PETE CARROLL: Hey, everybody. Well, there's a lot going on. Big week for us with the big trip going across the country and all against a team that we've seen play well in three games really and played really good teams. Lost to New England, lost to Buffalo in a shootout and then came back and played great last week against Jacksonville.
It's a really nice job that Brian is doing with these guys, turning this thing this fast, and you can see them playing sharp and playing well and they're smart, and it's a good club. So it's a good challenge for us.
Again, we have to manage the trip and do a good job with that. It's not unfamiliar to us, but it's always a challenge.
We've got some guys -- there's some questions about guys with injuries and things like that and who's going to come back we're going to manage this week in hopefully the best order to give these guys the best chance to bounce and recover and we're expecting they'll be okay but there will be some question marks for you.
It's a big week, too, in the COVID thing with the first real challenge in Tennessee, translates to Minnesota and potentially translates to Pittsburgh and all that, so there's a lot going on here, and I'm sure the whole league is on alert, as we are, too, just trying to prepare and be ready to minimize the impact if something does happen. We've been talking about it all year, and it just gets real when it happens eventually.
We continue to rock along with our guys still testing negatively and doing a great job. But here we go again.
It's just an ongoing emphasis for us and we just really can't get away from it, and we don't plan to. We just try to win each day. It's interesting.
I didn't even mention the debates, so...
Q. Every quarterback in the league presents a unique challenge. What kind of unique challenge does a guy like Fitzpatrick who's been around for a lot of years --
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, Ryan has been around for a lot of years. It's really something to watch him play right now. He is on it. This is as good as he's ever looked to me. He looks like he's playing on house money. He's just going for it all phases, all aspects of his play. He's running well, he's challenging the line of scrimmage, trying to make 1st downs. It's him that got knocked off a bit ago and he got up laughing and smiling and all fired up, making great throws. His receivers are doing a fantastic job. Very gutsy. Just true veteran savvy working for him.
It looks like, I don't know if this is what it's like on their end, but it looks like everything kind of revolves around his play. He knows how to manage the game, and it's really a sight to see. There's not many guys this late in their career that can function at such a high level. We're going to get challenged by him.
Q. You've talked about stopping those long plays. I'm wondering do you coach it differently or talk about it differently this week to try to get different results?
PETE CARROLL: Well, we have to quit making the errors that come from the newness and the guys not being out there together. It's been sloppy at times. The communication has not been as effective as it needs to be. We're trying and we're working at it and the principles are there and all that, but we've had a few breakdowns that we give a regular routine play access to the end zone. It's just wrong.
Getting beat over the top is a different story but when the plays come across the field and we're in zone and they make a touchdowns, that's not supposed to ever happen. We've got to try to be better, try to recapture the emphasis of keeping the ball in front of us, and with a lot of intent here, and it's really important. We've got to get this done. We've got to slow guys down.
Q. Continuing off what you just said, is it a bit surprising that those mistakes are happening given the amount of veterans you have in your back seven?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, yeah, but we have been mixing safeties and mixing guys in and out a little bit more than we would like, and we haven't responded as well as we need to to be really sharp and clean. It's just a challenge for us.
Sometimes we look like we haven't been practicing a whole lot on the back end. We have been. So we just have to do better.
I really can't imagine that we're not going to do this a whole lot better here in the coming weeks.
Q. Tyler and Russell obviously connected nine more times, I think they're up to 20 some this year. As you've coached both those guys over the years, how have you seen that connection between them grow to where Russ is so comfortable going 3rd downs, big plays, things like that?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, well, they've been doing it for a long time. The last three years have been great years for those two guys so this is just an extension of it. Three years ago I think they had a perfect rating so how can you do any better than that? So it's just a matter of continuing to work together and find the openings and the spacing. The magic really happens after the play breaks down. The execution downfield on time on rhythm, and that's one thing, but it's the other stuff that makes Tyler such an extraordinary player and separates him from anybody.
And then of course the fact that Russ -- I go back and I've said this before, I think, to you guys. They're both such extraordinary natural athletes. They respond to situations similarly. Tyler can do anything, play anything, shoot the hoops, he can do anything, and Russ is the same way. All of that athleticism and natural sense and all that, it just seems to work together and they see things the seem often, and so they respond together often. It's just a magic that's really special and fun to see.
Q. I know you couldn't answer this after the game because you hadn't seen the film, but I have curious what your overall impression of Alton Robinson's debut as a run defender rushing the passer, et cetera?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, he had a good day. He played really hard. He wasn't hesitant at all. He worked the edge well. In the run game, chase off the backside was good, his effort downfield getting in on some hits, the big pressure that he had and the sack. He did really well. We're really excited that he showed up in his first real opportunity.
Q. You mentioned the plays where you got beat over the top. Is there a specific teaching emphasis on those?
PETE CARROLL: Yes. Yes. I don't know how many times I can answer the question. Yes. There is. We're working on it really hard. It's a terrible part of your game when you can't stop the deep ball, so we're on it.
Q. Jamal Adams, specifically on injuries, any update on him and his availability this week at all?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, he's pretty sore. Just talked to him a little while ago. He's pretty sore right now. We just keep going day-to-day and see what happens. Massive treatments to try to accelerate the return and all that, and he's doing like some of our guys do -- I wouldn't put anything past him that he couldn't pull it off. At this point he's working really hard at it and we'll see what happens. We don't know enough to tell you about the weekend at this time.
Q. Pete, how have Carson, Pocic and Damien kind of bounced back for you?
PETE CARROLL: All three of those guys were at the walk-through today, were out there and participated in the full walk-through. Chris is really sounding positive. Damien looked pretty good and Pocic was all right. Might get a real good turn from those three guys.
Q. What's the latest with Jordyn Brooks and his knee?
PETE CARROLL: He's limping a little bit today. He's pretty sore. It's going to be a real challenge for him to make it back as stiff as he is right now. He got whacked pretty good. We'll have to wait and see, though.
Q. You mentioned the Tennessee situation; what is your message or did you even need to give a message to your team after they see what's going on?
PETE CARROLL: No, we went all over it again, gave them a COVID update so that they would know what happened and took place. Didn't talk specifically about what happened there, but the fact that it did happen, and then it takes one person, one person outside of the bubble can affect all of this.
It's just a reminder, we need these reminders. We can't like open up the restaurants and stuff. We can't do that. We've got to stay with it and just stay after it and be diligent, and so the messaging from the top and the demonstration of the men and how we operate from all of our coaches and the people that lead the guys and the leadership on the team, everybody has to be participating. This is an ongoing, full-on onslaught for the next 13, 14 weeks, whatever the heck it is. It's months of this we have to do it.
But we can't fall prey to human nature and take the easy way out. We can't do that. We have to be stronger about it and more diligent and just not let up. It's a really relentless pursuit we're in to try to maintain the edge and hold on to it as long as we can.
Q. Just curious what you see from Miami's run game and Myles Gaskin.
PETE CARROLL: Myles is playing really good. He's pushed himself right to the front. He's the lead ball carrier. He's got twice as many carries as the next guy because of the way he plays. He's their leading receiver at 15, 16 catches, something like that. He's playing really good football. He's tough, creative with the ball in his hands, makes special plays. You can see why they've done a great job. You just let the best guy out there go and he fits their offense and their style, and he's that right now. It's kind of fun that he's a UW guy and all that, so we'll see if we can get him on the ground.
Q. Pete, you're going into details again about renewing the call about COVID protocols and safety. How much for your coaching staff has this been a balancing act between coaching getting ready for games and yet still having to maintain this part of it? Has it been difficult?
PETE CARROLL: Well, you know, really my mind has been on this for so long, for so many months, well before we ever got back here, that this just seems like a continuation of the new. This is the way we operate, and this is the way we function. I think it'll be more of a reaction when it's over, if it is some day down the road here, and we take a different turn.
I've just been so actively involved with every aspect of everything we can think of for so long that it's just part of it. It doesn't seem like it's detracted from our work. We've found spaces between the spaces to figure it out and all of that, and so -- I'm not griping about it. If I'm complaining about it, I'm kicking my lip around about it, how are these guys going to be. I've just been on the whole time and plan to be on until it's over. You're going to have to shake me because we're tuned in. It's the only way I think we can be. This is really -- the messaging just has to be so consistent and so strong and just like I said, relentless.
Q. Are you holding your breath, or is it beyond that? It's up to the guys and they have to do what they have to do?
PETE CARROLL: No, no. There's a -- every day, every night I get -- now it's coming in at about 12:30 at night when we get the word what the past day just showed testing wise. It used to be about 4:00 in the morning, and I haven't missed one yet. You know, it's a day-to-day haul. I'm not even complaining about it, it just is what it is. We're going to have a great attitude about it. I think attitude is a huge percentage of this, and that's why leadership is so important and direction and system is so important.
Let's just take a sidebar for a second. Think if the whole country could have approached it like the NBA and Major League Baseball and football. I don't know how everybody else approached it, but if you had approached it like this, we'd be in a much different state. There's just been a handful of occurrences through the thousands and thousands and thousands of tests that have taken place.
So there's a way to handle this. It ain't fun, it's not what you want, but you can do it, and it just takes a real diligent mentality to get it done.
Q. As you mentioned the debates, last night President Trump declined to renounce white supremacy and things are inflamed anew. Have you thought about or have you addressed the team yet or will you address the team about this?
PETE CARROLL: No, we're not addressing about particular issues from any of the political guys. We're not doing that. I mean, guys have to be able to think for themselves and I don't want to be in any way shading their mentality in any direction. But we made reference to the debate. We showed them -- for the guys that maybe didn't catch it last night, just kind of what it looked like so they would have a sense for whatever that was.
I want our guys always to know what's going on and always to be up on what's happening as best we can in whatever depth we can handle. So we did address it, that it took place, and maybe there will be more discourse. Some of the guys have talked about it some and some of the instances and the things that took place and that were said and things like that. We didn't address any of the specific issues.
Q. There's a lot of numbers that show how much success Russell has had over his career on deep balls, and he's obviously having the same success this year. What's been your view of that both over his career and this season so far?
PETE CARROLL: My view has been from over here on the side looking at it and watching it frigging fly and go right to guys. He's amazing. There's something -- one of the real aspects of the game that has always captured America and captured fans is that ball flying so far in the air and it comes down to some guy flying down the sidelines who makes a play on it. Russell is just a master at it. I don't think he's any better at it than he used to be. He's always been great at it. This has just been a stat for him that he's owned for years. Great awareness and sense and spatial savvy and all of that to create it, and then obviously the great physicals has made it just a spectacle when he plays.
You know, I've had as much fun watching it as you guys. I hope there's a bunch more.
Q. And the role that the pass protection has played in that this year?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, the pass protection has been better. We really have protected better. Russell has got his base underneath him probably the best he's had that I can remember. There's a couple runs when we were really on it. I don't know if it was 2015 or something like that when he was just killing it, he and Doug, when the protection really matched the opportunities, and he was killing it then and had a remarkable run.
This is a great start for us and we have a long ways to go to get better, and to coordinate all of the things that it takes to make sure that it functions for him. We're off to a really good start. What I've been pleased is that some backup guys have had a chance to get in and it hasn't changed, so Mike and BC are doing a great job with these guys and they're making sure that they're where they need to be and with conviction and power and strength and all the things, and we're going to get better. I think we're going to continue to improve.
Q. I know you brought Damarious Randall on to the practice squad today. What did you like about him and bringing him into the process right now, and has Lano bounced back from his back issue from Sunday, as well?
PETE CARROLL: Lano has not fully bounced back, but he's looking towards playing this week. We'll see if he can make it through the week. Damarious is a guy we saw through the process at Arizona State back in the draft times, evaluation. We thought he was a really, really good athlete and all-around ball player and has great speed. He's had a solid playing career. The film that you watch of him is really strong. He makes a lot of plays and covers a lot of ground, makes a lot of tackles. Again, he runs 4.3 something so he has a great range back there.
So for us to be able to pick him up under these circumstances with guys being banged up and there's some uncertainty here, that's a great job by John to figure that out and how to get him here and all that. He looked good in workouts and we'll see what happens as our needs present themselves this weekend.
Q. What's the latest with Quinton and his knee?
PETE CARROLL: I just talked to Q. He's holding on to a good thought that he can get back this week, and we'll see what happens. He's improving in all of that. We won't know, he's not going to do anything today, for the next couple days, so we'll just wait all the way to the weekend to see where he is. So we'll be ready to play without him, but we're also looking forward to seeing if he can make it.
Q. How is Neiko doing?
PETE CARROLL: Neiko is trying to play this week. He's going to try to go for it. We'll see how he's doing. We've got to buy as much time as possible with the groin thing. So we'll see how he goes.
Q. You see Randall as a safety or a corner?
PETE CARROLL: Safety. He's played corner in the past and he always felt like he was a safety. Felt like he's been at his best in his history -- I see it that way, too, watching the film and all that. He was so fast everybody wanted to try him at corner, that was the thought, but he's most at home playing on the back end.
Q. You mentioned the pass protection. I was curious, Ethan Pocic, what's the biggest thing you've seen out of him these three games? Obviously going back to center; I know you've said in the past that center maybe was kind of the position you felt he was most comfortable with coming out of college?
PETE CARROLL: Yes. Remember how versatile he was because he started at all three positions in college. But he played the most of his time there and looked the best there.
He's been really consistent. He's made his calls, he's held up his end of it. He's been solid in the running game, communication has been good. He's really off to a really good start. I'm really fired up for him and for us. It was a big draft pick a while ago, and for him to come through now and start as a starter and playing well, it's a really good thing for us. I'm really happy for him, too.
Q. What's holding Tre back? Is it maybe the mental side of things? It feels like there's times he's in great position but doesn't trust his technique when the ball arrives?
PETE CARROLL: I think he's just battling, he's getting some hard attempts, and he'll come through. He's been around the ball a lot. Unfortunately crazy play that he falls to go catch the ball and it bounces off the shoulder pad and it bounces off and they catch it. It's kind of a lousy situation. But he's a tough competitor and he's battling and he's ready to go. I think not knowing whether he was playing, that always is harder on a guy. He's been a starter for a couple years and we let Quinton get a couple starts to show us what he can do, and that doesn't always help you play better. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. But now that he's back and battling, I think he's going to turn a good corner here and play really sharp. No pun on the turn the corner thing. Nobody got it anyway.
DraftScripts by ASAP Sports
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports