Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll met with the media Monday during his weekly press roundup and gave an updated injury report on D.J. Fluker, K.J. Wright, and the return of Mychal Kendricks. Carroll also gave an assessment on the play of Bobby Wagner and the teams 43 to 16 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
After a slight pause and a smile, Carroll got right into how the team extended it’s season-best three-game win streak.
“We had a really good weekend of ball. It was a little different than the games we’ve been playing in. It was nice to see us get out ahead and hang onto it and work with the lead and play in that fashion. We did a really good job of taking care of the football and getting the ball – that makes the difference always. Our offense has done a really good job over the last six or eight weeks of not giving the football away. We’re great at doing that and we’ve got to keep that going. It makes such a difference. When we get three turnovers, we pretty much win.
That was really kind of the story of the game I think. The great subplot was the game that Bobby (Wagner) had and trying to figure out how Russ (Wilson) could be so effective with so few throws. He maximizes his opportunities in a big way. It’s a good win for us and we know we got those guys coming up in a couple of weeks. We’ll have taken a lot out of this game, going into that next one. There’s a lot of stuff that we saw and hopefully learn and can do better and cover a little better and tackle a little bit better. We’ll deal with that when the time comes, but we got a lot we’ll carry over from this week.”
Carroll then gave an updated injury report to right guard D.J. Fluker, K.J. Wright, Chris Carson and what went into the decision to place C.J. Prosise on injured reserve.
(On D.J. Fluker’s injury status)
“We substantiated that he’s got a hamstring injury and it’s going to be a little bit. We’ll have to wait and see how he does. He’s pretty sore today.”
(On the severity of D.J. Fluker’s injury) “It’s basically a first-degree strain, so we’ll see how that works. That’s a couple of weeks usually, we’ll see what happens. I don’t know if he can do better than that or not. We’ll see.”
(On the Seahawks options at right guard with D.J. Fluker potentially out) “It’s so likely that we were okay there. Jordan (Simmons) jumped in the game and did a nice job this week, again.(Simmons) seems to be moving in the right direction to be a really, really viable option for us. He doesn’t get that much practice time, so when he does get the practice time like he did in the Rams week, he did a very good job with it. So, we’re going to count on him playing and see how that goes.”
(On if Ethan Pocic is a potential candidate to fill-in at right guard) “Always.”
Regarding K.J. Wright
“Nothing yet. He had a very successful week of rehab – the procedures that he went through. We’re hoping that he’ll be able to get going. He has not done a lot of running yet. That’s not been part of the process. So, this week starts the conditioning stuff back. I don’t know how much he’ll get to do this week. We just have to see how he feels. I don’t know that yet.”
Carroll game a more optimistic update regarding the Chris Carson injury.
“He came out fine in the game other than his finger and it should be okay. He should be able to play.”
(On if Chris Carson will have to wear a cast) “I don’t know yet. I don’t think that is it at all though.”
Regarding Mychal Kendricks, Carroll said Kendricks is hungry and ready to go.
(On if the Seahawks will get Mychal Kendricks back in Week 14)
“Yeah, Mychal has been with us for two weeks and he’s ready to go. Like I told you last week, he was preparing on the 49ers side of the defense – like he was playing a game and he took it very seriously. He was very effective in a short amount of time when he played for us before and we’re anxious to get him back out there. He’s really hungry to get out and do something to help us.”
(On if Mychal Kendricks is physically ready to play)“Yeah, he’ll be ready to go. He practiced really hard the last two weeks and he stayed in shape going into it. He looked great in the last two weeks, so we don’t have any hesitation that he can play a full game.”
(On if the secondary is a concern for the defense) “No. You guys are looking at 400 yards and you think that tells the story of what’s going on. I’m not worried about that. We allowed 60 yards rushing, which is really important bouncing back from the week before.We played good in the red zone. We stayed on top for the most part. I’m really, I’m not (worried). I wish it wasn’t 400 yards, but that’s what happens when you get ahead and they can throw the ball the whole time. That’s how it goes sometimes. I’m not concerned about it. We just have to keep getting better. I’m not satisfied with what it is, that doesn’t mean that, but I’m not concerned about it.
We’re just working. As these guys are growing, these guys are still young together and it’s taken us a while to get rid of the miscues that happened in not seeing things exactly the same way like you would like them to. Just limiting some of the plays that sometimes to get away. It’s unfortunate, but that’s kind of how we are right now. But, 16 points, three turnovers – no, that’s good football.”
Carroll was asked about Russell Wilson’s progress, Poona Ford and Tyler Lockett’s efficiency.
(On what progress, if any, Russell Wilson has made) “
I think he’s in better control of what’s going on up front – in the running game and also protection-wise. He and Justin Britt were doing a really good job of working things out and figuring out stuff to put us in the right spots and I think that the development of the pass protection has been really obvious and Russ has taken advantage of that.
That’s why he’s been able to be more effective getting the second looks and sliding up in the pocket and hitting Tyler (Lockett) on the big play was a perfect example of that. Really good protection, he gets to move to give one more beat to get Tyler a chance to get behind him and deliver the throw. I just think it’s connected with what’s going on up front, but his overall command of what we’re trying to get done communication-wise has really helped the other guys play well.”
Wilson was 11of 17 for 185 yards and four touchdowns
On Tyler Lockett’s efficiency with few targets)
“They’ve been really on point. They’ve been available to make the big plays and they’ve come through when they’ve had their chances. They work really hard after the normal rhythm of the play too. We continue to see good scramble efforts by the receivers and by Russ (Wilson) hooking up. They seem to be really connected well with Russ. We’re getting really good results. We’re maxing out on the attempts. Unusual that you would get so much out of six passes in the first half of the game, but that’s playing off the running game and we’re taking advantage of that.
It’s not really how many shots we take out of it, it’s really what we’re getting out of it and we’re really getting a lot of production. Russ has thrown 29 touchdown passes at this point. With the numbers of attempts, you kind of marvel at how could you be that on it – but, he is. I think it’s because they’re all working together. I think it’s a really nice job from Schotty (Brian Schottenheimer) on down through the guys that are really on the same page and they understand and they’re executing really well.”
(On Poona Ford)
“I’m glad somebody picked that up. He’s the only one of you that got it, but Poona did a really good job. He played really well. He was sideline-to-sideline and we had him at six tackles in the game. That’s a lot of production for the nose tackle but it was because he was running and chasing the football so well. He’s a really instinctive football player. It’s not too big for him and he’s played a lot of big games in college and he jumped right in there. It was nothing for him to be out there and battling with those guys. (Weston) Richburg is a good center and the guy has played a lot and all that.
He did a nice job battling with him, so we’re really encouraged about that. I loved to see that he has that much mobility and can go sideline-to-sideline. He missed a couple of opportunities, too. He missed one on a play that broke downfield. He made a great effort and pursuit and just missed a tackle in the open field but it showed a lot of juices getting all over the place so we’re really happy about that.”
(On Poona Ford not having the most typical body type for NT) “He certainly doesn’t.”
(On how Poona Ford’s body type works to his advantage) “Well, it does in the sense that he’s got – we always talk about football (with) the low man wins. He’s the low man. It starts there. He has really long arms and he understands how to use his length to keep him clear of blockers and keep his feet clear so he can pursue. He’s really quick. He’s a really natural athlete. He can do a lot of stuff and you’d be surprised if you saw him throwing the ball around and playing catch and all that, he’s a really good athlete.He was a running back in high school. Can you imagine those little high school kids trying to tackle him? But he probably didn’t look the same. I think he was player of the year in his conference, too, in his last year there. It’s pretty hard as a nose tackle, but you can see why though. It’s because of his activity. He’s done well throughout but he really made a big impression on us this week when he had this much playing time (and) this much focus. You could really see him as a factor so we’re excited for him.”
(On Poona Ford’s pursuit ability)“It really is. It’s his mobility that makes him special. I mean, I know he’s got – everything about him is unique but to see his, not just his instincts but also the ability to accelerate and get out there, he’s very comfortable running in space. He was jumping over guys and doing all kinds of stuff to get to the football.
Clint Hurtt’s been saying that he’s got a lot of stuff for us and we just finally got the really concentrated look at him and you can tell. We’re hoping he’ll help us down the stretch.”
(On if they were sweating Poona Ford being drafted before undrafted free agency) “John (Schneider) knew his situation better.We thought he would get drafted late in the draft, yeah. We did. We were looking at that. That’s why we were tuned into him and one of the first calls we made was to go get him. Sometimes, it just happens and people look at him and he’s kind of under the radar size-wise and maybe they think he’s an exception or whatever. We particularly like those kinds of guys and you can see why. He was touted as such a good player but yet, his numbers aren’t quite there. He plays like it, so it really counts.”
