Seahawks vs. Vikings: Pete Carroll Monday press conference notes

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll spoke to the media Monday afternoon. I took notes.

Coach Carroll:

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• Saw some really exciting things happen during the game. Big deal we could travel and play a big team and play like that. Good sign for us. The players really know what is expected of them as we prepare for these upcoming weeks. Really excited about the guys that jumped in and filled in, guys upfront like Alvin Bailey and Mark Glowinski (who did a really nice job) and Chase Coffman. Cool to see Will Tukuafu, Coffman and Bryce Brown scored, wouldn't think they'd be on the stat sheet as the scorers.

• Did we need momentum? Well we want it if you can get it. Was fun to finish football like that. Knew in the 4th quarter we were trying to protect the score record, and we were able to do so with backups in. Saw the starters all rooting for them. Came out pretty healthy, Jeremy Lane -- don't know how that is going to go but he doesn't feel too bad today. Got guys on the mend that we will find out later in the week but have an optimistic outlook.

• Marshawn Lynch is in the program and ready to go. Gonna practice him on Wednesday and see how he looks. Gotta translate his training into him playing football. Expect that he can handle it.

• Hope he will play Sunday, we'll see what happens.

• We've been around Marshawn for such a long time that we can recognize his movement. All we really wanna see. See him get in and out of his breaks like we know he should and see him handle the workload.

• There has been such an upswing in our offensive production and the style of our production, if you look at the 1st half vs the 2nd half our numbers have dramatically changed (3rd downs, red zone, passing game efficient) but don't think that will be a factor at all in regards to getting Marshawn back and our offense changing. We ran the ball 37 times yesterday, that is the way we like to do it. We never want it to go on the other side of the scale like it did against the Rams. Not worried about it at all. Realistic Marshawn can come back and get 20 carries on Sunday. Would be similar to his first game of the year, no different expectations than that. Have seen C-Mike do such nice job and so he is ready to go, he ran the ball hard and was very effective, Brown too. We are in a good position with those guys too.

• Thinks it has been a process for C-Mike. Think he is more humble than he was. Think he was trying to be flashy and all that before. Feels like he has matured, is fitting in, which makes him a great candidate to play for us. He has produced when he's had his chances and plays hard and works hard in preparation, his concern for the football, nothing but the highest of expectations. Classic example if you keep hoping and give guys chances sometimes they come right through for you. Only a few games but strong indicators he is ready to take advantage of this opportunity. Sometimes it is a strange course you gotta go to get here, but it has worked out.

• Marshawn feels good, that is why he is back. He wouldn't be here if he felt like he couldn't go. He is ready to rock. Pete really thinks it is going to be just fine.

• Couple of the big takeaways from the Cards game are that Mark Glowinski and Chase Coffman can play for us. We hadn't seen that in real life football here. To see that, that is a big boost. Whether they have to play as much or whatever, that is going to help our football team going forward. Kelcie McCray is a fantastic example of that, he went from leading tackler on ST to starting SS and now if we can get Kam Chancellor back, he can go back to helping contribute on ST in a big way but if needed can help us wherever too. Frank Clark jumped off the film having a nice game again. We might get 4-5 guys back, having those backups get quality play is good. If we get those guys back it will be a boost.

• Glowinski was physical, pass protected very well, did a really nice job cutting off and making some blocks. He showed up against one of the best field goal block teams we have ever faced (Cambell and those guys). He stood his ground and showed how physical he was. Know he is a tough guy but wanted to see if he would be settled down and play and he had no problem doing that.

• Talked to Glow about getting his first start and being able to handle it and treat it right. He came through just like he had hoped. It was no big deal to him. He handled it beautifully. When Pete was saying those things Mark was saying "No, I got it, I'm okay". He handled it really well.

• Mark has battled with Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril and Brandon Mebane, head to head for months. Just gotta believe you can play in a real game and keep your mind right.

• Pete doesn't worry about young guys making mistakes when starting them early. Knows the benefits he has seen from getting them reps early are worth it. But you need to feed them into the right situations where they are setup for success and feed them along, don't just throw them out in all situations. Russell in his rookie year was controlled so he wouldn't have a big bad disappointing game that negatively affected him (discourage him), little did we know you can't do that to Russell. There is a design to it, you gotta watch it, in have seen from the past we have put in players too soon and they can't handle it and they blow up and they end up not having the first year they could have had. You have to do it properly and for the most part we are good at doing that.

• Found out some stuff we had to find out with the O-line. Needed to help them more sooner. Thought they'd move along quicker. Didn't adjust soon enough. In game 3-4 we had the opportunity and didn't, and we ended up making the change at the bye-week because it was drastic. Overshot it a little bit on that one.

• On guys that stood out on ST: Cassius Marsh had two great ST tackle plays. Mike Morgan, Derrick Coleman, Brock Coyle, and Richard Sherman all had great games on ST. Sherman had one of the most outstanding games. DeShawn Shead did well at the spot too. The blocking and the effort and the belief Tyler Lockett would finish the plays and get his job done lead guys to make really good decisions and not make penalty mistakes.

• Awesome, rarely do you see guys do what Sherman does on ST, just like Earl Thomas covering kick-offs during the game. Spectacular job 1-on-1 blocking the gunner by Sherman yesterday.

• Really exciting that we set a record for yards-per-game and then broke it this year. Think people are a million miles off with the criticism of the coaches this season. It is worth noting, we could not do what we are doing with the defensive numbers if the offense didn't do what we did, with the kicking game (Jon Ryan shoutout), taking care of the football, running the football (eating the clock), it is all connected. To get those results on a consistent basis is everyone.

• Thinks it's important to not emotionally get so connected to the event, that you are embarrassed by it that that is all you can dwell on and all (loss to Rams). Have to look at the big picture and see that was an outlier. Hard thing to control, that is what sports teaches us. It is about the ability to get back, not just after a game but during a game. The discipline to go back to what you know, not mess with what happened. Control what you can control, the next play. It is the same mechanism you deal with when you are doing really well, when you play great like yesterday how do you let that effect you?

• Have the road schedule nailed, we know how to do it, don't need to change anything about how we practice having the upcoming 10 AM game. We practiced the entire camp at 10 AM, everyday. Not a big deal for us. Do need to get waked up, waked up, get right, but that is what we do. Realizes he said "waked up."

• There was a time, the first Pete ever coached at the Jets they played Buffalo. Happen to win that game (they were really good). Game was over, Pete went back to the stadium and was hanging out, reveling in the moment. On their wall of the Buffalo stadium they had their championships from when "Marv" was there. That is the moment it hit Pete that to be really good at something is not to get there one time, to be really good at something is to do it over and over and over and over again. To prove you are who you are and what you are worth, to prove that with changes you can still be great. That is why the record you get in one year and you get the ring and that stuff, that is fun. But the great challenge is to get back the next year and again and again. A record like we set (4th year best scoring D) with so the changes in personnel and coaches is a really cool accomplishment. But that just happened, it's over, nothing you can do about it. But that is the source of inspiration for Pete and teaching that to others.

• Had to get through last year, that was the biggest challenge this season. No question the Super Bowl loss had the biggest impact. A lot of stuff happened in this last off-season had an impact. Had to let the players individually get through it. Also like the year before with the parade and all the glory from winning and all that. That stuff was already done and over with, every season it is something, personnel loss or coaches or players leave. You have to deal with them. Microcosm of life. Look at the history of the teams the year after they win the Super Bowl, how well are they doing the next year? Proud to say we are still fighting. Here we go again. We'll see what happens.

• The coaches did fine after Superbowl 49, the loss was harder on the players, but because it was hard on them it was hard on us. But look at us now, great group, they are flying, can't wait to get to work and playing for one another and in great fashion. Ready for playoff time.

• Having played the Vikings will be a factor if we let it, and that doesn't mean it will be a good factor.

• Have to use the tape from the Vikings game a few weeks ago. Too much information, match-ups and such to not use it. Really cool preparation. Glad we played them so you can feel like you can dig into a plan.

• It is a good knowing (that the players have beaten the Vikings in that way). We are familiar and that is good.

• J.R. Sweezy and Luke Willson have seemingly made progress in the concussion protocol. The sign is they are on track to play. Will be evaluated on Wednesday.

• Were trying to own this division to play at home. But weeks back you could see the road playoff path coming so they set sights to play successfully on the road. Know what it is like to get to the Super Bowl with a bye and two games, this is more challenging with no bye and three games. We are excited.

• The Vikings get some really good guys back and some guys healthier than they were. They will be better. Played really good in the game Sunday.

My Thoughts:

• I'll be brief: Man I am pumped for C-Mike, Coffman, Glowinski and so happy about our acquisition of McCray. I would bet a pretty chunk of change CMike and Coffman will be on the roster in 2016 as our RB2 and TE3 (Coop to P-Squad). I also think Glowinski will start next year, whether that is at LG (upgrade over Britt, move Britt to backup OT/OG) or at RG (who knows maybe we let Sweezy walk and start Glow there). And McCray, what a godsend, not only has the D looked fantastic with him replacing Kam as a backup but if Kam's money complaints cause us to get rid of him we know for a fact we have a quality starting SS on our roster, and the drop in quality of play isn't big like it was when Dion Bailey was in weeks one and two.

• Marshawn is back, while I don't think we will need him this week it is the playoffs so I really hope he is ready to bring it and we go on this playoff run with him. It's weird how weird it will be to look behind Russ and see Beast Mode. It feels like years since I saw his body with his dreads on the field.