One of the primary emphases for Philadelphia this Training Camp has been pre-snap discipline. During team drills, loudspeakers around the field play loud stadium noise to simulate a real in-game environment for the players. According to Sirianni, players and staff have been out early on the field to work on the quarterback-center exchange in pursuit of perfecting the details.
"We're really stressing them and we're trying to make it as hard as we possibly can for them at practice," Sirianni said. "We want to bat 1,000% when it comes to pre-snap penalties. So, anytime we have a pre-snap penalty, we're upset about it because we think that's something that requires no talent, something that we can control."
Something more difficult to control? Contested catches.
Sirianni says that the team works "extremely hard on that portion of the game" because of its difficulty to practice without full contact.
"Obviously you can't simulate the full contact portion of it in practice, but if you look and watch some of our guys, you'll see towels around their arms and being pulled," Sirianni said.
"You'll see guys with sticks and hitting them. You'll see that in routes versus air. You'll see that in individual work. You'll see that in their post-practice and pre-practice work because I think that's really critical to be able to do because ... with the defensive backs that we have, there's so many bang, bang plays."
That work has translated so far in Training Camp – receivers all over the depth chart have been making difficult catches in contact. Sirianni highlighted Dontavion Wicks' catches throughout camp and mentioned Darius Cooper making a difficult catch on Tariq Castro-Fields after the cornerback made a great break on the ball. DeVonta Smith and Makai Lemon were also making great plays on the football before both being sidelined with an injury, opening the door for more playing time this Training Camp for Elijah Moore, Hollywood Brown, Darius Cooper, and others.
"I really like this receiver room. It's a very deep room, you know, and it's good to be able to get some reps," Sirianni said. "It's a long season, and it's not just important that your starting 11 has good chemistry, you've got to have chemistry with the entire group."
Sirianni can't be everywhere at once making sure players focus on the little things; that responsibility also falls on the players themselves, coordinators, and assistant coaches. So far through Training Camp, Sirianni is feeling the progress.
"My job is not only to coach the players. It's to coach the coaches as well," Sirianni said. "The coaches are just like the players. We have this continuous (learning) curve of getting better and I think that's where we're on track." - Written by Caroline Connor