Pete Carroll, Richard Sherman, and Tyler Lockett talk about Monday Night Football

Pete Carroll, Richard Sherman, and Tyler Lockett spoke to reporters this afternoon to break down the Seahawks upcoming game with the Lions. Here are some notes on what was said (originally published over at Reddit).

Pete Carroll:

Video Link

• Huge week coming up. Really exciting to play at home again. Long ways to go to get our ball right, but we are working at it. Working on cleaning things up, to get fundamentally sound. The Lions have a talented team at every position, and were in every game with a chance to win. Excited about this challenge.

• No update on Marshawn Lynch, gonna take all week to find out what condition he is. May go all the way to game time.

• Same situation for Brandon Mebane (different injury).

• DeMarcus Dobbs got a shoulder injury in the game, might be slow to make it back as well.

• Lots of time spent on Eric Ebron in the draft, so fast and athletic and plays like a WR running his routes (like Cook). Have to play a lot of attention, if Brandon Pettigrew comes back they will be very strong at that position.

• The Lions are a committed throwing team, Ameer Abdullah has looked really good in the numbers he has had. Golden Tate in the slot has been great for them. Calvin Johnson is such a dominant player he draws your focus, and Matt Stafford can throw everything. They can put a ton of yards on the board. All of that makes them very difficult.

• There are always difficult decisions, we tried to keep Tate, we just couldn't get there where he was wanting to go. We liked the heck out of him. One of Pete's favorite guys out there.

• Golden was an all around athlete. Was so natural at catching and making moves, It came easy to him. He had to grow through some of that because it came so naturally to him. Punt return was fun to watch.

• "No we don't know, we wish we did" when asked about how common it is that a defense knows what is coming (based off of Golden's comments about players telling him each game that they knew what plays they were going to run).

• Golden is rare, one of the best run after catch numbers. Running back in his background was part of it. See him so often spin and turn and put his hand down and find a way.

• O-line is growing, working at it hard, their confidence is gaining, we are going to see them continue to improve. I don't think we are going to know for another 4-5 weeks, maybe the half way point of the season. They'll have some background, some history to figure things out and make evaluations and the communication will have gone through a lot of stuff by then. They are progressing.

• Knew from the start they wouldn't be a finished product, have been saying since the start (preseason) they would need to grow during the season. Do like their approach and their toughness and their mentality about learning and the discipline they are trying to generate in their play. They've got all the right stuff to make up a good group. O-line is the most complicated part of our game so it's very difficult.

• Gotta get red zone smoothed out, evened out. Will happen, will come in time. Things don't have to be so new to us in the first quarter and the first half. We don't need to ONLY do that, we are working on it.

• The front five have to play together to grow as a group. Play on game day then come back and watch the tape and evaluate and grow. We don't like that we have to wait for these guys but it is the natural process. We gotta go through it.

• Thomas Rawls was a guy Pete was real excited to see what he would look like on the field. Without his opportunity against the Bears we wouldn't know to this extent. We got the chance and threw him out there. Was his first game, he got 16 carries, we will see him improve.

• I loved how Rawls finished plays in college. Liked it more than anyone I saw in the draft. He ran like a heat seeking missile to find guys and get after them. Can't always make guys miss so at some point you have to run through defenders. Always loved the tough running style Marshawn has given us for years and Rawls has given us that a little bit. John Schneider calculated we'd have a shot to get Rawls as an UDFA, thought about drafting him.

• Gilliam was a TE going into his Senior year in college. We just saw the athlete and potential. Just a year ago he was just barely holding onto making the team, holding onto him for his potential. Tom Cable and the guys did a nice job developing him quickly. He has played well against some tough guys. He has SUCH an upside, he will continue to improve.

• Russell is the best we've been but still the timing of things will improve (in communication, calling the protections on the line). Tons more for Russ to learn. He is just a 4th year guy. The guys doing a great job in this league at that have been playing twice or three times as long as him. Still a work in progress. Cool part of it.

• On D-line so much is about the effort, keeping those guys fresh as possible is important, why D-line rotates but O-line doesn't unless the O-line has experience together through the ranks.

• Once you start subbing the O-line you will show tenancies too much.

• Ahtyba Rubin has been really good, really good for us. He handles all the down and dirty work and he has a motor I love at going after the football. It hasn't manifested a big play on the sidelines but it will happen. You will see him smash into someone.

• Jimmy Graham is willing to block and is learning. It is new for him, he is a rookie in our system at that. He is an O-linemen on some of those plays. He is going to continue to progress and get better. He has done some nice stuff, and some not so nice stuff, but his work effort and want-to is there.

• You will see even more from Frank Clark, him and Jordan Hill will have a great chance to make a factor during the stretch.

• Our penalty numbers are down, really fired up about it, working really hard at it. Not emphasizing it any different but think our guys have more experience. In a time penalties are higher than they have ever been we are doing nice. Don't want to talk about it much, feels like a no hitter.

• Brought in Terrelle Pryor as a WR. He is really raw but an extraordinary athlete.

• We'd like to be better at the start in the first half. We know that doesn't determine how the game ends, it is how you finish. But we are not trying to lull them to sleep and not get yards.

• Guys have to step up if Marshawn can't play. They'll have to.

• Terrell and Simon still look questionable they won't make it back.

• Tyler Lockett special teams player of the month. Really exciting for him and all the blockers. Blocking on kickoff return was exquisite. We don't have enough stuff of him yet, we need more plays and opportunities. Really trust him as a returner. Can't always rely on your protectors. Guys learning him and he is learning them.

Richard Sherman:

Video Link

• Jokes around about someone not blocking the punter so he couldn't take it to the house.

• Was gassed before the play was even called because he was playing on defense.

• Favorite transformer is the primes, the good guys. Likes Optimus. Had laughs about it with Calvin.

• Will be fun to see Golden. Obviously had our battles in practice for years.

• Hate playing at night, feels like it's a day wasted.

• Hasn't made a conscious effort to be "toned down". Haven't had many opportunities to do stuff like his "You Mad Bro?".

• Doesn't think there is a logical explanation to interceptions coming in bunches.

• Nothing changes about covering a guy Calvin's size. Just make sure you are in the position you are supposed to be in.

• Cary Williams has gotten a lot more comfortable with the technique, the step-kick, the patience at the LOS. He is night and day from when he got here. Takes time to get the technique and the patience. Think he has done a phenomenal job.

• Think Tharold Simon will be fine, he recovers pretty quickly, he has had some freak accidents to get injured, feel sorry for him that he has to go through this rash of injuries every year. Hope he recovers quickly.

• Defense has cleaned up a bunch of issues against the Bears, still more to clean up but we looked good.

Tyler Lockett:

Video Link

• On earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Month: "It's a great honor..it was a great feeling. Continuing to get better each week."

• The returner couldn't do anything if it was 1 vs 11, you gotta have the blockers out there willing to sacrifice and willing to do their jobs. Always praise the blockers.

• On setting a new franchise record: "It was all about going out there and trying to make a play."

• One of the biggest conversations Tyler had with Frank is not wanting to be "that bust everyone talks about". In order to prevent that from happening we have to come out here and we have no choice but to get better.

• Actually didn't learn that until I got here, learned it the first day, to catch the ball on the run. Took some time for me to practice it. Makes sense when you watch it, if you can catch it going forward it helps the blockers not having to block so long. If I stand back and catch it and move around a lot then the blockers have to block longer.

• It's all about that one opportunities, I just need one, if they want to punt out of bounds we'll take it but if they mess up we gotta make the best out of that opportunity.

Relevant Tweets:

• @gbellseattle: Marshawn Lynch's teammate/great pal Fred Jackson on 24's hamstring: "Man, If he's questioning it, you know, it's a severe injury"