“Really pleased to come this way and get a win. Finish off the first quarter of the season as we have. So that’s a good accomplishment for us. Really fired up about that. Probably most pleased after it’s all over everybody got out of there pretty fit and all that. We didn’t get anybody banged up today
which is really good and we get to move our way into the next game with everybody at least that at was playing today. That’s a good thing. I thought that it was a game we played off each other really well. We got turnovers, we got turnovers and we scored touchdowns. The two-man work by the
offense was beautiful and on-side catch by Jake (Hollister), a great play to make. It looked like Willie Mays making that catch right there. It’s a really good solid football game and really pleased to get the win and get the heck out of here.”
(Coach the way your defense kept more stuff in front of them this game, not giving up big plays, kept them out of the end zone until the end of the game, did you see some progress there?) – “Yeah. We definitely did. We really kept them in front of us all day long and made them earn their way down. I don’t think they had a touchdown today. We must have been pretty good in the red zone, keeping them out of the end zone. We really played well backed up and got the job done other than the one time when (Ryan Fitzpatrick) scrambled in. That’s an improvement. We
played some new guys that came through and did a nice job for us. Cody (Barton) played today for the first time and got a full start for himself for the first time and guys held up well.”
(What does it say about RB Chris Carson to come back from that grueling looking knee injury last week and to also get knocked out of this game in the middle of a contract year, and just keep coming back and fighting for this football team?) – “Everything was great on that question until you get to the contract year. I’m sure that makes a difference for you. Chris is a stud football player and the man never backed down from anything. He told us when we got back on Wednesday, he said, “I think I’m okay. I’m going to make it.” We took it easy on him the first couple days and got him through the week, and he looked great. It really helped us because Carlos (Hyde) couldn’t go with a sore shoulder, and Chris ran really well today. It was 80 yards worth of really good running.
He’s such a tough football player and a great competitor that that’s not a surprise to us that he would bounce back and get back up. He took a hell of a shot and got back up and got right after it again. So he’s a terrific football player.”
(It looked like you guys scaled back the pressure a little bit this week with S Jamal Adams not being there. How did you see that play out with the way you wanted to work the back end as well, and the way you guys kind of performed across the board with that?) – “Yeah, this was just
this game and this plan and what we needed to do to in keep them in front of us and all of that, and it worked out fine. When you have Jamal on your team, he is such an extraordinary football player that you have to use his talents. And so just because (indiscernible) gets in that position, doesn’t
mean it’s going to happen. We just adjusted a little bit today. I thought we did a nice job. I thought (Defensive Coordinator) Ken (Norton Jr.) did a really good job of putting it together so we could play a good winning football game.”
(Can you describe what happened to RB Chris Carson when he got knocked down and went into the injury tent and came back out? It looked like he may have had a…) – “He was kind of getting over a guy and a guy really hit him really flush, hit him right in the chest, and it was just a hell of a hit. They didn’t know whether he got his head hit or not, and so they went to check that out and that was all. It was a precautionary and he was okay. Both guys that went to the tent were released to come back to the game.”
(The two plays CB Shaquill Griffin given made in the fourth quarter, the one in the end zone breaking up the pass and then the interception, that’s the aggressiveness you’ve been looking for from the secondary, no?) – “Yeah. He’s been playing like that all along. He had a couple of
plays in the course of the first four games that weren’t – but he’s been playing really hard and aggressive and making his plays and going for the football and all that. That was a gorgeous play down there behind the goal line, and he’s playing good ball now. He’s doing a really good job. Two
picks back to back? Come on.”
(What did you see on that drive late in the first half when you guys kept the foot on the gas pedal and got that touchdown right before the end of the half? And what did you think of QB Russell Wilson’s day overall?) – “That was a really good job by the offensive coaches wanting to go for it with 24 seconds left and 80 yards away or something like that. They were sold that let’s go give our guys a shot. Had a couple timeouts there; and has to happen in that drive, you have to hit something, and Russ found David (Moore) up the side. It was a great play. He almost scored on it. I really loved the opportunity we had the second, right there at the end of the half, to get the plays we needed to get a touchdown. Fantastic. We work on that stuff a lot, and it’s exactly the situations that we’d like to feel really comfortable in, and composed and Russ did it beautifully and finished up with the ball to (Travis) Homer. Also, I thought Russ played really good today. We dropped a couple of balls for whatever reason. I don’t know why the balls got away from us. D.K. (Metcalf) got one blasted out, and I think Tyler (Lockett) might have had one that he should have caught. It seemed like there was a couple, I don’t know. But I thought Russ played great. He handled the drive going
down in there when the headset went out, he took the drive down and scored a touchdown, did a great job controlling the club there. He’s just playing great football.”
(What do you make of LB K.J. Wright’s day? I know he’s probably going to be bummed with himself that he didn’t come away with an interception; but he blew up a couple of screens, got his hands on a bunch of football, seemed like he was everywhere.) – “Again, he had a really good game. He really had two picks in his hands, you know. That’s what will kill him because he knew he had the ball a couple times. But he’s playing really good football. He shows you what instinct and savvy is all about. It’s just remarkable and obvious that he’s making plays on the other
side of the field because he sees it happening, and he’s making plays way in the back field on the screens and things, and it’s really hard to get him on any of that stuff. That’s experience, and he’s just a great ball player.”
(I wanted to talk about the first quarter of the season here. Can you talk about the rapport between QB Russell Wilson and WR D.K. Metcalf and why that has been so successful right now?) – “Well, yeah, first off, to get off 4-0, it’s a great start for us and we’re thrilled about that; as good as we could have done, and we still have a lot of good football to get better at. We all know that, and the players know that, and we’re still working on improving and getting our game cleaner. About that, one of the things that’s been really rock solid has been special teams. You just haven’t seen a play there that hasn’t been where it’s supposed to be, how it’s supposed to be played or handled, kicked deep, make our kicks and all of that stuff. It’s been a fantastic start. It’s a real steady part of our game right now. It’s really helping us stay consistent. That’s important coming out of the first quarter. Russ has played spectacular. His work with D.K. really is a result of last season’s experience, but then going into the summertime knowing – both of them knowing – what the potential was there for this relationship, and they went for it. I think D.K. lived with Russ for a month in the summertime. They kept sending us videos of them throwing and stuff like that what they were doing, and it just made so much sense to see them come back and just be on point because they worked so hard at it. So D.K. is an incredible football player, and so is Russell, and you put them together with Tyler, another get football player, and stuff just happens. You know, stuff happens.
And it’s because they’re really good, and I think Schotty (Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer) is doing a great job of utilizing our guys, and we’re real pleased with what’s happening so far.”
