Philadelphia Eagles Media Conference

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen

Weekday Press Conference


Q. Shane, kind of talk about Jeff Stout and what he's meant to the offense line. Especially getting the younger guys up to speed. I mean, you see other teams, they lose a player here or there.

SHANE STEICHEN: Right. Just being around him, he's a tremendous teacher, a tremendous teacher. The Xs and Os part of it, the fundamentals and details, someone goes down, the next guy steps up.

He grinds during the week to get those guys ready. And you see it in the individual drills, the meeting room, the passion he coaches with. It continues to show up and those guys are playing at a high level.

Q. Shane, how has Boston Scott played?

SHANE STEICHEN: He's been solid. He's running it good. All those back are running it good. But he's seeing it good, he's hitting the holes, he's sticking his foot in the ground. He's been tremendous.

Q. Coming into the last game, it's good on good, running game against the No. 1 running defense, you run for over 200 yards. What's the adjustment that you expect to see from defenses now that you have proven that you can run on them?

SHANE STEICHEN: Well, I think possibly they can put an extra defender if the box, load the box up a little bit.

Like I talked about last week, when you got a quarterback that's running like our quarterback is running right now, they got to account for that. They're plus one in the run game, so we got to continue to do what we do and go from there.

Q. Do you plan for that during the week?

SHANE STEICHEN: Absolutely. No doubt about it. You got to expect the unexpected when you got a quarterback that can run like ours. We got to be ready for everything going into every game.

Q. What's your level of cringe when Jalen gets hit?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, when he gets hit, you got to be conscious of that. But I think what he does is really good. He's very athletic and he does a good job of getting down.

You know, he knows how to take a hit. And then when he doesn't want to take a hit, he slides. And you see that on Sundays. And he's continuing to do that.

Q. When you're drafting plays and you have a center that can pull like Jason Kelce, how much does that help you immolate screens and draw up plays?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, there's no doubt about it. Without a doubt, the most excellent center in the NFL, I think. The way he moves, sees the game. He's seen a ton.

Coach said it the other day, his accelerated vision in the run game, screen game, he sees it before it happens. That's a ton of credit to him. He studies a ton of tape and he's a tremendous football player.

Q. Shane, even though you're not throwing the ball a whole lot as far as calling the plays, what do you need to do to get more of Dallas and DeVonta involved?

SHANE STEICHEN: Well, I think this, our team is very unselfish. And it's all about the team. And however we need to do it to win the football game, that's what we're to do week in, week out. That's the bottom line. The stats are great, but the bottom line is winning the football game.

Q. One of those guys who got involved was, obviously, J.J. What did you see out of him the way he's kind of persevered?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no doubt about it. He's a tough, scrappy player. He's done so much on special teams. He goes in there and blocks. And then to make that play there in the fourth quarter, that 23-yard reception, that's a credit to him and the hard work he's doing. And he keeps doing that and keeps getting better.

Q. Jalen held the ball there a little bit more. Is that something that you practiced, him holding the ball longer?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, I think that's -- you know, we say reading -- he does it independently. How's the defensive-end technique, how's he going to play it, is he going to slow play it, is he going to run up the field. So each of those plays are different, so he's got to do read it differently.

Q. I know Jordan might not be out there on Sunday. But how did Jordan and Miles complement each other?

SHANE STEICHEN: They were great. Our group of backs are all tremendous players. And I thought they did a good job. Miles was good. He hit it good.

He had that big, long run down the sidelines. He can jump-cut. And then, obviously, Jordan is a downhill runner. So it's been good.

Q. Do you think that, generally, Miles is better outside and Jordan is better north to south?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I mean, I think that's game to game. We're going to have runs up for both of those guys. That could be the same run. Those are both good players.

Q. Not all mobile quarterbacks are the same. What about Jalen's running mobility is unique?

SHANE STEICHEN: You know what, he's a special player. He's continued to do this every single week. And you see -- you saw it again on Sunday.

He's playing really good football right now. And that third down run he had when he stuck his foot in the ground and made that guy miss and cut across the grain, that was probably the best run I've seen by a quarterback live in person. So a credit to him and the work he puts in every week and it continues to show.

Q. As a follow-up to that: In the spring and summer, you obviously couldn't see him run the way he runs much because the way practices are structured. At what point did you see he was different as a runner?

SHANE STEICHEN: I mean, I think you saw is it the first couple weeks. And then now that we've been meshing and gelling together and continue to grow together as a group, it's really coming together. But we got to continue to keep it going and stay focused on the present and focus on beating the New York Giants.

Q. It's a pretty large sample size. So you mentioned the plus one in the run game. How much have you noticed as the season has gone on how defenses have changed and shifted and say, We got to deal with this guy? How much change have you seen from the other side?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I mean, there's different ways to try to stop it. But, again, that's the preparation part of it. When we go into a week and the game plan, how do we plan it and counter it? How are they going to take away the quarterback?

And without getting into too much scheme, if things like that happen within the game, we have great coaches and do great sideline adjustments to get that right.

Q. Boston's best games have come against the Giants so far. Doing that tape study, what's the why behind that?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I haven't been here. But I know he's had really good games against those guys. And, again, the offensive line has done a tremendous job opening the holes for him. And making guys miss in open space, he's been really good at doing that.

Q. (No microphone.) Are you noticing that defenses open up a little bit more space downfield because you're having success on the ground?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I absolutely think so. When you can run the football like we've been running it, it does open up the windows down the field to throw it.

And, obviously, if you run play action and they sink out of there, he can check it down. But it's been good.

Q. A lot of presnap motion with Jalen Reagor. How are defenses responding to that?

SHANE STEICHEN: I think Reagor is a special player that you can do multiple things with. So to put him in different spots and' see how defenses adjust more than anything else how are they going to play him differently than somebody else. So it's been good to see.

Q. You mentioned earlier Jalen's ability -- Jalen Hurts' ability avoiding hits, not take too many. How rare is that in a quarterback and how often do you have to teach that or is that natural?

SHANE STEICHEN: I think you talk about it. But he has a natural fear for that. There's guys that have a natural ability of knowing how to get down and when to get down. And I think he does a great job of that and he's been doing that his whole career. Obviously, probably through high school and it's shown up in college and now in the NFL.

Q. (No microphone.)

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, I mean, I think it's a mentality. And I think it starts with those guys upfront with the leaders we got with Lane and Kelce.

I mean, those guys are nasty football players and they play physical and hard and I think that just trickles down.

And when you got a coach like Stout, a passionate coach and coaching his butt off every single day, I think it breathes the energy within that group and that's what we want.

Q. It seems we're seeing more of that out of Mailata. What do you attribute that to?

SHANE STEICHEN: I think it's the same thing. I think it's being around those guys. He's got a rugby background. And seeing his highlights where he's running dudes over with that football, I mean, he's a physical football player. We're excited to have him.

Q. The last time we spoke to you, Goedert signed the extension. What's the next step?

SHANE STEICHEN: I think he continues to improve and get better. He's a big play guy. He's awesome in the run game. He's a do it all guy. He's getting better every week and just keep getting on the football.

Q. What do you see from the Giants on film watching?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, no, Williams is a really good player. It starts upfront with him. He's good in the run game, pass game. And then on the outside with Jackson and the other corner, Bradberry, those guys are good players.

And I think this -- this is my first year in the division, but at any time you play a division opponent, I mean, it's going to be a battle.

It doesn't matter what the records are, how anyone's playing, it's from start to finish when playing a division opponent. We got to be ready to go.

Q. How did you watch that game last night?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, well, we watched on TV and then watched the normal copy.

Q. (No microphone.)

SHANE STEICHEN: They play -- yeah, they play some zone but they'll mix in some man, as well.

Q. Were you guys all together watching the game last night?

SHANE STEICHEN: Yeah, we were game planning and we had it on mute in the background. We were game planning but really getting ready for the game.

Q. Did Nick finally get you guys pizza?

SHANE STEICHEN: No. I need to talk to him about that. But he has gotten us some other stuff during the week.

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115027-1-1839 2021-11-23 18:20:00 GMT

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