Q. All this talk about an identity and things like that. You have a running back like Saquon, top three in rushing, an offensive line that's smashing the run game, is the identity maybe evolving into a running team?
NICK SIRIANNI: You know, I think, again, we do what we need to do to win each game. There's going to be a game where we have to pass it a bunch. There's going to be a game we're going to have to run it again like that. It's just all going to be week-to-week.
Again you want to stay in things that you do well but everything is going to be week-to-week based off of what's going right that week, and you know, so we'll see as the year progresses.
Q. You told us about the moment with Saquon, but since we've all seen that, did that have an effect on the entire team?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I think people really respect Saquon and because of the person he is, the leader that's, the mayor that he is, and I think that it just shows selflessness. You know, just caring about the team, caring about -- and that's what he's been since he's been here and that's what he's been since he's probably been ten years old, right, and playing football.
And so I think that guys respect that, and you know, we try to point those things out any time they happen, you know, with the selflessness, because that's part of being a team.
Q. What impresses you most about Joe Burrow?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, he's obviously a really good player who's done it really well for -- assume, I need to step a way for a second, I'm having a coughing attack.
Yeah, just he's done it at a high level for a very long time. Thinking back on just that team that he had in college, he still had one of the guys that he was throwing to in college, just how fun that was to watch.
Yeah, just think, you know, he just plays at a high level each and every year, and this is a really good offense. A lot of respect for this offense with the weapons they have, and then obviously Joe Burrow.
Q. We've seen over the last, since the start of the season, the defense and the personnel usage and some cases, guys being subbed out for others evolve. But especially so since the bye. How has Vic managed that, and how have you over seen it and allowed him to kind of run with that?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, you know, obviously these guys have a vision of you know what guys do well and they are with that every single day, and obviously I'm there with them watching that.
But you know, they have so much faith in our defensive staff to, hey, we think this guy should be here or this guy should be there. Again, obviously we watch it all together, but they are the experts at defense.
So I just got a lot of respect for our defensive staff and the positions that they have put the guys in. Like we know this, though. We are only as good as our next game. So we have got a really big challenge on our hands this week against a really good opponent, and looking forward to the challenge. And we'll see how that goes.
Q. How does it happen, we've gotten to know Vic fairly well, he's pretty blunt and pretty much going to just handle things the way he's going to handle them. That may rub some players, if they are losing snaps, etc. How does he handle that and are you the kind of good cop to his bad cop?
NICK SIRIANNI: I think every situation calls for something probably a little bit different. I think, like I said, he's about the result of the play and how he gets the guys better and how he puts them in positions to succeed.
I think he's consistent, you know, with everything. I don't think there's a lot of surprise of once you make a mistake -- what you got there? I don't need milk. I haven't had a glass of milk in probably 20 years (laughter).
I think guys respect the consistency. Now, you might not always like -- and that's what you try to do as a coach. Not everybody might always like what's being said but, I think everyone has to respect the consistency, and I think that's what I admire about Vic.
Q. When you said the team is getting it's MoJo back, what did you mean by that and what does that look like?
NICK SIRIANNI: I think I said that about the pass rush. When you have two games in a row where the pass rush has been what it's been, you know, I just felt that, kind of wrote that. I write notes on my call sheet as we go through the game, things that need to be corrected, this and that that you see live, and I just wrote that in the middle of the game after maybe the fifth sack.
Like it just felt like that, right where at any point with the guys that were going up front, that at any point, they could get a sack because of the way they were rushing. That's how I felt about it, and I know that the defensive line felt that way, too. The defense felt that way. I think the offense that way. I think the entire team felt that way.
We've had a lot of sacks here in my four years, and it's a great feeling. That's a stat we pay a lot of attention to because it's kind of in that double-positive, the explosive play battle and the turnover battle. It's the next one that we look at there, and so we know how important that is.
Q. How do you balance the feeling that you think they have found something in the pass rush versus just happen to come against two teams that have a weakened offense, or does it matter because they feel the sacks?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, I mean, every -- this is professional football. I think every week is going to be a huge, huge challenge. And so again, just you get it because -- not because of what you -- who you're going against but really because of how you prepare and how you go about your business each week.
I think we're a product of our habits more so than who we're playing, right, or anything like that. You're going to have the habits that you practice out there with and that's what we really try to focus on.
Q. To be able to change identity during a game, like say you go into a game thinking you're going to run the ball but they show you something different and you pass the ball and you have guys like A.J. and DeVonta, I guess that's probably something you didn't have when you first got here obviously. So how unique is that?
NICK SIRIANNI: I think what was unique as I saw it this week until the Giants game was if you watch -- when you watch that tape, when you watch that tape, you see there's multiple times where DeVonta is throwing his body around to get a block. We only passed the ball four times in the second half. So it's going to be a day where any receiver is going to -- you're not going to get the production you normally get when those things happen.
But to see the effort of A.J. and DeVonta and Jahan, I'm going to single those three guys out, and Paris did a good job blocking when he was in and Johnny did a good job, he had a nice block on one and had some other good efforts. But the effort, that was huge.
Like the play that I felt like kind of got us going was that one around the edge by Saquon. Well, A.J. comes in and addition the safety out, and then Cam is able to wraparound and ends up getting hands on their corner.
And so it's like, okay, the games -- and it was kind of a little early to say the game was going to play out that way at that point but as the game progressed, you just see, like we all heard the selflessness of Saquon when I had that conversation with him. So that was heard. But you see it on tape with DeVonta -- I'm going to single those two guys out particularly, DeVonta and A.J., how they blocked in a game like that.
I remember there was a game a couple years ago where DeVonta said the same thing, he said it to Slay on the sideline. Like Slay is like, "Let me get it." We were winning by a lot and he's like, "let me get in and get a couple catches."
He's like, "We didn't catch it today. We've been running it. And you want to come in on offense, you better go ahead and strap it up because we're blocking today."
So it's like, I love -- like that selflessness that we get to see, and that's like when you're building a team and you're building, you know, as a group, you're building together to try to do this, those things go a long way, the selflessness. I can't remember -- I know I'm answering the question kind of like to really emphasize that, as opposed to how it goes different because every game can go a little bit different than how you think.
But at the end of the day, it's about winning the football game and what we have to do to be successful, and when you're a guy who gets the ball a lot, like those guys, and then it's a day that you don't get the ball, how are you affecting the game, how are you affecting the game in a positive way when you're not doing, you know, touching the football. Those guys, I thought -- I just can't say enough. Like I wanted to spend a little time on that because I can't say enough about how selfless I felt like they were, and that doesn't surprise me. That's how these guys are.
Q. Is that just contagious when your veteran leaders do that?
NICK SIRIANNI: Oh, definitely. I think everyone feeds off that. Sometimes you see a play on the sideline where Saquon lowers his shoulder, or A.J. finishes on the sideline or Coop finishes on the sideline, the contagiousness that -- contagiousness, yeah? That that has fir the toughness of your football team and the energy it brings.
Well, it's the same thing here. If guying are watching and seeing that, and we point it out and show that. I mean, that's a big deal. Because when DeVonta Smith can do it and play with selflessness, and you know, then they got to do that, too, because that's what's the expectation and that's what the standard is.
Q. How would you describe Josh Sweat's season to this point?
NICK SIRIANNI: I think Josh Sweat is one of the most physical guys on this football team. You know, and so I think that defensive ends are always judged on how many sacks did you get, right, and I get that and that's part of it.
But the way he plays the run and the way he puts his hands on tight ends and the way he puts his hands on tackles and the violence that he plays with is critical to our success on how he plays on the edge of our defense.
And so I feel like every week when I'm watching the tape, I'm writing up there, 19, as I look at the tape, 19 plus, physical, 19 plus, violent, 19 plus, way to use your hands. It's just over and over and over again. And it was good to see him the last couple weeks get the sacks because he's always on pursuit.
I think there was a really good play that he made in that Giants game where they thumped the edge with the tight end. He got skinny and then got himself back on the tackle and was an unbelievable rush when the attention was going to him. When you can beat a rush, when two guys are blocking you, that's impressive, and he was able to do that and he's been able to do that throughout his career. Yeah, he tests a tone for ourselves the way he plays with his physicality and we expect him to keep doing that because that's the type of guy he is.
Q. What about the passing game helps Jalen be right for frequently? Kellen talked about how there is a passing progression, he can green light after a one-on-one if he sees it? What went into that?
NICK SIRIANNI: You have good one-on-one players and you trust one-on-one players. It takes the built-in trust. Again, this isn't blind faith. This work over and over and over again that he trust, A.J., DeVonta to work those one-on-ones, and being able to know when he doesn't have them to work the other part of the concept.
And so listen, defenses are constantly trying to manipulate you to see -- to deceive you, right, of to what you're really getting.
And so I just think he's done a really good job of seeing what the defense is giving to him and taking his opportunities for one-on-ones when he has them and playing the position at a high level when they don't present themselves.
Q. Is it a buy product of sometimes chasing those shots when he does see those one-on-one matchups? Does it sometimes lead to the passing offense seeming arrhythmic at times?
NICK SIRIANNI: Again, when you don't complete a vertical ball, there's still a fear put into the defense where they can't sit on routes at the sticks or they can't sit on routes that appear -- like listen, defense is trying to deceive us and we are trying to deceive them. Like, everyone is lying out there on the field, right. And so when you go vertical and you don't get it, yes, that puts you in the second and ten, if it's 1st and 10 obviously.
But there's so much else it does, right, to that defensive back and to that matchup. I don't think you can look at it as just a product of, hey, it was an incomplete pass. Like we started the Cleveland game that way, right, with a couple vertical shots that were incomplete passes. You can't look at it like that. There's other things that go into it after that happens.
Q. As a wide receiver guy, how would you compare or evaluate the two combinations in this game?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, both big time. Both big time. Obviously a ton of respect for Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase. I think the guy, the kid from Princeton is doing well, too, and obviously I wouldn't want anyone else but our guys with DeVonta and A.J.
Again, it will be fun for fans to watch, right. The combination of all those play-makers on the field. I know you want me to rank them. I'm not going to rank them. But a ton of respect for both. Love the guys that we have and a lot of respect over there of how they have done it and how they have done it for many years.
Q. Following up on the passing, what goes into the balance of either zeroing in on those one-on-ones when there may be something in the progression that emerges? What's the balance and how do you coach that?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, again, sometimes routes stay on verse press sometimes they convert verse press. Sometimes they stay on verse cloud and sometimes they convert. So sometimes it's the defense that balances that out.
Again you're just trying to attack multiple ways. You're trying to attack on the outside. You're trying to attack on the inside. You're trying to attack on the vertical. You're trying to attack on the short. So, again, we are constantly lying to the defense about what we are doing.
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