HEAD COACH LIAM COEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2025
(On if CB Greg Newsome II will play on Sunday) “That’s the plan right now is to be able to
continue to onboard him as much as we can through the next few days here, and it seems
like there is maybe some carryover from some of the terms he’s used in the past. And that’s
kind of what that part is for the next few days, is what can he correlate from where he has
been in the past, from Cleveland to here, things that may be similar that he can try to
connect the dots on. So, definitely feel like he has an opportunity to play though.”
(On what he likes about Newsome’s game) “Yeah, I think smart football player. I watched
him be put in a lot of difficult downs at times this year against some really quality
opponents and competed his tail off, had the forced fumble obviously last week on the
second drive of the game in run support, but feisty in defense in the pass, can stick his foot
in the ground and trigger, has done a nice job I think finding the football and I do believe
he’s got a lot of confidence as a player just in general and I appreciate that.”
(On how difficult it is to get a player acclimated so quickly) “Well, we did it with Baker
[Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield] a couple years back, which was obviously the crazy one
because it’s the quarterback position. So, I do think it’s doable. It’s just we have to be smart
about making sure we have the right calls for when he is in and making sure we’re doing
things that ultimately, he’s comfortable with that doesn’t just hinder our defense either.
Like, we’re not going to change our calls because Greg’s in the game. That’s not how it’ll go.
It’s just a matter of making sure we put him in a position to be successful as well.”
(On how they’ll utilize Newsome II in difficult situations) “They play a lot of man, they play a
ton of just man free coverage and just say like, dude, go win and go compete. And I think
they’ve played against some high-level receivers over the first five games or whatever it’s
been for those guys. So that does take a mentality and a mindset as a corner to go and do
and then especially in some of the red zone, third downs, those are tough. When you’re
going one-on-one with some of the better receivers in this league and competing at a high
level. I think that those are hard downs.”
(On if he addresses the team after a big trade) “I addressed it with a lot of the guys
individually and then I did talk to the team quickly after practice and it was just—Tyson [CB
Tyson Campbell], unbelievable human. I have a lot of respect for Tyson Campbell and
everybody else does in this building. So that wasn’t one of the cultural undertones and so
it’s hard. It’s hard to lose a guy that everybody likes, so it’s something you have to be aware
of as a coach I think and have some conversations with the guys so that they understand
fully some of the reasoning and but also, hey, we’ve got a job to go do, we have a game to go
win and we’re trying to do what we think is best for the team and for the organization and we
have a huge opportunity this weekend.”
(On what role Newsome II will play on the defense) “I mean, we haven’t gone that far. We’re
hoping he can just help us win on this Sunday coming up.”
(On what stands out about Seattle’s special teams units) “Yeah, they’re very well coached
in their special teams. They have very good effort and play. It’s just another great test for our
special teams unit that I think is just getting better and better each week. Heath [Special
Teams Coordinator Heath Farwell] and Luke [Assistant Special Teams Coach Luke
Thompson] have done a really nice job. But if you look at Horton [Seahawks WR Tory
Horton] and Young [WR Dareke Young] have both had huge returns on the year in their own
right in both phases. So anytime you’ve got a dynamic returner or a guy that has shown to
put it on tape to be able to create explosives in special teams, our phase has to take that
personally. And I think they have for the last few weeks taken some of that stuff personally
in terms of the matchups and going and winning that phase. We absolutely won that phase
last weekend or the other night and that was a huge reason why we won the game. So,
another great test for these guys to be disciplined in their lanes, especially in the kicking
game and spreading the net when we are in some of our punts and we’re going to have to be
really good on teams this week again.”
(On the offensive balance of Seattle) “You can tell they went out, obviously made a change
at the coordinator position this year. Got a lot of respect from [Seahawks Head Coach]
Mike Macdonald as a head coach and going out and making a decision that he wanted to
find a little bit more balance, physical nature up front running the football. That makes it
hard on any defense when you’re able to be balanced and create explosives in both the run
and the pass. I think you see so much of some San Fran in there, Rams, you just see a good
mix of good ball being done on their offensive side of the football and then they’ve got some
guys that can score from anywhere so that helps as well.”
(On S Rayuan Lane III’s value on special teams) “ That guy every week makes a play, makes
it difficult I think maybe on our opponent to have to make a decision to double him.
Because if you don’t there’s an opportunity that he could make the play. Relentless, he’s
strong, athletic, can run. Special teams makes a lot of sense to this guy, going out and
being a physical athlete and football player that he is, he flies around, he’s got an edge,
plays hard, plays tough, he brings energy to that group. I think there’s a lot of confidence for
Ray right now in terms of him in himself, but also the guys in that room for a young player to
kind of step up and be one of our better special teams players at the moment, I think is
pretty cool for that room.”
(On the strides he’s seen from DE Travon Walker in dealing with his wrist injury) “I think
getting him out there yesterday, just moving more full speed pace than we were really able
to do at times last week. I think that’s helpful being able to see him use it a little bit more
and although it’s just still awkward using your hand where you don’t have a hand that you
really use. So, he’s doing everything he can right now. That was really good to see yesterday.
Hopefully you see another step today with more and more comfort level of using it.
Definitely very hopeful.”
(On the scheduling of a short week and then going to London next week) “I think obviously,
it was quick turnaround postgame, so you didn’t get to try to enjoy that win very long. We
had to move on to the next opponent, but I think now it has settled a little bit more. When
we brought the players back in this week, it was just one kind of funky day and then we just
got back right onto our normal schedule, which I think has helped all of us just take a deep
breath after that game and now you’re in a normal rhythm and routine and I addressed that
the London deal with them earlier. I go guys, ‘I’m going to give you a couple tidbits on
information next week, and this is the last time we’re talking about London until we play
this game.’”
(On what information he has to give to QB Trevor Lawrence without overloading him)
“You’re more so just trying to talk a little bit situational or ‘Hey, thinking maybe four downs
here, just being smart with this decision’. If I am calling a pass play, two-minute type
situational stuff like, ‘Hey bud, remember we’ve got two timeouts,’ during that whole
sequence, or ‘Hey, we’ve got one timeout or we’ve got no timeouts, and this is where the
ball—hey, we’ve got to get the ball out of bounds here, can’t take a sack here.’Just little
notes like that that you’re trying to give any quarterback throughout but also trying not to
take away from him maybe not hearing something of the play call. So, that dialogue
continues to grow, and you ultimately find out throughout a game, well, I don’t have to say
much to him at all in these moments because we’ve already done this or we’ve gotten to
this place where we’ve had this conversation. That’s kind of how that dynamic works.”
(On what he has seen from OL Jonah Monheim) “Yeah, Jonah, all through training camp, I
think had gotten better and better, earned a lot of trust and respect around here in the
building. He has prepared like a pro all throughout this process and he stepped up the
other night in a couple moments where we needed him to. So, if he has to be the guy, if he’s
going to be the guy we’ve got a lot of trust that that’s going to be a good deal for us.”
(On who the backup center to Monheim would be if OL Robert Hainsey is out) “Yeah, we’ve
got a couple guys, Mekari [OL Patrick Mekari], [OL] Cole Van Lanen, couple guys that are
taking snaps, making sure they understand the calls and hear some of this stuff just so that
you maybe don’t have to make a few other changes, but Patrick or Cole will be that next
guy.”
(On if he uses information from the Jaguars’ game against Seahawks QB Sam Darnold least
season) “Yeah, I think anytime you have maybe a good plan or compete well against a
player, specific player or unit, you can always use that and draw back on some of that.
Okay, what did help affect him or from a DB standpoint or what would’ve helped me play
[Vikings WR] Justin Jefferson or these guys? You can always go back and draw on some of
those experiences, but very different schematically obviously on our side of the football
now than it was. So, a little bit different probably in how Campy [Defensive Coordinator
Anthony Campanile] and the defensive staff may look at it, but they’ll absolutely draw on
that game to look at maybe how were the ways that we were able to affect him, affect the
quarterback, affect the pocket, affect the receivers. You always want to have a little bit of
idea of what worked right and maybe something you can go back to the well on. But he’s
accurate, he’s playing off schedule a little bit more than he probably has in the past and
then the run game balance I think has really helped him.”
(On the challenges of facing Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba) “He’s really smooth, but I
think faster and more sudden than sometimes it would appear because he is a smooth
mover. He’s run by some guys, he’s gotten behind the defense a few times and then when
he does give him some one-on-one opportunities down the field, if there is some coverage
there, I think he’s done a nice job of making plays when the ball is in the air in some one-on-
one opportunities. They’ll also hand him jet sweeps and end-arounds and get him the ball
in space. So, I know Shane [Pass Game Coordinator Shane Waldron] was a part of
obviously drafting him at the time and always spoke very highly of him, his football
knowledge, his ability to play inside and outside, and then shoot, he’s really had a nice year
so far this year.”
(On DE Josh Hines-Allen’s son, Wesley, being an honorary captain for the game) “Yeah,
really a cool moment for Josh and for his family and for us because right when getting here,
that was one of the first—when I had a first conversation with my first player on this team, it
was Josh Hines-Allen, and within a two hour phone call conversation, he waited till the last
10 minutes to tell me about his son. And so that conversation stuck with me for a long time,
made a really strong first impression on the man, the father, the husband, the player. To see
the players, the other guys in that room, not just in that room on the whole team, support
him and his family throughout this process, really, really cool moment for us as a team and
as an organization.”
