Nick Sirianni tackles the Eagles’ scheme at punt returner

The Eagles practice again on Friday before heading to the West Coast for their Sunday Night Football matchup with the Rams, and head coach Nick Sirianni spent a few minutes giving injury updates and talking about veteran and WR evaluations.

He didn’t want to get too much into why Jalen Hurts was limited Wednesday or how they used it as a precautionary measure, but simply noted the QB is good to go and will be out on the field Sunday night. Sirianni explained that it’s a long season and a lot of guys are doing maintenance at this point.

Here’s what else the head coach had to say:

Damage notes

Sirianni said they will wait and see how DeVonta Smith goes Friday before deciding how to handle his status for Sunday’s game.

The head coach said UK Covey has done a good job returning to practice this week from IR, but again, they’ll have to see how he performs at the end of the day. Sirianni said it’s nice to have Covey back out there on the field and couldn’t stress enough how good of a teammate he is and how much the players enjoy being around him.

With Covey back on the field, Sirianni said they will do what’s best for the football team in terms of how they handle punt returns. Cooper DeJean has done a really, really good job returning the ball in Covey’s absence, but the head coach made sure to note how well Covey ranked returning before his injury. Sirianni said it’s a good problem to have and they’ll just have to evaluate all the factors to make a decision.

On dealing with discipline

Sirianni said if you ask the players, he thinks they’d say he’s fair when evaluating the tape. If the standard for a game is met, they celebrate, and if it’s not met, they correct – and they do both in front of the whole team because everyone can learn something from each game.

As for disciple regarding off-field issues, Sirianni acknowledged that they have team rules that they expect everyone to follow and like things on the field, they celebrate if the standard is met and if it’s not, they take grasp. the.

On assessing veterans

The head coach was asked how they evaluate the performances of veterans, guys like Jake Elliott who have built trust over time, and how they balance past performance with current performance.

“You account for everything. Like when you’re trying to make decisions about game management stuff, everything is taken into account — what’s happening now and what’s happened in the past. You see practice every single day.”

Sirianni went on to explain that they believe that if you practice average, you will play average, and if you practice well, you will play great. The media and fans don’t see the practice and the work that is put in, but those days are what give him and the coaching staff faith and trust in their guys.

On WR depth

If DeVonta Smith is unable to play Sunday, Sirianni was asked what gives him confidence in Jahan Dotson and Johnny Wilson taking on bigger roles.

“Just one continues to get better every day. Both have made some big plays the last couple of weeks. Johnny (Wilson) catches his first touchdown pass. Jahan (Dotson) catches a deep ball in the Jacksonville game, and then the Dallas- the game.

Again, and then the things we see in practice. These guys come to work hard every single day, they put it on the line every single day, they’ve had good practices throughout the week and we’re excited for their options if they go. And we’ve had some good experiences with guys this year who have stepped in and contributed, and that’s the great part of a team.”