By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

What Geno Smith said after the team’s first practice with the Titans

The Seattle Seahawks held their first joint practice in over 20 years. While he was not around back then, quarterback Geno Smith was on hand as the Seahawks and Titans went through a spirited practice.

(On how the Seahawks and Titans joint practices went)

“I thought we started pretty fast. I thought the guys were prepared, came out ready to go. Obviously we can always be better in all facets of our game. Got to go back and watch the film and see exactly the details of what that is. Overall, we moved the ball pretty well. I thought one-on-ones went well. Guys were running fast, making great plays all across the field. So far, so good.”

(On what he feels like he can get out of joint practices)

“Just the competition. Being able to go against someone else, another team, getting that good, fun competition out here on the field. It’s always great to go against each other. You got DK (Metcalf) and Riq Woolen who compete against each other almost every day and then you come out here and you see the difference in cornerbacks and receivers. Going up against different guys, seeing different looks, different schemes. I think overall, the competition, that’s the main thing.”

(On seeing former Seahawks teammates Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams)

“Yeah, that was fun man. I really missed those guys, Quandre (Diggs), Jamal (Adams), (they’re) good friends of mine. Always rooting for those guys. They’re in the wrong colors right now but those are our guys, and we love those guys. It was great to see Mal (Jamal Adams) back out there, knowing what he’s been through, how much he’s fought, and Quandre (Diggs) as well so. Looking forward to tomorrow as well.” 

(On how his connection with Jaxon Smith-Njigba has grown through Smith-Njigba’s second training camp)

“It’s continuing to grow. I just love the way JSN (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) works. Jaxon, he’s prepared every single day. In the off-season, like I said, he was hitting me up, flew down to Miami, (and) we got a lot of one-on-one work. When this stuff happens out here on the field, it’s just a result of all the work that we put in and the hard work that he’s done. To see him continuing to grow and blossom that’s awesome and I just love the work he’s putting in.”

(On the final period of practice with the one first team offense)

“That was important man. We got to get those in. Not playing in preseason obviously you want to get those drives in. You want to feel what it’s like to go through a 10, 12, 14 play drive. As you can see, once you get down there in the red zone, guys are going to be a little tired, but you got to finish. You want to see what that feels like and so it was great to have that opportunity out here on the field.”

(On if the referees counted the DK Metcalf play in practice)

“Yeah. Obviously you can’t tackle guys. From my vantage point it would be hard to tackle DK (Metcalf) at the 1 (yard-line) but we don’t know so. We’ll see.”

(On if him missing a few days earlier in training camp is anything to worry about) “No, nothing to worry about. Just good that I’m pretty healthy and was able to figure some things out.”

(On how he feels) “Felt pretty good.”

(On the third down blitz situation in practice) “Like I said, I want to watch the film so I can give you a complete answer. Overall, I thought we handled it well. I thought if it was a game situation, we would have converted a few of those. Last week in the game we were (at) 55% which is really good. Those are areas that we, obviously, talk about improving. We’re working towards that (and) it seems like we’re getting better in that area.”

(On not playing in the preseason and how valuable these reps are in joint practices) “So valuable. It’s important for us to get those drives in and to get ourselves fatigued and be able to think out here. That’s when it really matters. Like I said, those 12-play drives, long drives, you are playing halves and a complete game, the body’s going to wear down. The more you can get to it out here and you can feel what that feels like the better you will be and the more you can push through it in the game. We want to continue to work on our conditioning, and that happens out here.”

(On Kenneth Walker III)

“Shoot, he’s getting better, and he’s already been explosive. He’s already had all the skills set and everything like that. But the thing I’ve seen the most from him is his growth off the field, the way he’s taking care of his body, his training, his regimen. That’s something that the best ones have, and I think he’s taking that to the next level. I think that’s going to help him, throughout the season, and his leadership has grown. He’s taking charge in that running back room and just all the things that he’s doing is really good.”

(On if it’s a chess match between him and Quandre Diggs)

“Always, I feel like we’ve been doing that since, his days at Texas, got to know where he is. He’s an extremely smart player. He reads the quarterback’s eyes, I try to look him off. He’s not always going to go for it. So when you got veteran guys like that, it only makes me better. It makes our offense better the more I can go up against great players like Quandre (Diggs).” 

(On if today was more extensive) “About the same, I think we were just working through our installs. (Ryan) Grubb has a plan of how he wants things to be done and how he wants to install these plays. And so we’re just kind of taking it as it goes. And I think it was pretty much the same.” 

(On being able to bounce back after a sack)

“That’s football, always playing the next play. There’s always going to be situations that you’re going to be in, and you don’t want to have any negative plays. That’s the thing we try to eliminate. But if you do it right, it’s always good to respond in a big way. And I thought JSN (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) ran a great route. The line did a great job of protecting, (Ryan) Grubb called a great play. And then obviously we’re able to make that big play, that connection, and get the chains moving.” 

(On if he pays attention to other quarterbacks getting big contracts)

“It’s hard not to see it. We all see it. I’m really happy for those guys. Whatever they get they deserve. You pay attention to it, but you try to stay focused on what you have to stay focused on, which is my job here with Seahawks.” 

(On how proud he is of the team) “

I’m really proud of both teams, because there was a lot of great competition out there, and guys were really competing and trying to get better. And sometimes things get edgy out there. It’s football, and you got big grown men pushing and shoving on each other all day. It’s bound to happen. But I thought the coaches did a great job pre-practice just talking about how we want to practice. And I thought the guys did a great job that, even if it did get a little chippy out there, of just pulling back and not getting into a fight or anything like that.” 

(On playing more of a scheme at practice)

“I think we’re just going through our installs. (Ryan) Grubb has a plan for how he wants to install plays. We want to make sure that we’re good at our base plays, and we’re good at the things that we’re working on now before we try to move on and install anymore. We’re just going week by week, day by day, that type of thing. Whether it’s more or less, you know, we don’t know. We got to figure it out as the games go along.” 

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