HEAD COACH NICK SIRIANNI
Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Q: Did you think about bringing Tanner [McKee] back out for the last drive? Why did you go with Cole [Payton] in that situation?
NS: Again, we had a rep count we wanted to get to. That’s where we went right there in that situation. Obviously still wanted to win. We knew Cole made some nice plays the last game he was in this. Has to protect the ball better in that situation. But, yeah, that’s just what we decided to do.
Q: Did you feel a little bit better about the offense, and particularly how things were going on the ground early on?
NS: Yeah, thought early on in the ground game looked really good. I thought those — that second team offensive line did well. You know, and Will [Shipley] did well. You know, and then Carson [Steele] did some really good things when he was able to get in there. So there was some positives, but at the end of the day, you get into competitive situation like that you always want to win. There were some things we did at the end that don’t allow to you win.
Q: How did you see Tanner improve on his performance from last week?
NS: Yeah, thought today he did some good things. You know, there will be plays that we’re going to have to correct and there was a lot of positives. I know stat-wise he came out having a pretty good game, and so, but obviously for all of us there will be corrections within it. But, yeah, thought he did some good things. Made some nice plays. Had a couple fourth downs that we would have liked to convert. Not saying those are his fault in that situation, but those fourth downs hurt us, not converting there.
Q: Seemed like he got to his answers when there was pressures thrown at you.
Q: Particularly when Carson was the outlet.
NS: Yeah, he did. He did. He found his shots on a couple when they brought one more than we could protect. You know, I thought Sean did a good job giving them answers there. Thought Sean did a nice job calling the game. There was really good communication. Looking at the play clock, again, another day where I don’t feel rushed to have to call a timeout or feeling like it’s close to call a timeout. Just thought the operation was really good. Credit to our players, credit to our offensive coaches, and the communication that’s going on there.
Q: You and your players always talk about how important practice situations — practice plays. Did you get enough things on film today? Had a lot of opportunities. Do you think you got a lot on film to work on during the week?
NS: Yeah, any time you step out on the field you’re going to get some good things to coach from and look at. And so we’ll look at that. You know, there are some situational things beyond red zone, third down, that we’re just not going to put on tape right at this particular time. Those are things we discuss throughout the week, throughout preseason. In this situation we’ll do this, in this situation we’ll do that. So, again, we get a lot more of those — that work in practice, particularly when it comes to specific things within two minute and four minute. Some of the third down, red zone, even the two minute will be some good things to study and learn from.
Q: When it comes to Andy [Dalton], numbers haven’t been great the first two games. Do you factor in experience, what you know about him when you’re looking at that No. 2 job?
NS: Yeah, I think both the guys are battling, and I’m really confident in both of the guys. We’ll see where that goes. You know, again, like I said it’s still a competition. The reason Andy is going in first — in practice they’re still rotating; Andy is going in first because he’s not going to play as much as Tanner because he has had more experience and he has more experience within this type of system, and Tanner needs to continue to play there because I think you saw the improvements there from Tanner. So we got to continue to give both of them opportunities within practice and potentially games. See how next week goes. Obviously I’m not there yet. But that was the plan today, to go in. But everything is accounted for, yes, Jeff, to answer your question.
Q: With [Jeremiah] Trotter [Jr.], how does he make you feel about the depth in the inside linebacker room overall?
NS: Yeah, I think when you have guys, Trot has contributed on this football team for the past two years, and it’s a great indicator of how defensive players can be, how they do on special teams. Trot has been a special teams ace for us for the last couple years. You know, we really rely on him in those situations so we know that because of how much space and how much room there is on a — in special teams. They got to come up and get off blocks, they have to make tackles in the open field, so that gives you a lot of confidence there, and every time he seems to step out in a game or in practice he does a good job. I think he’s an instinctive player. He works his butt off. He’s physical. I think I just continue to see him get better. So I really like that room. You know, Smael [Mondon] does an awesome job. And I feel like when we’re watching team meetings he’s consistently on the tape of like, man, this is how you’re supposed to block destruct, strip attempt. And then Chance [Campbell] had a good day today. And I’m excited about Deontae [Lawson], and Brandon George came in off the street last week and made two special teams tackles. And Bobby King, I just think is a phenomenal linebacker coach of coaching the fundamentals. At the end of the day it’s about how you get off blocks and it’s how you tackle and how you can lead the unit and get everybody lined up. I can’t say enough good things about Bobby of how he’s developed these guys as well. And so, yeah, I love that room and I think they’re playing good football right now. We’ll look at the tape and get more answers.
Q: We didn’t talk to you after the second joint practice. What did you make of how the first unit in particular performed in those red zones, both offense, defense?
NS: Yeah, there was good, there was bad. It was a back and forth practice. You know, we went through the tape obviously a couple days ago and watched it with the guys as an offensive unit, as a team, as position coaches in position meetings. So it was good to go against a quality opponent who’s well-coached. The hospitality here was great. We were able to get a lot of good work in. Sometimes when you have two days of work you can hit every situation, right? When you only have one day — and there is benefits of going one day and benefits of going two days. But we were able to get two really good days where we’re hitting red zone and two minute both days and first and second down and get back on track stuff and third down. So there was a lot of good that we take from that. I think that, again, joint practices are such a — if the guys don’t play in preseason joint practice is such a pivotal step for particularly your ones. I also think when you’re on the road it’s a really good connector. The guys have nothing else to do but hang out with each other. It’s almost liking away for training camp. Obviously we don’t go away for training camp and I’m not — I liking in Philadelphia. But, yeah, it’s a great connector and we really value that.
Q: Ty Robinson continue to come to life with a couple sacks.
NS: He did a nice job. He continues to do a nice job and have a nice preseason. You know, he’s showing that knack to rush the passer, and I also think he’s doing a good job defeating blocks and doing a good job in the run game. Again, I’ll have to watch the tape from today. The splash plays obviously were there. I do think that just another really good — I just can’t say enough about Clint Hurtt either, how he works the fundamentals with his guys. I really value him and everything that he brings to though football team. He does a great job. These guys play hard for him and continue you have continue to get better at the fundamentals as well. That’s our job as coaches, is to take players from one level and bring them up another level through all those different things, particularly fundamental coaching, and Clint has done a nice job and obviously Ty has as well.
Q: You talked a little bit about Will Shipley. How do you feel like he’s taken to the new blocking scheme in front of him and building on his last week as performance?
NS: Yeah, thought he ran the ball well today. He had some opportunities to run some wide zone stuff and some downhill stuff. You know, Will, here is another guy that in his two years here has been a guy that has really contributed on special teams, and I can’t begin to tell you how much like trust that builds for a player. Like when you can — when you put him in there, he’s obviously behind Saquon [Barkley] and Tank [Bigsby], but when you put him in there and he has an opportunity on special teams, I mean, it just gives you so much trust in the player. We know he can run the football. We know he’s talented at that and being able to catch the ball out of the backfield. And so really pleased with him.