Nick Sirianni says he isn’t using Cowboys trash talk as motivation

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni spoke to reporters on Friday for the final time before their Sunday night matchup against the Cowboys. He responded to the comments made by Demarcus Lawrence, and noted that he’s not big into bulletin board material, and also talked about why he reached out to Tony Dungy.

Typically Sirianni will give a little insight into his weekly message to the team, but this week he wanted to keep that in-house. He explained that sometimes it’s appropriate to share that with the media and fans, and other times it’s appropriate to keep that within the team.

Here’s what the head coach had to say:

On the comments made by DeMarcus Lawrence

Sirianni was asked about some of the comments by Lawrence on Thursday, and the Cowboys’ defender emphasizing that he was scared or concerned about the Eagles offense or Jalen Hurts, particularly because they haven’t had to face Dallas’ defense yet.

“I’m not really into bulletin board material, to be quite honest with you, because our greatest motivation is to play for each other and this team loves each other, right. This is what is making this team a special team, is that they’re in it for each other, and they’re in it to not let each other down, to play for each other — and that’s why we’re in it as coaches, to put our guys in positions to help them play great. That’s the motivation we need, it’s just, ‘Hey, for each other.’ Like, I don’t want to let Jalen [Hurts] down, I don’t want to let [Fletcher Cox] down — and then, that’s a contagious thing.

When all the guys want to play for each other, that’s when it’s a special thing, and hey, Demarcus Lawrence is a great football player and we’re going to have to be ready for where he is no matter where he is on the field. So, we know how good of a football player he is, and how good of a defense this is, for that matter. But, we’re playing for each other and that’s our greatest motivation.”

On connecting with Tony Dungy

Tony Dungy said that he and Sirianni have spoken a few times about fourth downs, game management, and protecting leads. Sirianni said that anytime he can talk to someone like Dungy, he’s going to pick their brain. He explained that if he’s asking his players to be obsessed with getting better, he also has to be obsessed with getting better, and that comes from talking to other former and current, successful head coaches.

As for why he spoke about those specific topics, Sirianni wanted to keep most of the conversation private, but did point out that when Coach Dungy was up by 14 points in a game, at any point in a game, in Indy and Tampa Bay, his record was 80-1. So that’s something he wanted to learn more about.

Sirianni said that he was honored that Dungy would even take his call, but a media member in Indianapolis helped facilitate that connection.

Other notables

• The Eagles head coach said that his team is handling being 5-0 great, and isn’t concerned with the target they may have on their backs. He said that they’re still preparing the same way as when they were 0-0, and that’s what he looks at to see how they’re handling things.
• Jason Kelce was limited in Thursday’s practice, and despite being seen heading into the medical tent, they’re hopeful that he’ll be ready to go for Sunday. The center is trending toward being ready, but they’ll see how things go on Friday. Sirianni said that the other OL that are questionable could play on Sunday, and they’re hopeful, but still have to wait and see how things play out.