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Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll took to the podium for a half-hour this afternoon and in addition to the big news that Percy Harvin will practice this week, shared some interesting tidbits about the team, the culture, and how they're preparing. Also of interest, Carroll noted that K.J. Wright has a shot at coming back to practice next week.
Pete Carroll 1st Round Bye Monday Press Conference
As a bonus, Seahawks' GM John Schneider joined Rich Gannon and Bruce Murray on Sirius Radio today and friend of the blog (F.O.T.B.) Glen Peer listened in to share some of what was said. Here's a paraphrased version of the interview - some of it is verbatim, but since Glen is jotting down notes as he listens, these aren't totally accurate quotes.
Note this interview took place before the Percy Harvin returning to practice news was broken this afternoon.
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December 30, 2013 - John Schneider iv on Sirius
Hosts - Rich Gannon, and Bruce Murray
On being home for the playoffs...
"I was kinda looking at it, 12, 13 home wins in a row, that's a lot.... so we're kind of glad we got that loss out of the way. Arizona is a playing great now."
On the week off...
"You can beat yourself up over how to handle it, but Pete's done a great job of managing expectations. Expectations were high throughout the summer, and so I'm very confident in our coaching stand and Coach Carroll in particular in managing the team and those expectations."
On Seattle's home-field advantage...
"This is rare place when you talking about having to come in here and play, the home field is a real advantage... it's intense here"
On Russell Wilson's 2nd year...
"The way he takes care of the ball, he'll take a sack and he's just so smart" ~ insinuating it's better to take a sack or throw away than put the ball in trouble.
"I think some people caught up to the read option this year, so his progression to being a pocket QB and obviously his ability to make plays with his feet (is underrated). He's just so smart."
On Wilson being a leader...
"That's probably the one thing that stands out the most...you're not going to out work him, that's the number one step in leadership for me. He had the team last year based just on performance, and then this offseason he came in and just worked, and the guys on the team look at him and he's brought guys along with him... Earl Thomas is a guy who's picked up his play and leadership and I think Earl would tell you Russell has a lot to do with that."
On the Front Office schedule recently and going forward on the bye week...
"We had our Pro Scouts out at a bunch of games this past week. We'll be watching a few teams this week and then getting guys healthy, and prepared for a week from now."
On Percy Harvin...
"It's a unique situation because it's a hip. It's a 6-year contract so we want to be careful how we handle him. There's good days for him, and there are days that aren't good for him... he's only 26 years old, and the future is bright for him. We just have to be smart, he's so explosive and unique... we don't want this to be anything that effects his career."
Biggest defense improvement...
"Our pass rush, Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett have been great...Clint McDonald came back and has had a great year. As a group they all have so much pride, they challenge themselves every day in practice..."
"When we prepared for the Draft, Earl came out everyone talked about how he practiced and it's so real - he raises the level of competition of everyone each week. I talked with Mike McCarthy at the pro bowl and he couldn't believe the way he (Earl) was practicing."
How satisfied JS is with the WRs & TEs in absence of Harvin missing the season...
"We have great regard for all our guys, and quite frankly the Percy Harvin deal was one that came to us. We were not involved with unrestricted wide receivers in Free Agency, and it was a deal we couldn't walk away from. We never thought that our guys couldn't play, we think Doug, Kearse and Golden are great players."
