Pete Carroll Monday morning interview, afternoon presser

Pete Carroll talked to Brock and Salk in the morning as he does every Monday following a game, then he spoke to the media in the afternoon. Listen in/read below:

Pete Carroll Show with Brock and Salk:

Pete Carroll Week 16 Monday Press Conference

(Opening) We're really happy about the game yesterday - we had a really tough football game. Guys on both teams really elevated to the matchup and it was really physical and I really loved the way our special teams got after it. Their effort was excellent - chasing them, covering kicks was really as good as we've had. I thought the guys up front on defense played really well. The whole group - Mike Bennett was in the backfield all day long in the running game. We pressured real well. It seems like Cliff [Avril] and Jordan Hill and what Kevin Williams is doing along with Mike - those guys are really playing good football. Bruce [Irvin] adds to it on third-down stuff. When you look back on it this month and see what has happened - those guys have played good football and they've helped us. We're going to need all of that to go this weekend. So a lot of good things happened - excited about the finish coming up here and it's a big matchup going to Arizona for sure.

(On Russell Okung) He feels quite a bit better today but we have to be cautious and make sure we take care of him. In a couple of days we will see how he's feeling.

(On if he will play this weekend) There's always a chance.

(On what exactly happened to him) He has a bruised lung from the hit that he took on the interception. He was real uncomfortable initially so they took all the precautions and took him out of here to get him checked out and he recovered pretty well from that and got home pretty soon after that. Last night he was feeling pretty good - talked to him fairly late last night - he was feeling a lot better than he did at the game so we will see what happens and see what the doctors say in the next couple of days.

(On if he had any issue with that play) No, it will be interesting to see what the league thinks. Sometimes they see those a little differently than we see it. He was chasing the football, looking back chasing the ball so he got caught a little bit. I don't know how they will interpret that.

(On how the TV cameras caught Okung getting frustrated coming off the field with a trainer) I think he was frustrated with the fact he wasn't going to be able to go back in. I don't know. I didn't think it was a big deal.

(On how Russell Wilson took a lot of hits yesterday) Yeah, we were concerned that we couldn't block for him. Those guys were good. They rushed him real well early in the game and we needed to run the football more to offset that so in the second half we came out and really tried hard to run the football and see if we could find it which we were able to and that really helped us through the course of the game. We didn't throw the ball much in the second half. They've got four or five guys that they bring on the edge that really, really tore it up pretty good. We had some problems with them.

(On how Alvin Bailey played in the second half) He made it through it. He had some good plays and some bad plays. He did some good things. He struggled a little bit too. He wasn't on his best game but he made it through it and managed to get through the game. It will be a lot better, if he's going to play this week, to get the whole week of preparation - getting all the reps and all that. He's done okay in the past for us at tackle so we're going to count on him to do that - if he's called on to play.

(On Max Unger) It's a day at a time now. The fact that he practiced means that he can practice again Wednesday and we will see how that goes. He's real anxious to get back. We're still hoping that he will make some improvement though. He wasn't 100% ready or he would have played in the game. There's still some question.

(On how the pass rush has really improved the past month) Yeah, I think it's all been part of our elevated play and it's been a big factor. We've rushed the passer a lot better and made it harder on the quarterbacks. The whole defense has played better. The pass rush has really been significant. The numbers are up in the last month. The intensity is really obvious. The timely pressures and stuff to add to the four man rush has been good and helped us. All in all, I think it's been a big part of the shift in our effectiveness.

(On how Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett got double-teamed quite a bit yesterday and how Bruce Irvin and Jordan Hill were able to capitalize) Some. They chipped on him - did a few things to him. But that's been happening all year. Jordan picks up two sacks on the day - that's great. Bruce got a really nice one on pressure. But you can feel everybody is being more effective now. They're all feeding off of one and another. It's a good time - we need it.

(On if it's good to see both Jordan Hill and Tharold Simon contributing this year) Sure, yeah. Those guys are playing as regulars now. They're doing really well. Tharold played real solid. We've been talking about Jordan the last couple of weeks - he's been doing things, been more active and the pass rush is really picking up. Yeah, it's great to see those guys. They didn't have a chance to do much last year so like we said, kind of redshirt freshmen - they're doing it.

(On Jeremy Lane) We'll take a look at the week and see what's going on. We have flexibility and each guy is a little different so we'll see how we do that. It's too early to tell.

(On Tony Moeaki and Cooper Helfet) Coop (Cooper Helfet) made it back to practice last week and should be pretty good to go this week. We'll see how it goes again on Wednesday. That's not for sure yet. Tony (Moeaki) banged his shoulder a little bit. We have to see how that responds. We don't know that yet either at this point. But he had a sore shoulder last night.

(On talking to the players about the stakes of this game vs. the Cardinals) No I didn't mention it. That's not the stuff to talk about. It's so obvious why we don't talk about it, but we've been preparing for championship games all season long and playing like they are--the more we do that, the more comfortable I hope we'll feel with the big setting this one brings; all the hype that people are going to put on it. We're not going to play any different. We're going to try to play the same kind of football that we've been playing and that means we're going to give everything we've got. Try to go all out to get a win and take it to the next week.

(On evaluating the decision to make one more play with eight seconds left in the first half) It didn't work out. We've been practicing those seconds and those opportunities. We didn't make the right throw right there. Russ (Russell Wilson) threw the ball down the middle and likely wouldn't have scored; they would've made the tackle. It was a shot to throw the ball at the end zone and they played so far off that it just didn't work right out for us. But we had planned to still kick the field goal but we were going to take one more shot and see what happened at the end zone but it didn't work. Just trying to take a shot.

(On the pass rush and coverage helping each other out) Yeah. We've been playing pretty good pass defense lately and it totally is connected. It always is. It's not just lately. It's always connected and sometimes one bails out the other and sometimes they're both on it and you really get going. But we're getting real good continuity now. We're covering aggressively, we're playing tight, the guys are challenging and making the brakes on the ball. And the more that we feel the rush, the harder it is on the quarterback. So that's a real good part of our game right now. We're going to try to keep pushing it. I always think it starts up front with the guys rushing the passer but we certainly feed off one another and that's going to be real important down the stretcher.

(On Justin Britt's struggle with Ahmad Brook's pass rushes) They rushed--they're really good. This defense has been playing good for a long time; a lot of years, and it's been highlighted by those edge guys. And they're really difficult to deal with and they gave us problems. Justin has his hands full out there and (Ahmad) Brooks is a really good player--run and pass. And he had a little rest from last week and he came out roaring. He was really going.

(On the wide receivers) It was a good day certainly. There were a couple of balls that got away from us too. We had a couple of other chances for really big plays--difficult catches. I think the guys do whatever we ask them to do and they're very aggressive at the football. I think Paul (Richardson) particularly contributed. He got that one play taken away on the penalty but he had a really nice game. And Jermaine (Kearse) was just a hair from just blowing up. He had a great opportunity in front of their bench. He almost made that play and it was a great throw and almost converted it. But they really played tough again. They played very, very aggressive with the ball. And you saw Doug (Baldwin). You can't make him more aggressive play on the ball up the side line there at the end of the half. And that's just kind of the way these guys have been going at it so we've been kind of going that way. I don't know if it's the best one but it was a really good game for them.

(On Paul Richardson being a trusted option lately) Nothing really. We've been playing him. He's been starting with the three receiver group for some time now. I thought that we did a real nice job with the rhythm part of our passing game. I thought that we got the ball out quick and he was a beneficiary a couple of times. He's a good route runner, he's real nifty, and he gets in and out of his breaks really well and Russell (Wilson) took advantage of that and got him a couple of good shots in there this week. And that's one aspect of it that we've kind of put some focus on and think we can improve so we're going to try and keep pushing it. That's just part of it but it's really exciting to see it when it's really sharp and crisp and the ball is out, guys are making their plays. Third-and-10 never looks so hard when you step up and rip one of those curl routes in there so we'll try to keep that going.

(On if Ryan Lindley at QB for the Cardinals changes their defensive scheme) We have to figure that out-it's too early to assess that really for us. We know of him-we studied him hard when he was coming out, watched him in college and all of that, and Logan [Thomas] as well so we have background on those guys. Not a lot of film on them, but we'll figure that out as we go. Bruce [Arians] is a terrific quarterback coach and he knows what he's doing. He'll get the most out of these guys-sounds like they want to play both of them so that will be interesting to see how they want to do that. There's not much real change though-they have very clear commitment to the running game and how they want to do it and all that we'll try and load up for that and get ready to adjust most likely. We'll have to figure out how to adjust to what they're doing.

(On the Arizona Cardinals having success running the ball) I think they've committed to it a little bit last week. They went to it and they knew they had to with a new quarterback popping in-they've got a real good running attack but they love throwing the football too. So we have to see how that all comes together-we don't really know that right now.

(On Russell Okung injury being long term) No-it sounds like it can be a week or two unless we get a really good report or something like that. So we're going to kind of hope for the best, see how he does. He really wants to play if he can and if he can't, we'll find out, but we'll hold a good thought here.

(On speaking or having a warm moment with Jim Harbaugh about their rivalry) I don't know if I would refer to it as a warm moment-we had a moment. You'll have to ask Jim if he felt it as a warm moment. It was a nice exchange-just coaches talking.

(On Mashawn Lynch's foundation event) Marshawn had his fundraiser last night-really spirited event. Good group-really exciting room of people that join to celebrate his fundraiser. We were there for a while, it was really fun to be there, and I'm really happy for him. He's working really hard doing the work that he does. He has tremendous concept and he has great heart for his effort. He had a full room pack and everybody was excited to be a part of it. It was a really big day obviously-he was limping around a little bit but I'm sure it seems to be on the verge of a really successful night. So it was great to see Joe Montana there the night we play the ‘Niners.

(On Marshawn Lynch getting enough notoriety for his charitable side) I think he's working on it. I think he's developing that-I don't think Marshawn goes about it in a way to generate a lot of focus but by the same token, I think he understands that he needs to do things in a very substantial way so he has to have these events. I think the heart and soul that he brings to his effort is really what's unique and special. He really cares and it's really important for him to do good work near home and I think it's probably gaining momentum more so than ever and we really like to help our guys whenever they're doing their stuff and we're happy to be able to contribute in that way.

(On giving Marshawn Lynch charity advice) No not really-he hasn't really come to me with that thought yet.