Shane Steichen said the Eagles are “fired up” for Saturday’s playoff game

Eagles’ offensive coordinator Shane Steichen spoke to reporters on Wednesday, and similar to DC Jonathan Gannon, wouldn’t talk about the head coaching opportunities and interviews he had last week. He noted that the team spent a lot of time self-scouting things they did well, things they need to improve, and he thinks they got better with the bye week.

“Our whole team’s fired up. It’s going to be an electric atmosphere on Saturday.”

Here’s what the OC had to say:

On the run game

“I think we’re in a good spot. And, you know, it’s week-to-week. I think, with everything, you look at what you’re doing well. If you’re doing something successful, you stay with it, if you need to improve on some things, you gotta look at what you need to improve on, and we went through that self-scout process last week. I feel like we’re in a good spot right now.”

Steichen talked a little bit about Boston Scott, calling the RB “awesome” and pointed out the way that he prepares week-in and week-out, that he’s smart, tough, has really good vision, and is the ultimate pro. With a big smile on his face, the OC admitted that he doesn’t know why Scott has historically been so great against the Giants, but said he hopes to keep that going.

On the Giants’ evolving defense

Steichen said that the Eagles offense will need to adapt and change for what the Giants are doing defensively. He explained that he thinks every game has it’s own identity, and they have to be ready for whatever the Giants do on defense, and if it’s something new, they’ll have to adapt.

The OC didn’t point to any one specific thing that they are doing differently, but noted that the Giants’ defense has continued to grow and get better throughout the season.

“You gotta be ready for anything. I think teams play us differently, so we try and put ourselves in all these different situations to what could happen. Not necessarily thinking, you know, it might not happen, but you gotta be ready for it. So, we go through that process every week in our meetings and try to get certain looks in walk-throughs that we think we might get.”

Steichen later admitted that it helps a little bit that they were able to scale back some elements of their offense in Week 18, but emphasized that every game is different and that’s the mentality they have week-to-week.

As for what stood out on tape from their Week 14 matchup, a game which saw the Eagles offense highest output, Steichen pointed to executing at a high level, protecting the football, Jalen Hurts made some good checks, they ran it efficiently and passed well early on — overall, he points to execution.

Other notables

• Steichen said that conversations with Jalen Hurts about when he might like in the game plan are always ongoing, and they did a little more of that with the bye week. The QB is known for being even-keeled all the time, and Steichen said that hasn’t changed this week, and that his preparation and focus has been the same as it always is.
• The OC was asked about the personnel change this postseason compared to last with the addition of A.J. Brown, noting that anytime you add a player like that it raises the bar of everyone around him. He also said that Brown has been in this situation before with the Titans, who also had a first-round bye in 2021.