Pete Carroll, Richard Sherman press conference notes

Pete Carroll and Richard Sherman spoke to the media today and I took some notes on what was discussed. Originally posted at Reddit.

Coach Carroll

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• Have a heck of a match-up this week with the Bengals. Terrific looking football team, as balanced a team as we could see. Have numbers, stats, fast starts, really good ST, really good Defense. Great challenge for our guys. Time to go on the road again.

• Really good come back in the first quarter of the season. Lots of ways for us to get better, adjust things and fix things to be more consistent. Way the D is playing gives us a chance every week.

• Marshawn Lynch is day to day, it will take us to the end of the week until we know. He has made a lot of progress last week.

• We had some issues on O-line. Wasn't any one guy, stuff happened. We need to help them better. This is the reality of it, a lot of things enter into it, we missed a couple blocks, a couple looks at stuff, we need the QB to get the ball out before pass rush. We have thoughts of how we adjust a bit to help guys, about the opponent and how they fit the match-ups.

• Asked if the starting O-line will be the same five guys; "Right now, yes."

• Doesn't think they have regressed, it takes a while. They saw things for the first time against the Lions, experienced guys might have picked up on those things and adjusted but this is all money in the bank, experience for these guys to use to help them develop.

• Drew Nowak is a terrific competitor, is really smart, has great strength, had a lot of play-making in his background.

• Patrick Lewis is not out of this thing, he is a good player who has won games for us, he continues to stay very close, there will be a time if the opportunity opens up for him he can jump at it.

• We were not consistent on center snaps, created big problems. Much different than the other games, popped up in this game and became a big factor. Enormous factor in this game. Should be able to clean that this week.

• Because of the competitor way we look at the O-line, the changes are always looked at, are always there. Some guys after a while establish a grace period, but the young guys coming up have a competitor aspect with them.

• We want to get Jimmy Graham the ball, we have calls in there and sometimes it works for him and sometimes it doesn't. Some situations he could have gotten the ball but Russ had to move.

• Justin Britt has been inconsistent, he had a couple plays where he wasn't sharp and got a lean in his approach to his pickup (that causes him to get beat). That happens to guys all the time. Hopefully it doesn't happen at different spots at the same time which is what happened on Monday night.

• Not having Alvin Bailey at TE against the Lions was just a game-plan thing (compared to him being used there against the Bears).

• Fred Jackson looks pretty good (high ankle sprain) but getting around okay. Gonna take him all week to but he is bouncing around a bit, he is hopeful.

• Feel okay about the depth at RB even if both don't make it back.

• Brandon Mebane is going to make it back, still day to day (have to see how he recovers from practices).

• Tyler Lockett tried to catch the ball on a dead run but the ball got high on him. He would tell you he was too aggressive. In that case he tried to do too much, which is where we generally find our problems.

• Not one bit concerned about Lockett, we put him right back in there and he made a tough catch. Carroll calls Tyler Lockett "the hardest working guy we have here."

• The step kick technique goes back to Willie Brown. Seeing it in 1980 being taught at Raiders camp.

• In our defensive scheme it all begins with not giving up big/easy plays.

• Cincy probably has more explosive plays than anyone in the league right now. They have a really good group, they are bold. Andy Dalton has been on the mark, hit stuff, has been protected well. They have been very confident in their ability to strike down field. It is a big problem, they are trouble for everybody. Carroll calls the Bengals offense "the best challenge in the NFL" right now.

• Earl becomes even more important when playing a team that does all that.

• DeShawn Shead is a fantastic part of our team, also a crucial core guy on ST. He is just a guy that has grown up in our program and has been here long enough to learn everything. He is a fantastic member of our club. Great worker and competitive team.

• We have to have awareness that when the ball is in the end zone, that penalty (batted ball out of the back of the end zone) hasn't been called in 12 years that we went back with stats, and Pete hasn't seen it in his 40 years coaching. We address it now but we can't imagine it happening again but who knows. That was a very difficult play to call for the official.

• Marcus Burley is going to get operated on tomorrow, we will find out what that means, there is a chance he can have a very quick recovery (broken thumb).

• At the time when Richard Sherman got his first start, we were banged up at CB. It didn't take but a couple of games until you saw the awareness he had. At the time he was in the mix with a bunch of guys, might have been the 2nd or 3rd or 4th guy up at that point. Was in it with Walter Thurmond and Marcus Trufant. He had to earn it.

• We think Lockette is okay, he felt sick, had internal issues, was uncomfortable, he settled down by the end of the game.

• There are enough examples for us (though sad to hear about the young guy who died) about how dangerous sports are. We have to do everything in our sport to make it as safe as possible. Sometimes you have to step outside of the norm, have to go places to challenge and do that. Hope that getting the head out of football will be a aspect moving forward (Hawk Tackling).

• Sure looks like Kam Chancellor coming back is why the defense is on fire. The turn around has been obvious.

• It eats at Pete that we don't have a pick yet. You have seen how offenses throw the ball against us not to turn it over (quick passes). It is a combination of stuff, but they come in bunches.

• Demarcus Dobbs has a chance to make it, we will see with Kevin Piere-Louis later in the week.

• Still working with Tharold Simon's injuries, he won't make it back.

Richard Sherman:

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• No concern that players will try to get INT's. When you give up 0 points you don't care, it is better to give up 0 points with no picks than to get a bunch of picks and points be on the board.

• Remembers calling AJ Green overrated after his first game (which was against the Bengals). Has a ton of respect for him, has have conversations since, his resume speaks for itself.

• Always have to be calculated with his decisions when talking, gotta think before you speak. Never second guesses himself with what he has said. Goes with his gut and stands by what he believes.

• Compares playing football and risk of injuries to getting in your car and driving and the risk of driving vehicles. They understand the risks and the reward.

• He doesn't pay close attention to CTE reports and papers. When you read into it you play hesitant or think about retiring. You can't think about things like that when you are playing this game, when you aren't playing at 100% speed you lost that step and are putting yourself in danger of getting hurt.

• Has seen Cary Williams grow by leaps and bounds. He has been discipline about it, the technique is difficult to learn. He has stayed with it whether the technique is going well or not going well. He stayed with it, he continues to work hard at it and you see im continuing to blossom.

• You are not going to gamble in this defense, if you give up big plays, TD's, they will find someone who won't.

• Honestly didn't know the KJ Wright bat ball rule. Knew that it is illegal if you bat or punch the ball to a teammate. But Sherm has heard it is illegal to punch the ball out, if you read the rule book line for line you will find so many things to flag. KJ could have easily caught the ball and walked out of the end zone. It wasn't like someone got held.

• "Go Hawks!"

My Thoughts:

• I think this game against the Bengals is going to be one of the best tests for where our team is truly at. Up until this point we kinda have a mix bag, with a season opener against the always tough Rams and the match-ups of their front 7 vs our front 5 was a nightmare. Then the best team in the NFL (Packers) at home week 2. Then we got a shutout against the Bears but they had a bad team with a backup QB, and on Monday we barely beat the talented but majorly underperforming Lions. Now it is week 5 and we are going up against a LEGIT team, all of those pretty stats we got because we shutout the Bears and haven't given up a TD in X amount of quarters (etc) will be tested against this legit Bengals team.

• Though I hate certain screens, if you don't know by now; we run them because of our O-line. Bubble screens are quick passes that negate how bad a O-line is at pass protecting and it forces defensive linemen to run, and possibly hesitate later in the game for fear that they will bite on a QB pass but it turn out to a bubble screen. I hate bubble screens to Kearse, I like them to Lynch and Baldwin but I love them to Tyler Lockett. So far when he has been the receiver of a bubble screen his size, vision, quickness, shiftiness and speed has gotten him what seems to be at least 5 yards every time. In my opinion to counter-act our bad O-line and to utilize Tyler's skill-set we should use him a bit like we did Percy. We saw a Jet Sweep (or something like it) using Tyler against the Lions and I was happy to see it (even though it wasn't very successful). Not only can they be successful (or very successful) but by calling one, you open up the ability to run a fake sweep/screen and that give Russ time to make an explosive play. Also mentioned is those plays are essentially run plays, they keep the clock running and can get you a few yards (like most runs). So if our run game (due to O-line) isn't getting us those 3 yards we need in the first half, then screens and sweeps and the like can possibly do that for us.

Relevant Tweets:

• @gbellseattle : G J.R. Sweezy on new C Drew Nowak: "He's going to be just fine. Anybody who's on him or whatever needs to back off."

• 1st-yr Seahawks CB Cary Williams on Eagles letting him become FA: "I take it personally every day...I'm in a better position. I'm happier"