FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 6th, 2023

NICK SIRIANNI SPEAKS WITH PETER KING AHEAD OF SUPER BOWL LVII IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF “FMIA”

“I think we might be watching the best offensive line of this century on Sunday. The Eagles are that good right now.” – Peter King

“I think this whole team has this chip on their shoulder when they get doubted. I know, 16-3 or whatever we are right now, you don’t get doubted quite as much. But there’s always somebody that’s doubting you, right?” – Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni on the team’s mentality

“I think the key to Super Bowl LVII is whether Kansas City defensive tackle Chris Jones can wreck it, or at least create two or three game-changing plays against the best line he’ll face all year, and perhaps the best he’s faced in his career.” – King on Chiefs DT Chris Jones

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STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 6, 2023 – Peter King speaks to Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and previews Super Bowl LVII in this week’s edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com. King also looks back on the career of Tom Brady, analyzes the Broncos’ Sean Payton hiring, and more.

This Thursday, Feb. 9, at 9 p.m. ET, the 12th annual NFL Honors presented by Invisalign awards show will be presented live on NBC, Peacock, and NFL Network. Click here for details.

NBC Sports will provide comprehensive Super Bowl Week coverage across Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms, beginning today, Monday, Feb. 6, through this Friday, Feb. 10. Click here for details on the on-site coverage from Radio Row at the Phoenix Convention Center, which includes an array of live shows and 50+ interviews.

The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:

NICK SIRIANNI & EAGLES

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni on making the Super Bowl in his second season as a head coach: “I just think about one day at a time. Get a little bit better each day. I’ve been obsessed with that, even going back to when I was a high school basketball player…I don’t think of how fast it happened.”

Sirianni on Eagles QB Jalen Hurts’ current status: “Steady. Unfazed…It’s just another opportunity for us to play for each other, just another opportunity for us to win and get better. I know that’s Jalen’s mindset and that’s how I’ve seen him all week.”

Sirianni on Hurts’ work ethic: “I think he’s just a very steady person, which is an unbelievable trait to have as a quarterback when there’s ups and downs in the season, when there’s ups and downs in the game…He deserves this moment because he just thinks about how he can get better each day.”

King on the Eagles’ offensive line: “I think we might be watching the best offensive line of this century on Sunday. The Eagles are that good right now.”

Sirianni on the Eagles’ mentality: “I think this whole team has this chip on their shoulder when they get doubted. I know, 15-3 or whatever we are right now (16-3 actually), you don’t get doubted quite as much. But there’s always somebody that’s doubting you, right?”

Sirianni on Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who bypassed hiring Sirianni in 2012: “Hey, it worked out pretty well. God always has plans. As mad as you might be — mad or upset or as crushed as you might be — I mean, think about the path it really led me on. No hard feelings there. I appreciated him taking the time to spend time with me…I can’t tell you how many times [GM] Howie Roseman talks about ‘Coach Reid would’ve done this.’ Or when I ask, sometimes, Hey what do you think coach Reid would do in this scenario? It tells you a lot about Coach Reid.”

Sirianni on the influence of his father, who was a high school football coach: “The players that played for my dad always came back and visited him. I’d be working out in the driveway, and people would just stop by who used to play for my dad just to say hi to my dad. Guys with kids and grown men with jobs would come back just to see their high school coach. That made an impression on me.”

Sirianni on Larry Kehres, Sirianni’s college coach at Mount Union: “He’d say, ‘Don’t over-coach. Make sure there’s a coaching point, good or bad, after every play.’ He’d say, ‘It’s all about the players, putting them in positions to make plays. It doesn’t matter if you like a play or the other coaches like the play. Can the player do it?’”

Sirianni on the Empire State Building being lit up in green and white after the Eagles’ NFC Championship victory: “That would not happen in Philadelphia. It just wouldn’t. But Eagles fans are everywhere.”

TOM BRADY’S RETIREMENT

Tom Brady to Peter King in 2017 on his outlook on football: “Other than playing football, the other thing I love to do is prepare to play football. It doesn’t ever feel like a sacrifice to me. Football’s a job, but it’s never felt like a job to me.”

King on Brady’s interaction with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes after the 2018 AFC Championship Game: “When Brady came back (to the Patriots locker room), he spent the first of our seven minutes together raving about (Patrick) Mahomes. The leadership, the poise, the will…The message had a big impact on Mahomes. Keep doing what you’re doing, keep putting in the work, you’ll have a lot more of these chances. Brady reached out again after Mahomes sprained his ankle and hobbled through the playoff win over Jacksonville. Brady’s message: That’s what I’m talking about! That’s what champions do!”

King on Brady’s future in football: “Brady will always be there for Mahomes — that’s how much he respects him. He’ll be there for others too, now that he’s done. Brady will find something else to do now, but he’ll always have a line out to the players he respects. He’s done, but he’s not done contributing to football.”

SEAN PAYTON

King on newly hired Broncos head coach Sean Payton and QB Russell Wilson: “Payton had the best chance of turning Russell Wilson…Wilson’s at a low point after his disastrous first year in Denver. He wanted Payton to get the job, and he’s willing to be coached hard by him.”

King on Payton’s impression of the Broncos’ front office: “Payton was impressed by (minority owner Condoleezza Rice), and one of the majority owners, Greg Penner. He thinks he’ll be able to form the kind of close relationship with GM George Paton that he had with (Saints GM Mickey) Loomis, who remains one of his best friends, in New Orleans.”

NEWS & NOTES

King on Chiefs DT Chris Jones: “I think the key to Super Bowl LVII is whether Kansas City defensive tackle Chris Jones can wreck it, or at least create two or three game-changing plays against the best line he’ll face all year, and perhaps the best he’s faced in his career.”

King on Raiders QB Derek Carr’s trade value: “If I’m signing Carr, I don’t assume his failure in 2022 is all Josh McDaniels’ fault. That’s an easy, and lazy, way to look at it. In the four years prior to McDaniels taking over, Carr completed 68.7 percent of his throws. Last year it sunk eight points, to 60.8, and in one of the weird and unexplained things about the Raiders’ season, it apparently was okay for both sides to say the Raiders’ starting quarterback for nine years could just walk away and miss the last two games of the season.”

Read the full FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.

The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage:

    • Click here for NBC Sports’ Super Bowl Week coverage details.
    • ProFootballTalk.com continues to provide the latest news and updates.
    • NBC Sports EDGE’s Rotoworld Football Show continues the NFL discussion and Bet The Edge Podcast provides daily betting insights.
    • The NFL on NBC YouTube channel offers daily football content for free, with exclusive videos from Peter King – including his interviews with players and coaches at training camps – Mike Florio, Chris Simms, and more. To access all of these videos and more, click here to subscribe

A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

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