Pete Carroll  Monday Rewind: “ We took care of business”

PETE CARROLL TRANSCRIPT

(On what stood out to him out front about the game)

“The variety of guys that contributed. It was really spread across the board. Everybody had something to contribute. It was interesting when Alton (Robinson) came in late. He had a nice contribution late too, and he just didn’t get a chance to play many plays just because of the rotation. Everybody looked good. Darrell (Taylor) particularly, I think he played 25 plays or somewhere right in there. He was very active, and really an exciting addition as we’ve been talking about. We were hoping he’d show up on game day. They have a good offensive line too. Remember, they only allowed 21 sacks all last season, so that’s a really good group that they’re playing with. It was a good effort across the board. The rotation, we’re not settled on how to do it yet because we had everybody contribute.”

(On Marquise Blair and Ugo Amadi)

“We’re just going to keep going with the rotation at this point. I felt, and I think Marquise did too, that it was good to get back out there. It was a little bit more new to him than he would have anticipated. Remember, since the second game of last year, he’s played 17 snaps going in this time. He’s still getting going, a lot more comfortable. He was a little bit on edge trying to do things exactly right. He wasn’t quite as cut and loose as he will be. Ugo did a really nice job, really added to the looks and disguises and all that stuff. These guys are challenging each other. That’s what competition does. These guys are going to get us really good play. I can’t call it yet.”

(On the feeling ahead of the home opener)

“I don’t mind looking forward to that. I’m kind of interested to see how loose they let it go. Are they just going to go crazy or how are they going to be. I would expect that everybody will be excited to be part of it. Fortunately, we play pretty good in the opener. That helps. Last time out, they saw us look pretty good. We take the responsibility, we have to play well for the fans to be really crazy and at their best. We’re going to count on them now. We’re excited to get in front of them. I think it’s great for the whole area that we’re back. Hopefully, it’s a really good event. It’s a really good team that we’re playing against too, so we’re going need everything we can get. We’re certainly going to need what the 12s bring.”

(On Rasheem Green)

“He carried over everything he’s done in camp and preseason. He put a lot in the preseason, we were introducing him to a new role. We wanted to see how he took to it. He was always really excited about it. We played him more on the edge and more outside. Allowed him more freedom to use his athleticism. We weren’t sure how he would adapt to that. He’s been more of a traditional five technique inside a lot of those pass rushes. Because he does run really well, and he’s a big, long kid and plays with really good juice, we thought it could fit him. It has at this point. We’re really excited. He was all over the place. That’s just what he did in preseason too. It’s exactly the same guy. It doesn’t always translate like that, so in this case, to start us off, he got off to a great one. We’re really pumped up about that.”

(On forcing the Colts to throw underneath)

“We did a nice job on intermediate and deep things so that the ball had to be dumped off. The backs caught a lot of balls in this game if you look at the numbers. We kept the stats down, really, we only had one remarkably bad play. Other than that, we really forced the ball to be thrown underneath us so we could run, break on the ball, and do our hitting. I thought that you saw some really good plays by Bobby (Wagner), Jordyn (Brooks) driving back up on stuff underneath, and the corners did a nice job of reacting. All of that worked out really well.”

(On Alton Robinson’s health) “I think he’s fine, I don’t know anything.”

(On how the team played run defense so well while playing a lot of nickel formation)

“I’d like to comment on the fact that the run game on both sides of the ball was really good for us. Again, I go back to this, but they only allowed 3.7 yards per carry for the whole season last year and we got off to 140 yards and over five yards per carry. That was a good accomplishment for us and on the other side of it, they were a really good rushing team last year. Jonathan (Taylor) had a big year with a ton of yards after contact, so we had a lot of respect for them. We had to try to keep them in check which I felt like we did. They picked up some yards late in the game when they ran the ball, and we were just running clock. I thought, all in all, we did a really nice job of corralling them. We could have tackled a little bit better.  We missed some tackles that they bounced off of because he’s a really good runner, that’s why he gets so many yards after contact. What it takes is discipline, it’s really discipline.

The game is measured, in terms of run, about how you play in relative spacing, the spacing between the blocks and the defenders. That’s where the discipline needs to take place, you have to play the schemes properly and play accordingly with the guy next to you and behind you. It takes a real strict approach, it’s not just all blood, guts, and hard nose stuff. It’s really about the technical side of it and playing the scheme well. I think we did that pretty well. Last year we were a pretty good run team, so this is a good start for us. Whether you are playing in base or nickel, you have to use it all and we still have to fit our guys in. The defensive backs have to work with our defensive line and linebackers so that’s what it all calls for.”

(On each team in the NFC West starting 1-0)

“The division came out roaring. There were a lot of points scored, a lot of big plays, and a lot of exceptional play. I had a chance to catch the highlights from the other teams while we were flying home last night, and it was just one big play after another. What do you expect, it’s arguably one of the toughest divisions in the league. There’s no doubting it from the start. It’s going to have to make us better, that’s what this means. It was a pretty heralded opening.”

(On Bryan Mone’s performance)

“I think it stood out the most. He had the most special plays in one game with the hits on the quarterback in particular. His line of scrimmage play was really good, he’s always good there. He had a good day of getting into the back field and hitting the QB. He had remarkably well executed hits on the quarterback where he didn’t get penalized because he had some big shots. He did it really well and exactly the way you need to. It takes a lot from it when you pound the guy in the dirt, and they throw a flag on you, but he did not let that happen. He played a really good ball game, and he continues to be a force. We love playing with the big guys and he’s a factor.”

(On USC firing HC Clay Helton)

“I’m really disappointed for that regime because that affects a lot of people. It’s not just one guy, it’s the whole staff that gets affected in all of that. It’s also the following, the fans, and the families that were counting on their kids to play for them. It’s a very difficult decision to make and they made it. They are making the decision for what they feel is the right reasons, they are trying to keep the program moving. I got beat by Stanford a couple of times too, it’s hard. Like John McKay said, ‘by far the toughest matchup we ever had was with Stanford’. It carries a lot of weight and unfortunately, they had to make a change. Clay (Helton) is a good man and ball coach, so he’ll bounce right back. It’s a tough decision for the Trojan family on this day.”

(On the status of Ethan Pocic)

“I haven’t heard the results of the testing on Ethan yet, but he has a sprained knee. We will have to wait and see how serious it is.”

(On the play of Tyler Mabry and the rest of the TE group)

“Tight ends did really well yesterday. Tyler had a chance to go in and do some stuff, he had a couple of spot plays to back us up and did just fine. It’s a good position group for us and with Colby Parkinson on the mend and coming back before too long it’s a really good spot. Gerald (Everett) made his plays, and he will make more. I thought Will Dissly had a really good game at the line of scrimmage as well a couple of plays with some thumping running with the football which was fun to see. It’s a nice position group for us.” (On players standing for the National Anthem as well as the league wide National Anthem) “We allow our guys the freedom to make the choice as they want to in this case. That’s what you are seeing. I thought that it was well done, the collective anthem. I thought that was a nice touch and it connected us all. It was an important statement to make, and everybody would back up the thought that we all wanted to stand for all of the great loss that took place. I thought it was particularly good and I’m glad they did it the way they did it.”