HOWIE ROSEMAN: Before we get started, I wanted to take a moment to share our condolences with the Jets organization who lost members of their family in recent weeks. The other day, Joe Douglas, before the Aaron Rodgers press conference, was speaking about the passing of Cappy, the team's director of football operations system. He'd been with the Jets for 15 years. Joe, who obviously is close to all of us here, called him a great teammate, a great person, invaluable to their football operation.
We want his wife Courtney and his family and friends to know they're in our prayers.
We also want to send our condolences to the Jets' CFO Brian Friedman and his wife Diane, who are grieving the tragic loss of their son. It just hit us all hard here, and we're thinking about them.
Okay, on to football.
Q. Howie, I know a lot of homework went into Jalen Carter. What did you guys find?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, I think that for us, our investment is a huge part. I've talked about Dom many, many times about the work that he does, which is the best in the National Football League, and we understand that all these players, they need to be developed. They're coming into the league at a very young age. They're not finished products. I think all of us when we were 21 and 22 hopefully have grown a lot from that time, and you just really want to get to know the person and what's in their heart, and I think when we got to know Jalen, we just felt like here's a kid that he does love football. Obviously he's a winner. He won in high school, he won in college.
We feel like we have really good people in this building. We have really good support staff. We have really good players who are good people. We have really good coaches. We felt like it was a good fit for us.
Q. Nakobe was sitting on the board in the third round last year, but were you surprised that Nolan was still there at No. 30?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, I think that's one of the things in the draft you've got to be flexible. You go into the draft and you say here are a couple names at 30, and then you see guys sitting up there like Nolan, and again, like an incredible person. Obviously he got unbelievable traits in his body, a leader and a winner.
For us, we were fielding calls at that time, and I think Coach and I kind of looked at each other like this is the guy. We didn't want to get too cute, and we're excited to add him.
Q. What was the reason to moving up a spot to trade with the Bears?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: I guess it happened a couple times tonight. We started a trend.
I think for us, we wanted to get the player. We wanted to make sure that we got him and we felt like maybe we could entice the Bears by giving them a pick. Not saying they were taking him. I have no idea what they were doing. But we just wanted the player. At that point in the draft we felt like that was the right decision for us, and we really -- like we talked about, wanted to come out with an impact player, and we feel like Jalen could be an impact player for us.
Q. We talked to Jalen on a Zoom call right after the pick, and it's only a Zoom call, he just got drafted, I understand it's kind of unusual circumstances for the kid, but he was asked a few times about the incident in Athens, and he didn't come across, at least to me, as accountable about it. I know you guys are big on accountability --
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, I don't think that's fair. You just said that. What, you want him to talk about an active investigation at that time? I mean, at the end of the day he just got drafted, and you're asking him and you're putting him on the spot on that.
Q. What I'm asking is what was his -- when you talked to him about --
NICK SIRIANNI: I think it's hard on a Zoom to feel out a person's heart and their accountability.
Q. Was he talking about that with you and what he learned and how he grew --
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I just don't think it's fair how you said that you didn't feel like that.
HOWIE ROSEMAN: You're being critical of a kid who's trying to enjoy the best night of his life, and I think for us, obviously --
Q. It's a very big part of --
HOWIE ROSEMAN: There's no doubt about it, but you're judging how he reacted based on a Zoom call. I think for us these are his teammates, these are people that he was close with. Obviously it's been a traumatic process for him throughout the spring. We understand that there's a reason that he was available at 9.
I think everyone will tell you this is one of the most talented players in the draft. This is one of the most talented players to come out of college football in a long time.
Obviously like that's part of what we're talking about. We've got to develop the people. We've got to develop the player.
I think for us, we take that part seriously. We think that it's important that not only are we caring about people as players, but we want to care about the people. We're going to wrap our arms around him and do the best we can to help him and understand -- that was a tragic night. It was a tragic night, and we're sorry for the loss to those families, and we're not trying to downplay that situation, but obviously we've got to get to work.
Q. Jalen said that he wasn't asked by the Eagles about the incident. Was that true?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: We spent a lot of time investigating the incident around it. We talked to Jalen about a variety of things, and again, we're not going to get into what we talk to our players about. That's not fair. We wouldn't go into what we talked to Nolan about.
But at the end of the day, nobody is hiding from the fact that a tragic event happened, and we'll do our very best to make sure that both these players develop every skill set they need to be successful.
Q. How much did having Jordan and Nakobe here factor into the decision to draft Jalen, if at all?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Well, again, for us, Jordan and Nakobe are their own entities. We need Jordan to be a great player, we need Nakobe to be a great player, and I don't think it's fair for us to put the responsibility on those two guys. It's our responsibility to manage this team and to make sure that we have the right pieces around, and I look around, our people who are here tonight who are in our organization and I have tremendous confidence in our people.
At the end of the day I'll bet on the people in this building. That's on the field and that's off the field. That's what we're doing here.
Q. When you started the draft work in earnest did you think Jalen was a possibility for you?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: No, not at 10. Didn't think that. But obviously been around this a long time, and things happen. I think you've got to be prepared. We didn't go into this draft thinking like there's only one player we had to get. I think that wouldn't have been good, just like at 30 there wasn't only one player we had to come out with.
But we're just starting here. We just started. Obviously we've got two days. Tomorrow is a big day for us, so we'll get back to work.
Q. (Indiscernible) crafting relationships in the pre-draft process. What's your interactions with Nolan and Jalen specifically?
NICK SIRIANNI: I did get shoot baskets with them and talked to them for a long time to figure out their toughness, their love of football, and then just their competitive nature.
Got to know those guys, obviously really liked both the guys. I felt like both guys were extremely tough on film, and then you get to dive into a little bit more about how their mental toughness is, and loved that about both of them, and then also saw their competitive nature come out in here when we were playing basketball or shooting hoops together. I wasn't playing one-on-one against --
HOWIE ROSEMAN: How did that horse game go against Jalen?
NICK SIRIANNI: I beat Jalen, but Nolan beat me. He kind of stood right there and did a windmill dunk without taking a step, so I was pretty impressed by that. He got an H on me right there because I didn't that in my repertoire.
HOWIE ROSEMAN: I think your reaction was, Jalen Carter just took a flat-footed windmill dunk and asked me to match him.
NICK SIRIANNI: So I'm looking forward to continuing to get to know them. Connecting with all our guys is a top priority. I can't tell you how many times before our game, our last game of the year last year in the Super Bowl, the leaders on this team stood up and just talked about how connected they were and how tight this team was and is and how they didn't want to let each other down. I think that's a really good thing for both of those guys to step into, because I know one thing about winning teams is that winning teams have that connection, so they're coming from a program in Georgia that the same connection is the same, and then they're going to be stepping into this building, where we feel like the connection is strong with our team, as well.
I loved my hour with those guys. I think I'm slotted a half hour. I take an hour all the time.
HOWIE ROSEMAN: All the time.
NICK SIRIANNI: And there's 30 of those, so I go a little overboard there, but really loved my interaction with those guys. So glad that they're Eagles. So glad that they -- that's a big thing when you go away to college and you know somebody there, that helps when you come into a profession and you know somebody. I know that helps. These guys know a lot of guys here.
Really excited to continue to build on that connection that we made while they were here.
Q. Four guys who were college teammates here with the Eagles. Are there distinct advantages to that on and off the field?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think so. Again, like any time you're familiar with something, have that -- there's a lot of things that they're going to come into this league that are unfamiliar to them, right. There's countless amount of things. So to have a little bit of sense of familiarity with some of the guys that you've went to battle with and won a lot of games with, that's huge. I think that's a huge part for these guys to have each other.
Q. On the tampering issue, can you give us a little information on that and why you guys settled the way you did?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, I think the league handles those issues, and obviously we'll abide by the league's decision in that matter, and we'll move forward.
Q. What was your reaction when you found out about both Aaron and the Cardinals pick?
NICK SIRIANNI: I think you're probably trying to bait me into something here, but I know Gannon gave everything he had to that game. Everything he had for that Super Bowl, he gave to this team. No reaction because I know where his heart was in it, so yeah.
Q. One thing that Jalen also mentioned on his Zoom call was he wasn't in top shape, condition for his pro day and everything. How much of a concern was that for you guys, and also do you think the veterans that are here on the team will make sure that's not an issue going forward?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, as I said, like he didn't have the spring that he wanted to have, obviously starting with that event. I think the event and the issues surrounding it, I think they derailed him this spring. The first thing he said to us was you tell me what I need to do.
I think he's a proud guy, and he wants to show people what kind of player he is and what kind of person he is, but he's got to do that with his actions.
In terms of our team, I love our team. I love the players on our team. I love who they are as people. I love their work ethic. I didn't come in early today, and Coach called me and he said, we had an amazing day. Now, he's not allowed to be with those guys, but he just saw them. He just had an amazing energy day. I walked in, and you could feel the energy in our building, like I love our guys. He first said, we had an amazing day. I said, what, I wasn't here? Is that why you had an amazing day?
We have good people, and we have a good locker room, and I think that Dom told me today he had spoken to a bunch of our guys, and they embrace the opportunity to rally around each other and to rally around young players and to show them the way. I think that's what really legacy is about, and I think these guys understand that, and it makes me even more proud about our players.
Q. Can you give some insight into his personality, Jalen's personality, and perhaps why maybe he may need this extra support that you've spoken so much about?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Well, I think one, because obviously there was a traumatic tragic event that happened, and I think we have to all acknowledge that, and we can't sweep it under the rug, and we've got to make sure that he's kind of moving forward in a way that's positive, and I think that it's unique to have kind of a circumstance when you're coming out of the draft where this talented player has a spring that's not necessarily in line with the rest of his career.
Did I answer that question?
Q. Why would he need this extra support that you've spoken about, beyond the accident? Is there something about his personality --
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Well, I think I said, to be fair, that I think all the young players who come in this building need development and support, not just Jalen, and I think that what's important for us is that our perspective -- I'm not saying it's right, but our perspective is that you're talking about 21 and 22 year old kids who are moving to a new city for the first time with a new atmosphere, new environment, and to just think, all right, now they're going to be really good, it's not really fair. None of us just plop down in a new environment and all of a sudden, yeah, it's perfect. We've got to develop all our players. We've got to develop all our staff. That's what we do when we have young staff coming here. We try to show them the right way, and that's our job.
Q. With Nolan Smith, any sense why he dropped down to the latter part of the first round, and how did the medicals check out with him?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Is there a medical issue? No, he's healthy. I think when you get into the first round, some teams -- you pick who you like and you pick what you're looking for there. It would be hard for me to kind of say what other teams are thinking, and I'm sure every team is happy who they got in the first round.
Q. You mentioned Joe before; you had the cohabitation matrix that kind of went away, but Jordan and Nakobe are very young, but how much do you tap into those guys when you're bringing in their former teammates?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yes. Do you want me to go further? Yeah, there's no doubt. Coach and I both talked to guys. We kind of have the atmosphere around here where a bunch of our guys are trying to recruit us to draft a bunch of their players, right, Coach? Guys from Georgia want Georgia guys, guys from Alabama guys want Alabama guys, and we clearly don't have enough Florida guys.
I think that's fun.
Q. I mean just from the fact that because Jalen had gone through so much, do you try to go, I guess, down a little bit deeper with the guys who knew him well?
HOWIE ROSEMAN: Yeah, and like I said, we didn't do that any less for Nolan Smith with Jordan and Nakobe. We didn't do that any less from guys who played at different schools with different guys. We're always asking our guys, hey, what do you think about this guy, you played with him, would he be a good fit here. We also understand -- I'm not going to say bad things about my friends. If you asked me, hey, should I hire one of your friends, I'd say, yeah, he's a great guy. We also understand that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports