Eagles 38, Giants 7
Q. Another win to the NFC Championship game. How much did Jalen help the run game, because he could do everything?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, Jalen is always going to help the run game big time because of what he can do and the threat he poses on the backside. Even if he's not carrying, right? Even if he's not having runs to him and everything like that, he's still going to affect the game.
That's what he did, right? He affected the game because he demands attention on the backside. And, not only that, but he runs the show out there. He's like a point guard. He's getting us to good checks. We have checks on. That's a good defense. They pose a lot of problems. Wink Martindale is a great coordinator. He is a great coordinator and his guys play hard for him. Brian Daboll is a great head coach and his guys play hard for him, and they pose a lot of issues.
The quarterback has to go in there and help when teams pose issues like that, and Jalen was like -- who is -- he was like Iverson. Was he a shooting guard or point?
Q. Shooting.
NICK SIRIANNI: Shooting. Who is our best point guard ever?
Q. Mo Cheeks.
NICK SIRIANNI: He's like Mo Cheeks out there. Do you like the Mo Cheeks comparison?
Q. Actually, not bad. How much did Jalen change the play at the line of scrimmage?
NICK SIRIANNI: We have checks on things at times, and sometimes we have call it and run and play, so I can't give you a number, Howard, but he was in complete control out there.
Q. What was the message that team after the game? What was the locker room like after the first playoff win?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, it was lit in there, right? It was fun in there. You got to enjoy those moments. Got to enjoy those times. It was fun know. We had a good time in there.
But the message was what the schedule was and what it's been all year. I don't care who we play, right, it's about when the motivation -- and this is something that coach Jay Wright talks to me a lot about -- when the motivation for each other, right, when the motivation is for each other, doesn't matter who you play.
It's about not wanting to let your teammates down. He is so convicted. When he tells me things like that, I love it. I adopted that message. So it was what it was about. Like, hey, we're going to rest tomorrow, we're going to figure out who we play tomorrow, but make to mistake about it, our biggest motivation is the love that we have in this room and not wanting to let each other down, coaches, players, players coaches, players, players, coaches, coaches.
Q. Nick, you talked about Jalen's affect on the run game, but that offense line as well, especially Lane, what he was fighting through. You guys, 268 I think. What was that offensive line and what was Lane...
NICK SIRIANNI: They make it go, right? They make it go. It doesn't matter what level of football you're in. Doesn't matter if you're in junior high, JV, varsity, college football, Division I, II, II, if you're in pro football, the O-line and the D-line, you win there, you're going to win a lot of games.
And that O-line that we have, that D-line that we have, right, they're special. They got special guys, special players, and special men on it, right? Obviously having Lane -- Lane is the best tackle in the NFL, so to have him back and just shutting down a side, that's huge, right?
So it was awesome to have him back. He makes us go. That entire offensive line makes us go. Jason Kelce sets the table for a lot of things that are happening out there. Jason Kelce is one of the smartest football players I've ever been around.
Like we're in walk-through yesterday and we're lined up wrong in walk-through and he's telling -- he's like, that's not how they line up. You, move over here, you, move over there. That's not the look.
He's so smart. To be that tough and that smart, like that's an incredible thing that he has to do each week, right, use his brain, but then have to play this crazy, physical game against Dexter Lawrence is a really good player.
You know, he's a special leader, special center, and then all those guys, they just played their butts off today. Yes, Jalen demands a lot of attention on the backside, but that O-line, they make things go.
Q. Is there an emphasis to get Dallas Goedert going early on? He had a strong start to the game.
NICK SIRIANNI: There is always an emphasis to get Dallas, always an emphasis to get AJ, always an emphasis to get Devonta. The pass game runs through those three, and sometimes it's going to play out where one guy is going to get more touches than the other. That's the ebbs and flows of the year.
We got selfless guys that really are excited about the success of their team mates. It was Dallas' turn early. He made a great play. He's tough to tackle. He is really tough to tackle. I wouldn't want to tackle him.
That was his jersey my son wore today. I didn't bring him in here. He got to go celebrate in the locker room with us for a little bit so he didn't get to come up to the press conference today, but he wore the Dallas Goedert jersey and he didn't disappoint my son.
Q. What was happening with your interaction with the referee on that almost two-point conversion?
NICK SIRIANNI: I was going to call a timeout there. I didn't love the look and I just -- I was trying to call a timeout. I think he told me to get back, and I'm like, I'm going to call a timeout.
I don't have the burst that I used to have when I played at Mt. Union where I can sprint 30 yards down to get a timeout, and so I needed to be down there because I didn't want to tear a hamstring off the bone.
Q. What did you think of the defense?
NICK SIRIANNI: Man, what did they score? 7. Yeah, big time. Jonathan Gannon puts these guys in great positions. Obviously we have great players. Sometimes I have to hear like some things about Jonathan Gannon, and I don't know if it's you guys. Might be more other people. I won't say names -- Angela -- right?
But this guy is an unbelievable coordinator. The fact that he doesn't get respect from our radio station blows my mind. It blows my mind. I know you work at the radio station too so I'm not going to say anything about you. It blows my mind.
This guy is an incredible coordinator. People love to play for this guy. Like listen, you want me to keep going?
Q. Why do you even pay attention?
NICK SIRIANNI: Bob has to put me on to -- the only reason I got to pay attention is because Bob does such a good job at his job that he preps me for questions that I got to answer. So every time I hear an answer about Jonathan Gannon I laugh to myself. As a matter of fact, coaches from other teams as me, does Jonathan Gannon get shit here? I'm like, somehow, yeah. Like this guy is incredible.
He's going to be a head football coach in the National Football League because of what he does. This guys is a stud. He's a stud. I can't wait to talk to Angela on Monday.
Q. Nick, there is all the strategy and stats about the game, but what emotional lift does Jalen Hurts provide to the entire team, especially the beginning of the game that he could do what he wanted to do on the field?
NICK SIRIANNI: To have him out there is like -- I know this is high praise, but to have him out there is like having -- I shouldn't even go there -- it's like having Michael Jordan out there. He's your leader. He's your guy.
Hopefully that's the biggest respect I can pay to him comparing to his ability to being on the field to a Michael Jordan type. Like this guy leads. He brings this calmness to the entire team. He plays great football. He's as tough as they come.
Yeah, I mean, to me, nobody has played any better football than him this year.
Q. Amped up here, is there a point where you have to say, okay, we still to have win the NFC Championship and get to the Super Bowl?
NICK SIRIANNI: Heck, yeah. Dog mentality means, Sal, is that you enjoy it for a second, but you learn from it, right? You learn from the mistakes that you make. You learn from the things you did well and you move it in the past. So that's the whole thing.
Even when we're up 28-nothing, hey, we're starting again and it's like it's 0-0. Of course we're excited tonight, but we know we have so much bigger goals.
The only next goal is whoever we play next is wanting to win at that game and then go from there. So our focus won't change. Our focus is, hey, we're climbing this mountain. We're close. We're close to the top. Don't look at the top yet though. Look at the steps that you have to make this week.
That's been the message the entire year. Our guys, they say the same thing. Rent is due today. There are different ways of saying dog mentality, but it is truly, hey, we're going to enjoy this one.
What time is it? 11:40. I'm probably going to bed when I get home. We are going to enjoy, we are going to be in in the morning. Probably let the coaches sleep in a little bit. Be in in the morning and we'll correct the mistakes that we made, we'll correct those with the players on Monday, and we'll start to get ready for the next game.
Q. This offense has been able to bludgeon teams in the running game, and you can pass teams out of the stadium. Has this offense exceeded you and Shane's expectations for this year?
NICK SIRIANNI: Still trying to just climb. We've played good football. We really have. We've played good football to this date, but we know that we can keep getting better, right? We're going to end up playing -- practicing more and end up playing more games, and our goal is to just get better from this.
Yeah, we like where we are at right now, right? Got a great offensive line, great backs. We got great receivers, great quarterback. We got great tight ends. We're just ready to go to the next challenge.
So our goal is to make sure we're playing our best ball at our next game. We look to build on this, what we did today.
Q. Overall, it's been a while since you had a dominating performance like that. What do you think happened? Where do you think that came from tonight?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, guys balled out. We played really good. Played a good, full game by everybody. Listen, everybody wants style points to in the NFL. All I'm interested in is to make sure we're getting better every day and that it's not always -- might not always look to the outside world of what's happening, right, of the growth.
I've talked about this before. To the outside world you're not always going to play your best game. We know we're growing because of the way we practice, because of the way we walk-through, the way we meet.
And so we know we're growing. And listen, I'm never -- like, okay, never going to apologize for a win, right? If we win, and especially now, we'll correct the mistakes, we'll praise the good things, and move on from there.
Q. I think there is still a mystery to people on the outside about how much Jalen can really do, how much would you run. How did that factor into your game planning? Did you want to show early on that he could do everything?
NICK SIRIANNI: We wanted to run the best things that were best for us, knowing that Jalen was no limitations. So if that was running him, that was running him. We don't kind of think like, hey, we're going to show you guys, right?
But he was ready to go, you know, what he did today, and we did the things we thought was best for us. Again, that doesn't mean he's always going to carry it because some of that is determined on the defense, but when he does carry it, he demands that respect on the backside.
Nothing was off limits tonight.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports