The Eagles head coach addressed Devin White’s release, what they evaluated during the bye week, and more.
The Eagles are back to work and preparing for the Browns in Week 6. Head coach Nick Sirianni spoke to reporters on Wednesday, and opened up about Devin White’s release, what the bye week self-scouting revealed, and gave some injury updates.
He was asked about the Jets’ firing head coach Robert Saleh and whether he ever thinks about his “coaching mortality,” but Sirianni said that he doesn’t want to cloud his thought process with distractions like that. He explained that any spare thought is focused on how he can improve and help the team get better, so he’s really not wasting mental energy on things he can’t control.
Here’s what else the head coach had to say:
On Devin White’s release
“Ever since Devin [White] got here, I just thought he was a really great pro. He handled everything with class — I know that was a hard situation for him to be in. A guy that started a lot of games in this league, and been successful in this league, and I can’t say enough good things about Devin the person and how he handled a disappointing situation for him.
And, I think it just gives you perspective of how we feel about the rest of that [linebacker] room, and the guys that we have in that room, and how they’ve been executing and how they’ve been playing, and look forward to continuing to grow those guys that we have.”
Sirianni said that he isn’t concerned about the depth at linebacker without White, and thinks the younger guys are developing well and the position coach is making sure the little details and fundamentals are being addressed.
He talked a little about why White wasn’t able to find a role on the Eagles defense, and pointed to Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun earning the starting roles. Sirianni also said that he was confident in their evaluation process even though they never saw White in a regular season game — practice was enough to get the information they needed.
Sirianni later confirmed that with White gone, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is the backup MIKE linebacker. The rookie earned that role through all the practices, meetings, and walk-throughs.
On the bye week self-scouting
The head coach explained that he’s always excited about the bye week to really dive in and evaluate things they are doing well, things they need to change, and how they should move forward.
“Any self-reflection that you go through, it gotta start with being humble to say, ‘What are the issues?’”
Sirianni highlighted the turnover differential — noting they have a couple different ways of coaching certain things — and some of the tackling things, as immediate issues to address. They looked at a lot of different things they can do to prevent turnovers on offense, and create turnovers on defense.
He admitted that there were some common threads they discovered with regard to the offensive turnovers, and like with all the corrections, once it’s identified, then it becomes about how they can coach things better, drill things better.
“I was impressed with the players and their involvement in it, as far as, not only did we study it, there were some guys that really buckled down and studied it themselves. I was just really impressed by that, and their interaction back with that.
I mean, really impressed. It showed their hunger.”
Sirianni wouldn’t say exactly who came forward, but reiterated how impressed he was by how guys went about their business this week.
Other than addressing turnover issues, the head coach said they also worked to address starting faster on offense and scoring in the first quarter. Everything was on the table during their evaluations, including style of play with the players they have, how they call games, and how the defense looks to open things up. Sirianni called the bye week a huge opportunity for growth.
He also acknowledged that they’re always looking at where some players are lining up and how they’re being used.
On injured players returning
Sirianni didn’t want to give too much away with regard to A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, or Lane Johnson, but said that he feels good about the health of the team, and the bye week came at a great time for multiple reasons.
He did say that they were encouraged by Sydney Brown, and are excited to get him back in the mix. The Eagles trainers have said that Brown is ready to go, and the DB has attacked the whole process with such a positive attitude.
