Pete Carroll on Kam Chancellor: "He's not here right now, so he's not playing"

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and cornerback Richard Sherman spoke to reporters after practice this afternoon. Here are a few quick notes from the pressers. Originally published at Reddit.

Pete Carroll:

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• Welcome to 2015, here we go.

• (On the Rams) "They do a lot of good things and give you a lot of problems...We take this match-up very seriously."

• Thus far the Rams offense with Nick Foles at QB looks very similar to how it has with Sam Bradford. Really don't know until we play and are ready to adjust.

• Aaron Donald is special because he runs a 4.6 (D-Linemen). Relentless in his effort, but special speed is so uncommon for his position.

• Worked all preseason on Rams' tricky ST. Is as difficult team you can play, as complex as possibly all the other teams put together.

• Rams front is "as good as you are going to see". Calls it a "great test" for our Offensive Line.

• Pete Carroll on Kam Chancellor: "He's not here right now, so he's not playing. It's Wednesday." Taking it week to week with Kam, might be saying the same thing next week.

• We didn't do much offensively in the preseason. Limited planning leads to some of that but didn't function well. To hit the TD pass in preseason game four and say "we are back" well, I don't know about that. We still have some work to do. See how it fits together. A big part of that is not having Marshawn in there, and having very limited Jimmy in. So when all mixed together it will look really sharp and give defenses big problems. Very comfortable and like what we have seen in practice.

• Marshawn Lynch is back after missing Monday for "personal matters." Ready to start Sunday.

• When I think of Doug Baldwin I think of the great competitor that he is. Such a great attitude and great habits and skill. Has made a home for himself. He is very aware because he is such a competitor, is a good guy to talk to the other guys. Feels a natural responsibility to help out the young guys. Marvelous team member. Comes through, makes the big plays.

• Concerns about starting O-line: Are we ready for the opening day speed and what they bring at us? Will we have the ability to communicate well on the road? So game speed and communication are key. Physically we are okay, we can move well, come off the ball, pass protect. We have to be right, will we be right consistently?

• Drew Nowak is a really bright kid, has done good with communication. Picked it up really fast. Benefited from being on D which helps guys understand looks and schemes. Very wary football player.

• Dion Bailey is an all out hitter when he gets his chance in games. Looks very comfortable and active, needs full speed to show off his skills and hit. Had more plays than anybody in camp, knocking balls down, making interceptions, making plays. He's not the player who is going to look great in OTA season because he needs to play (hit, go full speed, full contact).

• Not changing much at all schematically with Dion starting. There are some nuances that come out from the off-season and all that but pretty much the same.

• Recruited Dion as a safety in USC (played some LB in college). Very natural football player. USC used Dion like a Nickel Defender in the Box. No surprise when you knew him back then that he is doing what he is doing right now.

• CB Cary Williams has done quite well. Totally ready to go for the season. Worked him a lot, going against our best guys and taxed him as much as we could. Will continue to be pushed by Tharold Simon for starting job. Both could play there Sunday. Tharold is a good football player too. Cary knows he has to keep pushing.

• Russell Wilson has been rock solid every day (when asked if Pete has noticed anything different since his off-season load and famous girlfriend). Came back faster, it was something Pete talked about with him. Such an asset so work to maintain it and he came back even better.

• Kelcie McCray (Safety) looks like he picks things up very well, but it has only been one day so no information yet about where he fits in or anything.

• Earl Thomas has had a fantastic off-season of conditioning, running like crazy, fast as ever. No indication he is not ready.

• Frank has looked more explosive than we thought he would be. Unbelievable natural strength and length that allows him to play at the big guys. His motor, he really chases the ball consistently, didn't appreciate that on film like i do now.

• ST is better quipped this year over last year. Marsh is a huge factor, Kevin Pierre-Louis as well, Brock Coyle is better than he was a year ago. Derrick Coleman coming back, he is a core guy. Frank Clark enters in on some stuff to, Steven Terrell is good, Marcus Burley is good, DeShawn Shead is a solid ST man, T-Lockett in there too (returner) is exciting.

• Working together with his two sons is great. They don't pull any punches, tell him everything, some guys might not say everything that needs to be said but they do. He welcomes it, it's a great opportunity for a dad.

• Disappointed in this, everybody should be. Unfortunate it has come to this and is not here. (Regarding Kam holding out, Pete sounded pissed).

• Pete Carroll has texted back and forth with his former OC Steve Sarkisian since USC incident. They often do, on everything.

• We have watched this growth with K.J. Wright. He has always been a really responsible accountable guy from the first time he got here. Now he is an expert at what he is doing. Completely understands the principles and scheme. Most solid guy you could ever want. Can play all 3 LB spots and the Nickel. Great to watch him grow with Bobby and how they work together.

Richard Sherman:

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• Everybody is disappointed he is not here. You expect to have him. Gotta go like he is not gonna be here, Dion is starting next week.

• Dion is confident, understands the scheme, "For what we are asking him to do, he'll be fine."

• Everybody understands Kam's stance in the locker-room.

• Nothing really changes with Kam not here defensively.

• I have texted with Kam off and on. Have no indication of when he might show up.

• Feels pretty good about LOB looking so different. Gave us chance to develop young guys and other guys.

• Feel great about the group. Think Tye Smith has developed and improved by leaps and bounds. Understands the technique and what is asked of him. Really hungry to learn. Working on his technique every day. Cary is a vet, understands our technique now.

• Doug Baldwin has matured, he is the leader of the receiver group. Has gotten a little less angry about it, more down to business. What makes him hard to cover is he is really quick at the LOS. Has his tricks at the top of the routes, deceptively fast. He is cagey, has trick and trades to get open. Is a pebble of sand less angry.

• What Sherman does doesn't change based on the other corner. Does what he is asked to do.

• Kris Richard's role with the DB's hasn't changed that much

• Jimmy Graham is gonna be big, gonna catch the football, and be ginger. Gonna be big time in 3rd downs and in the RZ. Is a lot faster and bigger than you think. "We're celebrating 'Ginger' Day. It's coming up here pretty soon".

• Always have a tough game against St. Louis. In the first game last season we didn't have a lot of our guys (Bobby, Okung, etc) and that made a big difference. In the second time around we had Bobby, our O-line together and were ready to go.

• Have to adjust to an indoor stadium, where the ball is gonna be and how their lighting is setup.

• Doesn't even think about if the Pats are cheating when playing them.

• Scouting report on Tyler Lockett: Very quick, very fast, vertically challenge. Elusive, dynamic , not indecisive, not scared. You can't simulate his speed, his change of direction.

• Got comfortable playing Sam but looks like Rams want to do the same thing with Foles.

• 3-3 last season, happens when you lost all-pro players. Had to replace those guys with rookies. Also a hard schedule. But the guys that played are better for it (Brock, etc).

• Earl looks like Earl Thomas the third. Looks great, fast, dynamic. Sure he is going to put his shoulder pads on someone today.

• Supporting Kam, continue to support him, don't hit a certain point where you turn on him.

• Richard Sherman on Seahawks being so penalized "It's very unique to see guys play that hard. And when you don't see it then you throw it (flags)"

• Serena Williams is the most accomplished athlete and the best athlete from Compton.

• Go Hawks!

My Thoughts:

• This Kam thing is weird. He will be the first player to hold out of regular season games under the new CBA (2011). I really don't understand what he thinks he can accomplish. I believe the reason for his holdout is occam's razor, which is to say he isn't hiding some injury or was holding out so his brother could get snaps or any of those conspiracy theories. I believe he quite simply wants more money, and is such a prideful and hard headed man that he has dug his feet in on principle and even in spite of smart business, is holding out.

• I am excited for Dion Bailey, I could be wrong and he could look average and make rookie mistakes and all that, but I am excited about him and think it is possible we have another guy that Pete has watched since high-school and developed personally in college and gets praised as a natural football player and a hard hitter...we could have a guy in Dion that is a starting quality SS. Am I saying he can do what Kam does? Be as good as Kam? I doubt it, but he can be unique in his own way, do what the scheme asks of him (be in the right spot, make the correct tackles, make some hard hits, etc).

• Besides all that, it was the basic stuff today; our ST should be better, Tyler and Frank look like steals of the draft who will make an impact right away, Earl is supposedly ready to go and ready to hit guys with that shoulder.