(On how some of the offensive numbers are down from last year and if there are other things that attribute to that)
“Yeah, there’s a couple of things that we’re really trying to nail and see if we can get better at, and as we kind of start the second half of this year, we’re really working hard to see if we can improve our third-down, especially as it gets to some of the extended plays. Through the first half of the year, that has not been an area that we’ve done as well as we’ve hoped we would.
The second part is our red-zone scoring, and it’s been better the last couple of weeks, and that’s been two areas that we added actually some practice time to just to get more emphasis for. We’d love to get some more series.
We haven’t gotten the number of takeaways that I thought we would after nine weeks, but that’s where we’re at and that’s part of the thing that we’ve really dialed in on over the last couple weeks of situation football; third-down and the red-zone. We’ve really tried to put in some extra work in those areas knowing that that’s what needed some attention.”
(On the defensive takeaways this season and how he got a couple of those last weekend with DE Adrian Clayborn’s six sacks against the Cowboys and if he feels that defensive performance was a breakout game for the defense to build off of)
“I don’t know if it was a breakout, but it was really consistent. We knew that our running-game defense could come together better, we play a lot of eight-man fronts when we’re down by the [line, and we wanted to make sure that our identity as a team really came through and for us, that’s the run-game, the play-action offensively. That’s a big part of what we do.
Defensively, the speed and the way we try to feature the guys and try to get after the quarterback and knock a few balls out, we’ve been unfortunate that on some of our takeaways, we’ve had some fouls and some penalties. I think we’ve had four of them that have gone back the other way, but that part of our game has to improve for us to be the defensive that we thought we could, heading into it.
There’s a lot of things that we’ve improved on defensively from a year ago; we’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re definitely improved. I think that goes to say that’s a lot of the guys who are going into year two or year three; that’s De’Vondre Campbell, and [Deion] Jones, and Keanu Neal, and [Grady] Jarrett, and [Vic] Beasley. That group has started to develop their own identity as a defense. We’re growing; we’re not there yet, but we’re improving.”
(On what does your run game look like with Tevin Coleman) “It’s pretty similar and we try and feature the guys and the thing that they do best.
Fortunately for us, both Tevin [Coleman] and [Devonta] Freeman, we really have a similar system. Like most teams, there are certain plays or nuances that could come up with either guy. We are fortunate that we have some depth at that spot. Terron Ward is somebody that we lean in the run game.
We got Derrick Coleman who also has some experience playing the single back, who you guys are familiar with. Then also, we added a runner this week, in case Freeman can’t go. That’s where we are at. We are hopeful that he goes through the week, we will see where it goes through the protocol.
We just kind of follow those guidelines as we go. Today, here, is like our Wednesday. So we moved the week back a day and today is our first day of really getting everything underway with the game being Monday night.”
(On if it’s going to be strange to look at a Seahawks’ secondary without Richard Sherman)
“I texted him just because of my respect for him. I was really bummed to see him not play and what I got back just totally spoke of the competitor that he is. As I tell JJ [Julio Jones], I like competing against him. It was like the perfect response from Richard because of the competitor that he is.
He was disappointed that he’s not going to play in that game because of the battle that he and Julio have. I thought that was so true to his identity as a competitor, so I’m sure I will find him before the game or after the game and wish my well for him for a fast recovery and get back out next year, better than ever.”
SEAHAWKS HEAD COCACH PETE CARROLL
(Opening)
“Ok we are very fortunate to be playing in the opportunity of Monday Night Football coming up against a terrific football team and I hope it’s a great match up for us. With a lot of respect playing Danny [Quinn] and playing his crew and Arthur Blank and all that organization, it’s just a good group to be going against. They’ve got a really nice team.
They are balanced again. They come out of the shoots flying and got back on track here. They are really well situated on defense and on offense and their special teams are really good. Their kickers are good, their returner is good, so we know we have a really complete football team that we are going to be playing against and it’s going to take a complete effort from us and a great week in preparation to get that done so it should be a terrific match up.”
(On keeping Adrian Clayborn and Vic Beasley from terrorizing the offense)
“We are going to have to really mix our stuff and really work it with great respect, particularly after watching this past game. They were flying. We have to mix our stuff meaning all the protections and the actions and everything to keep them slowed down because they are really determined to cause havoc in the backfield and we can’t let that happen.”
(On Duane Brown’s status)
“We are going to find out later in the week. We won’t know right now. He’s still got an ankle that he is dealing with of course but we will take it all the way up until game time.”
On anything new on Kam Chancellor’s status)
“No, he’s still getting some work done, tests done. Don’t have anything updated yet.”
(On Jarran Reed’s status)
“He is trying to do some stuff. He is trying to work his way back. It will be one day at a time here. I don’t know how it is going to turn out but he’s got a chance. He thinks he can do it, so we will have to wait and see. Again, it will take us all the way to game time.”
(On Eddie Lacy’s status)
“Eddie is ready to practice today. He is ready to get back in action.”
(On if Chancellor is a week to week injury or long term)
“Don’t know that yet. I don’t know that yet. I have only communicated with him. We will see him later. I don’t know anything yet.”
(On Richard Sherman’s surgery)
“It went great. I had a chance to talk to Richard yesterday, he sounded a little groggy but they were really happy with the way they went about it. It is going to give him a chance to get back in months which is really nice. There is a couple of choices that they can make and they made a choice that was aggressive and I think it worked out well for him, according to the doctors and so we will be very hopefully for that.”
(On how frustrating has the last year and a half been after putting so much stock in the run game since arriving in Seattle)
“It is. It is frustrating somewhat. But I could stick my head in the sand and ignore some stuff too. We got to keep moving and we got to do what we can with our guys and it hasn’t been quite the same but we are still moving the football and we are making a lot of first downs and we can do a lot of damage. So we just have to do it the way we can do it.
I never give up on the fact of trying to balance out your attack. I think it is the best way to play football and so we will find a way to do that, but it is a little bit different. It hasn’t been as obvious as it has been in the past.”
(On if Bradley McDougald would start if Chancellor is unable)
“Yes. Yep, we are very fortunate to have Bradley. He has played great. The whole time he has been trained at both spots, it’s no big deal at all for him to play strong safety vs. free safety, so he will jump right in there.”
(On how important was his ability to play different spots when you went out and got him)
“It was exactly what we had hoped for. We had seen great versatility in him and playmaking and leadership and all that kind of cool stuff that you hope to see and when he got here, he just proved it.
So he has been able to play nickel, he has played special, he has played the big nickel- I gave that to him- and he has just been able to do everything, special teams and be a leader and all of that. So he has been a fantastic addition and somewhat and a little bit of an unsung hero at this time for this season, that he has been able to be so versatile and be so successful at what he is doing.”
(On any updates on the meetings with the NFL regarding concussion protocol)
“No. The medical staff and the training staff is working on that stuff and as we progress we will let you know when we can. We don’t have any other information for you.”
(On what you need to see from Mike Davis to prove he is game ready)
“Oh no, I don’t need to see anything. We have already seen it. Mike’s practiced with us all year, he’s never missed anything, he’s been a hard working guy throughout and he will be available to play in this game.”
(On if the running game is something that can improve suddenly)
“Well we have seen our ability to express the running game in pretty good standards at times here, it just hasn’t been consistent. Unfortunately, we have not been able to keep the same guys coming back and Eddie [Lacy] is coming back this week, but C.J. [Prosise] goes out this week, here comes Mike [Davis].
It has just been hard to get the continuity that we want and it’s not because we aren’t trying and the guys aren’t working hard at it, but it just hasn’t fit. We had one game in here in the last couple weeks that I thought we were really off but other than that, it hasn’t been that far down and I think we have a chance to continue to run.
We are going to run the football this week. We are not going to not run it. We are going to run the heck out of it and keep working all the stuff that makes our offense fit the way it does. Hopefully we will be productive. Let’s see if we can get more consistent and be more productive with it.”
