've been able to be there for our guys through up and downs, and we'll continue to be there.
Q. Has that situation created a larger conversation in the building about these topics?
NICK SIRIANNI: I think we're always aware of definitely mental health and issues like that just with the doctors that we have, with the trainers we have, with the people in the building here associated with mental health, too.
Because we know that's an issue in our society right now, and we wanted to make sure we have the resources needed for our players for everything, not just on the field, but off the field as well.
Q. Trying to find ways to win games, and that is obviously your No. 1 priority, but how much have you felt for Lane and what he's been going ^ threw ^ through?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, of course. Again, any situation that our players have to go ^ threw ^ through, we're going to be there for them and we're going to feel for them in tough times.
I think it's a family, right? Our football team, our building is like a family. When something -- when your family members go ^ threw ^ through something you hurt for them and you feel for them and you want to be there for them.
And so that's with Lane and the situation that he's going ^ threw ^ through, and then with everybody on our team that has to go ^ threw ^ through anything. Sometimes that's a player being injured and then having a really hard time with getting ^ threw ^ through an injury or a death of a family member, whatever it is.
And so we just, again, want to be there for our guys to connect with our guys and be with them ^ threw ^ through the good times and the bad times.
Q. How important is it for someone like Lane to be able to come out and say, Hey, I have this kind of mental health issue as far as not only raising awareness for mental health issues, but among guys on the team?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, yeah, I think, again, when you're vocal about it and you come up about it, I think that's good, because I think what it does is it helps people -- other people going ^ threw ^ through. I think probably when you go ^ threw ^ through something like that you think you're you alone.
I think when someone comes out like that with their issues, it kind of brings light to the situation. It helps other people that are going ^ threw ^ through a similar scenario.
Q. He's limited because of the layoff?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, because of the layoff, yeah.
Q. (No microphone.)
NICK SIRIANNI: No, no.
Q. He was on the injury report before the Chiefs game with the ankle. Do you have a sense of where the ankle is? Is that a concern?
NICK SIRIANNI: No, we're not concerned right there with that at this particular time.
Q. When you went back and self-scouted, specifically about the slow starts on offense in the first half, you mentioned after the last game making adjustments quicker, what did you see about making adjustments quicker specifically?
NICK SIRIANNI: Again, when you go ^ threw ^ through a game you don't want to go ^ threw ^ through -- you always script your first 10 to 15, but that doesn't mean you stick to that. You go ^ threw ^ through a drive, you say, Hey, are they still playing us the way we with thought? Sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes it's no after one drive.
But you don't say, Well, that's automatically what they're doing. That might just been something they started with, and then you go ^ threw ^ through another drive and you're trying to get these answers through the first 15.
So, again, to jump the gun and say, Hey, they did this once, we got to switch to this, I think is a little bit -- you don't want to do that because they might just be switching it up for a second and going back to it.
So what we do is throughout the game and throughout the first half we want to get some looks at different things and see how we think they're going to play it. Then, especially after you're through the first 10, 15, then you say, All right, here is our list of plays; what do we need to go to now because of the way they're playing a certain thing? Maybe it's not on your game plan and maybe it's not on your game plan, but they're doing something completely off the radar, un-scouted looks.
Then you have to dip into your beaters of -- whether it's your zone read beaters or your -- their answers off zone read or crack replace beaters in the run game or your linebackers downhill in the run game or the defense end playing a little different in the run game, or it's a different coverage they go to.
So you're constantly looking at that, but you want to get through the first 10 to 15 plays before you get that. So if you're not finishing -- obviously I'm always going to be critical of myself. Very first I'm always going to be critical of myself.
And so that was my answer to you. Hey, we got to make adjustments faster, but when you're in the -- when you're getting first and second down and you're starting slow, which I feel like we've done the last couple weeks, then you're in the third down and then maybe punting or into a new set of downs.
You want to be more efficient on first and second down to feel how they're going to play you. When we start slow it takes -- if you're three and out it takes a couple possessions for you to figure it out because you're not getting enough plays. So we just got to be better on first and second down, especially early in the game, so we can make the adjustments quicker.
Q. Shane mentioned that as well yesterday, of being more efficient on first and second down. With the extra time did you find any themes maybe you didn't find -- didn't expect to find with the extra time?
NICK SIRIANNI: No, when you're evaluating, again, you always want to look at yourselves when you have a couple extra days, so that was definitely an obvious thing we did. We looked at ourselves, figure out what we are doing well, what we are not doing well. What we want to do more, less of, both in the run game and the passing game.
Then you have a little bit extra time to kind of evaluate other things in the league of what you're seeing. I won't tell you the studies I did of that, but we were able to look at some things of maybe where we felt we had a weakness and study what we've done in the past as a team, and some teams that we deem good at the things we had a weakness on.
So that was valuable, obviously the self-scout on that, but it was also valuable to be able to do some studies on some things. When we looked at ourselves and said, We're not great at this. How are we getting this better? All right, let's look at some things throughout the league.
The other thing you always value on a pseudo bye week is the ability to watch games, other teams play games. It's not like a -- I feel like I can't be like a fan and just be watching it because I'm looking a different scenarios and situations.
So I'm looking at it, and you go ^ threw ^ through the football IQ parts of it. Hey, they're in a two-minute; would you call a time out here? Would I do what Jacksonville did at the end of the game with five seconds left and get it to him and clock it? That's good. That spurred some thought right there.
It's interesting when you're able to do this. You're on the group text messages with all the coaches and everyone is just talking of, Hey, did you see what Bevell did in Jacksonville? Hey, did you see -- and I'm just trying to think of other things that came up. Did you see what Cleveland did on this one?
So that is a big process. We do that process in situational football every Saturday. We do that, put ourselves through that to make sure we put ourselves in every situation. Well, we were just able to do that live and in the spur of the moment this weekend.
And that's college games, too. We're football junkies. Very few of us -- like I know I had different things to do with the family, soccer games, this and that, but I still found ways to watch games. But that's a good process to put yourself through when you're sitting there on the couch watching the game.
Q. With the pause, did you stand back and think that there would be as much of a learning process to being a head coach as there has been?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you know, yeah. I thought about all that and just I definitely did. Just thought about all that and thought about when you go ^ threw ^ through -- obviously we're starting -- we started 2-4. We all want to be better than that. I was just very aware and very clear to me as I sat -- you know, when you lose a game you're like, Let's go back out and play again. I don't want to sit with this. I want to get game planning again.
And so what I was aware to me is there are these waves in the season and there is these ups and downs, and the downs can feel so low and the highs can feel so high. It was very aware to me especially with this long week, is that as the head coach I got to be here, steady through -- and I want you -- I want the team to hear me steady and hear me consist through it all.
So that was the biggest thing. I can't let myself -- as bad as I feel after a loss, as good as I feel after a win, I can't let myself get on the rollercoaster of what this league can potentially be.
I have to stay steady and focus on the process that we want to do. That's just getting better every day, and getting better every single day to put yourself in a position on Sunday to go 1-0 that day.
So that's been any biggest takeaway as a leader. Really that's the biggest thing I took away this week as a leader, as the head coach.
Q. Speaking of up and downs, Hurts has gone through that. One game you called the best you ever seen in practice, and other ones where the completion percentages have dipped. With the ability to step back, what do you see when it's going well and when it's not, and what does he need to do to get that consistency?
NICK SIRIANNI: When it's going well I feel like, again, he's taking his drop on rhythm, he is being able to it sit in the pocket and able to throw it on time. If something breaks down he scrambled and gets out of it and makes a play.
I feel like when it's not going well is when he's quick to escape. That's something that, again, we've talked about here. That's something you're always going to have to -- you don't want to take his super power away of escaping and making plays on the run, but we just do want to make sure we're more -- we lessen the gap of off-schedule plays and drop-back plays.
That's really what I felt. When he's playing well he's throwing on rhythm and then secondary going and getting out of pocket. When we feel like we want the play back or something, we feel like he might have left a little bit early and got into something he was comfortable with the escape and his escapability.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
NICK SIRIANNI: You got to do with making them feel comfortable with the plays that you're calling and what you're doing. So we're talking about the drop-back pass game, the play action game, the screen game. We just got to do things, and that's -- that's your evaluation after six weeks. What are we doing well, not doing well?
Because when he's feeling comfortable with that -- so at first I'm putting it on me. It comes down to play calling, putting him in positions where he feels comfortable with the play to read it out versus different looks he's going to get.
Naturally we're seeing some unscouted looks because we're slightly different than other teams with the way Jalen plays.
Q. How patient do you think everyone has to be with this football team? Obviously been a lot of criticism the last couple weeks. You have a young quarterback, rookie head coach.
NICK SIRIANNI: I understand the impatience. We all want to win right now, and when you're not winning you're going to get impatient. Again, like I said, I can't let myself ride the highs and lows. If I do, the rest of the team will ride the highs and the lows.
I have to stay seedy and stick to what I know. In times of adversity I always thought that you double down on what you know is true, right?
What I know is true is that if you continue to get better every single day, it will put you in position to go 1-0 each week. I'm doubling down on things I know will help us get better every day, and that's where my focus is and I don't ride the waves of the season because I know it can get bumpy if you do.
Q. What's one scenario that you saw this weekend that would change the way you operate?
NICK SIRIANNI: That Jacksonville -- I don't want to give away -- maybe I can tell you guys off the record on the side. That Jacksonville was interesting. It spurred a lot of thought on both the offensive and defensive sides. That wasn't one where I was just texting Shane and Brian and Kevin. I was texting Gannon and the defensive coaches, too. It was like early on.
It was a Sunday morning game. But that is the one that really spurred the most thought. Then there are some things that happened in college games, just a couple mistakes here and there we always talk through.
But that's the main one.
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