Q. So the injured guys, who's questionable? Are there any guys that are out?
NICK SIRIANNI: Everybody was full today and the questionable guys are Sweat and Dillard.
Q. Is Sweat still in the concussion protocol?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yes, yes. That doesn't -- that doesn't go -- end till tomorrow. That's why he's questionable right now.
Q. What about Dillard?
NICK SIRIANNI: Just something at practice today, yeah. Yeah, so he's questionable right now.
Q. He was full at practice?
NICK SIRIANNI: Full at practice but questionable from what happened at practice today.
Can I -- is that -- are you guys okay? Did you get what you need there?
Q. Are you allowed to say anything about Dillard?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you know, I'll just leave it at that. He's questionable. He was full at practice. But questionable because of something at practice.
Q. It's not game related, but from a scheduling perspective, you have the guys here on Mondays, but their day off is Tuesdays. It's kind of been the other way around for the past few years. Why did you choose that schedule?
NICK SIRIANNI: Well, for the longest time, I was always on teams that Mondays they were in, Tuesdays they were off. And then when I went to Indy, Frank and, obviously, being here with Doug, and Frank had gotten used to that and he liked that.
And, you know, they won a Super Bowl doing it that way. And so, you know, that's what we did. And it was funny, and I always felt like -- again, you think about things as the head -- when you're an assistant and you want to be a head coach, Well, I kind of like that day off Monday -- or their day off Tuesday.
It was always -- it always felt, like, you know, you go to work on Monday, you review the game with the coaches, you move on from the game. And you want the players to do the same thing, good, bad, and different.
You move on from the game, prepping the next game, and then you go back and rehash it and talk through everything like that.
And so, that was my why for switching it. It was my big why. I called Frank and I was, like, What -- I kind of just talked to him. I wanted to take all the information. Yeah, we're going back to the other way, too.
So he's -- I think they're off Monday, too. Not that I know that 100 percent, but as we're talking, I think he is. Monday on, Tuesday off. Sorry.
And so, it was more about that, that I wanted to be able to put the game to rest, good or bad, on Monday, and everybody move on from that game, learn what you need to from that game. But move on, get prepared for the next game.
Q. Nick in terms of soft-tissue injuries, you guys have been relatively healthy, especially compared to --
NICK SIRIANNI: (Knocking on the table with his hand.) I'm not superstitious at all. I'm really not. But I did.
Q. And we talked a lot about it during -- somewhat about the -- during the -- when you guys are holding them back, do you feel like this is a direct result of that? And do you feel like -- I mean, having known what they have gone through previously, do you feel like this is just kind of the culmination of the process?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I mean, you look at everything you do schedule-wise, right, starting in the offseason and then training camp, and then practice.
Yeah, I do. I do believe it's a result of how we're, you know, doing things and how we're practicing. I think the system that we are in right now as far as how -- you know, how everything's organized has been good throughout the other teams in the NFL that have done it this way, have done well.
Again, it's like when you're building an offense or you're looking at players or whatever, you just want to take what you think is best for the players and do it.
And so, yeah, I mean, right now -- yeah, I guess that's my -- I believe that's what's helping us. And guys are doing a great job of taking care of their bodies. We got great people in the building helping these guys take care of their bodies.
And so, I just feel like -- and that's an organizational thing. Just all the help that we have as an organization. Like, you know, Mr. Lurie gives all the resources that we need. And so, yeah, I just think that's directly a product of it.
Q. The altitude: People talk about -- Davion was talking about he played at Colorado. You at time with the Chargers, you had to go there every year. Is it -- I know they kind of play it up, they have that sign outside the locker room.
NICK SIRIANNI: Right outside the locker room, yeah.
Q. They say, Attitude, sickness is real, whatever. Can you do anything? Do you talk to the guys? What do you say when it comes to that?
NICK SIRIANNI: Just with Jeff's question right there and just like everything we do, we're always trying to look for an edge. We're always trying to look for an advantage.
The parity in this league is so, so tight that you always got to look for an advantage, right? That's why we sleep in our offices sometimes. We watch five years of tape of a certain situation, et cetera, et cetera.
And so, many doubt that this is the same thing. We've talked to our guys about things. We have a very detailed plan of things we've done at the very beginning of the week, starting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, all the way to where we are Friday, about what time we get there tomorrow and everything.
And so, every detail has been -- every resource that we have had available for us and all the research has been done and we use that information. That's not my expertise. I got to look at the people that have an expertise in it. And so, we've done that and hopefully it pays dividends for us this Sunday.
Q. How are you able to simulate that atmosphere? What have you done from the training staff from that altitude change?
NICK SIRIANNI: There's been a lot. One thing -- again, I don't want to get into a lot of the specifics.
But one thing -- I think there are a couple of our other divisional opponents -- just in case our divisional opponents have to go there, I'm not going to go into that.
Just for one more, I can give you one thing. We're getting there a little bit later tomorrow. Just getting in a little bit later, that's one thing for different reasons.
But, again, it's funny, just like the detail that was put in the presentation, to me, as the head coach, from it it was, like, I'm looking at all the different things that we're doing to get ready for this game.
And, right, it's like, Man, this looks like the same type of detail that a game plan looks like and the same thought process that went through it all.
And it just goes to show you about football. There's just so many different parts of this organization that work together, right, from players, to coaches, to media staff, to the strength and conditioning staff, to everybody, that, like, make it go.
And so, that's what I was fired up about how much detail goes into it. But that's just one thing I'll share with you.
Q. How does getting in later help?
NICK SIRIANNI: See, I shouldn't have given you anything. (Laughing.)
Q. You don't have to tell me.
NICK SIRIANNI: We can talk off the record about that.
Q. Nick, can you just provide a couple more details on those Friday meetings with Jalen, like, when they started, where they're held, how long they go and kind of the why?
NICK SIRIANNI: So pretty typical of the play caller and the quarterback to meet on Friday after everybody leaves, right, and go through the openers and go through what the -- your third down and two, two to three first calls, second call, third call, what's your third down and four to six calls, seven to 10, 11 plus, high red zone, tight red zone, low red zone, four-minute, backed up, and just go through all the -- like, all the information has been gathered, right, and given to the players and talked through.
Now it's, like, Hey, here's how we see this playing out, here's when we might call this play, this play. And you're just going through the game.
You're playing the game with the quarterback, you're simulating it in your mind of how things are going to play out.
And so, that's a pretty typical meeting. And that's the meeting that involves myself, Shane, Kevin Patullo owe, Brian Johnson, and, obviously, Jalen.
And then, you know, right after that, Jalen and I just go sit in my office and we just talk. And so, I don't know, that started probably a month ago. I'd say a month ago.
Again, I just think it's so important to connect with our guys. I know that's not the first time you've heard me say that. I just want to make sure I connect with everybody.
And you definitely -- the quarterback, you always want to connect a little bit more with that person. He's your coach on the field.
And so, it's just been fun to sit there and talk to him about anything. But, obviously, I'll keep those conversations private.
But me and Jalen have a lot more in common than we probably even thought. We're both coaches' kids. We both love football. We have a lot of -- same types of music, you know, pop culture, stuff like that.
We got a lot more in common. But you don't learn that unless you get to know somebody. It's been fun just sitting there. I look forward to that. Hopefully he does, too, (laughing.) But I look forward to having that conversation with him every Friday.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports