Managing Super Bowl Distractions is one of Nick Sirianni's Biggest Tasks
PHOENIX – Nick Sirianni’s messaging to his team here during Super Bowl week hasn’t changed much, except for a little tweak.
And that tweak had to do with distractions.
They’re everywhere out here amid the cacti and wide-open brown spaces that dot the Arizona landscape, from thousands of media from all over the world to even time with family.
Nick Sirianni’s wife and three kids arrived in this year’s Super Bowl LVII city on Tuesday.
He doesn’t normally see them on Tuesday or Wednesday during the regular season when there is a game waiting that weekend. The Eagles coach said that won’t change this week.
“I’ll see them Thursday and I‘ll do my very best to be a really good dad on Thursday,” he said during the team’s media availability Tuesday afternoon at the team’s hotel, “but on Tuesday and Wednesday, I’ll do what I normally do. I’ll be in the office late, continuing to work through the plan, continuing to iron out the details of the plan.”
Opening Night, formerly known as Media Night, happened on Monday, and that always offers its own brand of craziness.
“There were some interesting questions,” said Sirianni. “I think it’s cool for our guys to go see that. Again, as long as they’re not being distracted by it, but it’s cool for them to go out and see it.
"There are a lot of interesting things, a lot of cool things we were able to be a part of and you do what you need to do then you move on and go about your business.
“…Our coaches are leading by example and I know our captains are doing the same.”
One of those captains, right tackle Lane Johnson, has a better gauge of how to handle all the distractions now than he did five years ago.
“I feel like this time it’s better handling what’s around,” he said. “You didn’t know the first night kind of what was going on but now I know a little bit of what to expect.”
For someone who hasn’t been under this spotlight at the professional level, second-year receiver DeVonta Smith is unfazed.
“It hasn’t been difficult for me because I’ve been in my room sleeping the whole time, but that’s nothing new,” he said.
At the college level, at the University of Alabama, however, Smith shined with the spotlight on.
“I’m built for games like this,” he said. “I’ve been playing in the biggest games since middle school, high school, college. I’ve been playing in these games my whole life; I’m built for it. To me, it’s just another game. I been doing this.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
