Eagles 55, Commanders 23
Q. Nick, congratulations. You talked about the adversity you overcame in September, early in the season and the kind of arc the team is going through going back to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years.
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, this game is about overcoming adversity. Going to be good plays in the game and going to be bad plays in the game. There will be good moments in a season and bad moments in a season.
It's about overcoming and embracing the adversity. But really what we've talked about as a team is like adversity, we've all had to have adversity to be in this moment where we are right now, so adversity is what makes you who you are.
It's been the story the 2023 to the 2024 Eagles is as bad as feeling we had as how last year ended, I think it makes you who you are. These guys are hungry and we got one more to go.
Q. What was the message to the team in the locker room?
NICK SIRIANNI: I don't know. Everybody was kind of flowing in. Basically what the schedule was. Kind of what our message has been all year is tough, detailed, together. Tough, detailed, together.
You know, mentally and physically tough, detailed with our fundamentals, detailed with being on the same page, detailed with all that, and then together, right?
Again it's not the best groups of individuals that wins, you got to become a team.
We got one more to go.
Q. What did you think the Jalen's performance?
NICK SIRIANNI: Awesome. I think you heard what I said at the end of the game. It's amazing how much doubt there is sometimes. I can't quite comprehended it because doesn't look like people think it should look like.
But the guy has been clutch. He's won a ton of football games. But you ran for this many yards. We don't care how we win. We don't care. If we rush for 300 and pass for one and we win, great. If we rush for one and pass for 300, great. Who cares?
We've just continued to win. He's just continued to win. I think the criticism is, yeah, whatever. He just wins. I said what I said after the game and that's kind of how I feel.
Q. First offensive play Saquon takes it to the house. What does that mean?
NICK SIRIANNI: Good tone setter, right? We knew they were going to sell out to stop the run. We kind of knew that. Then he breaks two or three tackles to start. We get a great block from AJ on the toss crack to get around the edge; then great block by Dallas to kind of set it off.
You know, if Saquon gets into the second level, third level, now it's, hey, can you tackle this guy. He's hard to tackle. Yeah, they don't give me a vote for MVP but I know who my vote would -- that's probably why they don't give me a vote, because I would vote for Saquon.
Special performance, special player, special job by the entire group to make that play go to start things off. That was a good tone setter. We've had some good tone setter to start this playoff, all the playoffs. Oren forcing the fumble against Green Bay. You know, going right down and getting a touchdown on the first drive of the LA game. To start like that was a good start for us.
Q. Cam Jurgens talked about (indiscernible). For him to be the emergency start to fill-in, what was the plan for him and what did it mean to see him...
NICK SIRIANNI: I think you saw the plan. He had to step in and play. He did a phenomenal job. Yeah, these guys are playing through pain. Like, man, I just can't say enough about how much I respect these guys of the what they have to do with they're bodies. I don't think anyone knows the half of it, what they have to do to play the long season.
This is a marathon, and these guys and our trainers and doctors and strength staff do such a good job helping them be in it the shape they need to be in to play this long season.
And then the guys themselves do a great job as well. We've made a big emphasis on conditioning this year, all these things. So all these guys are fighting through pain. I know coaches are fighting through sleep depravation. You know, we don't care. We just want to keep going.
Q. What does it say about Jalen that he doesn't care how it looks or what his stats...
NICK SIRIANNI: Or what anybody else says. Yeah, he's a winner. He's selfless. I showed a couple clips last night of the team, and one picture I showed that showed love was Nolan Smith coming out with Nakobe Dean's jersey last game.
That shows love.
Then I showed a clip of Nolan and Jalen that was -- that kind of showed them performing a stunt and Jalen saying, hey, thank you for trusting me, and Nolan saying, you don't need to thank me.
So that showed trust.
Showed a clip of Jalen talking about we don't care how we win regardless of what anyone says about him or me or whatever it is. That shows selflessness. That's team stuff.
Again, it's not the best groups of individuals that win. You have to come together as a football team. Those clips through the playoffs that I got to show last night, you know, again, I kind of get emotional on things. I'm not going to get emotional right now, but man, it just showed the team. It's about team.
This is the greatest team sport there is. I think that gets overlooked sometimes with, oh, look at how this play performed and the scheme here. Part of it is about that, but it's about team. Anybody that plays the winner of the Bills and the Chiefs game, I guarantee they talk about how they came together as a team. That's why I love this sport. It's just -- you know, I always say these things of hope that people will say, hey, this is the greatest team sport to inspire people to play this sport.
Somehow they don't show that stuff a lot. Sometimes he's more about the negative things that happen and this and that. We're a team. We're a freaking thing. I'm proud of this team.
Q. ... yourself on your physicality when it's been pretty consistent with the turnovers, forcing fumbles I guess with Zack, Will Shipley, and then Oren Burks. What does that mean?
NICK SIRIANNI: We spend a lot of time on that. We do a lot of drills that go into that. We talk a lot about that. But we show any time there is a missed opportunity to take a ball away. That's something I kind of learned as I watched Matt Eberflus and how he kind of preached defense of how you take the ball away. I really learned a lot from him in Indy.
To be plus, what, 21 on the season? That's impressive. But we talk about that to ad nausea. Probably where they're sick and tired of hearing it. To me I always say good leadership is saying the same things over and over. Repetition -- Connor Barwin's says leadership is -- I don't know how he says it.
The burden of leadership is repetition. But, it's about those guys going out there and doing it. Like there is a skill to be able to take the ball away. When Ekeler gets up off the ground to be able to take a punch at the ball there like Nolan did. Will Shipley, I'm not sure he's tackled anybody before this year.
Will Shipley, Kenny Gainwell on special teams, I think the contributions we've gotten from them, they were prime running backs in college that haven't had to tackle people. Like I don't think people understand how special that is.
Like I get it. It's not going to be the pretty story or anything like that. It is to us. It is to us.
Q. What's it like to see so many rookies have important plays or roles on this team during this playoff stretch?
NICK SIRIANNI: We don't care who is contributing, the guys that we know that can contribute. But with that being said, we've gotten great contributions from our rookie class. That's a tribute to Howie and his staff of all the work they put to get the right type of guys in, first and foremost.
Talent only gets you the first part. You got to have something else to get to where we are right now. We've gotten great contributions from Coop, Q. Got a FaceTime from my college roommate Jason Candle was Q's coach. I asked him if he was going to the Super Bowl.
He said, yeah, if you buy me a ticket. He makes enough money he can buy his own ticket. I'll definitely reserve one for him.
Trot and Jalyx and Will and I'm missing guys. I get that, because they aren't playing -- I'm not even thinking about rookie, who's a rookie, who is not, because they're playing like vets. Yeah, it was cool.
You know, I remember I think -- what was the record before 55 points today? Wasn't it 51? Yeah. Come on. It was 51 because of the Buffalo Bills versus the Raiders, right?
And so I remember watching that game as kid in Buffalo, New York, in the Jamestown area, watching that and then being able to be around Frank Reich and then watching Four Falls of Buffalo and how they did it.
To be able to -- you know, Frank has a lot of different records, whether it's -- you good? Frank has a lot of the different records besides the greatest comebacks, but I remember them scoring those 51 points. To be able to get 55, I know you didn't ask this, but I'm talking about it.
Frank, we got your record there just from a great performance from our team.
Q. Looked like you were taking in the scene in the locker room there. Was that important to you? What did you observe?
NICK SIRIANNI: I just thought about the next game to be quite honest with you. This is a great feeling. We've had this feeling before. It just makes you hungrier. More hungry or hungrier?
Q. Either one.
NICK SIRIANNI: Okay. I'm going to go with more hungry. Makes you more hungry to go there and play in this game again.
We're going to have to, regardless of the opponent, play a really good game to able to reach our goals.
Q. Speaking of Kansas who has a rich history, the coaching family tree. What would it mean to you if you could be the first Mount Union alum to be a Super Bowl champion as a head coach? Also, if you had talked to Hall of Fame coach Larry Kehres right now what would he say to you?
NICK SIRIANNI: Well, Coach Kehres, you're invited to go to the next game. It's on me. You're invited to go to the next game. Love to have you.
The things I learned there just about detail and just about not being satisfied with wins, but just how do you improve off wins, what I learned about winning, what Coach Kehres and Mount Union football program has meant to my family.
Yeah, he's special. He's special. Yeah, learned a lot there about how to just coach this game. Had great memories with great teammates with those things.
Yeah, that -- did Dom Capers win one? Defensive coordinator. Yeah, I don't know. He's got coach Capers has a building that they kind of roped me into giving some money to as well.
I don't know, if we win maybe they'll try to entice me to put some money into the football program as well.
Go ahead. I didn't bring my family up with me, Mike.
Q. I know. You have a good memory. The lat time this franchise won a Super Bowl, your predecessor saying this is the new normal. What have you did done since you've been here do you think to contribute to keeping this franchise at this level and what was already in place?
NICK SIRIANNI: Great organization that we have, starting with Mr. Lurie, Howie. I don't think I've shied away from how much those guys mean to me. You can't be great without the greatness of others, and it starts with Mr. Lurie. Howie does a great job of getting guys in here helping there. Just to have that solid GM that's been through everything is huge. Great partnership I have with him.
And then it's about the people really, to be honest with you. It's always about the people, and we got some great people in this -- I wore this jersey because I said AJ is the best receiver that this city has ever seen. I don't go back on that, but Quick was really good.
Q. When you lose your center, is that different than losing another offensive line position just because the responsibility on that?
NICK SIRIANNI: No. I mean, just everyone's role is so -- everyone's role is not the same but everybody's role is so, so important.
Landon has a lot of experience playing that position. We ended up getting a lot of confidence throughout the week how Landon went about it.
Then Cam had to come in and contribute as well. I think, again, it just goes down to it takes everybody. Like I know you guys will have interviews with the guys that made huge plays in this game with a ball in their hands sometimes, but man, it takes everybody. It takes everybody.
How about Tyler Steen coming in and playing the game that he played against a really good opponent. I can't tell you how much respect I have for Coach Quinn. That team, you know, Washington, reminds me of us as far as how they're physicality is and their effort.
I can't tell you much respect I have for Coach Quinn and the job he's done. And Jayden Daniels; he's a big time player. You know, we're going to be battling for a long time in this division. Hats off to them.
But it takes everybody. It's hard to say, hey, this one is more important than this one. Again, it goes back to the team of it takes everybody and everybody's job may not be the same but everybody's job and role is so important.
Q. Back to you and Jalen, you guys are going to make franchise history, first coach, first quarterback, to reach two Super Bowls. Is that something you can reflect on if not before the game, maybe tonight about how you two guys have meshed over these four seasons?
NICK SIRIANNI: Yeah, we been through a lot together, right? A lot of wins, some down times. That's what kind of forges relationships.
I don't want anybody else leading this team at quarterback other than him. He's a winner. Again, he deals with so much criticism which just blows my mind because of the questions I have to answer. I don't look too much into that. The questions I have to answer it's like, man, this guy wins. He's won his entire life.
That's more important. Winning at quarterback is more important than any stat that you go through. I'm sure be the same thing. Oh, he's got great players around him. Well, you tell me a quarterback that's won like this that has shit around him.
It don't happen, right? Talk about Joe Montana. Who is he throwing to? Oh, Jerry Rice. So it's like these guys have been so good at this position have had great players around them.
Whether it's Brady with the defense early on in his career or Edelman or Gronk. I mean, you don't win in this game unless you have great players around you. You don't win consistently unless you have great players around you.
Sometimes I feel like it's a negative on him. It kind of blows your mind. He wins. He's a winner. I don't want anyone else leading us other than Jalen Hurts. I'm proud of the way he went out there and battled today and played today.
He doesn't care about anything other than winning and I know that and that's selfless.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports