PETE CARROLL: Well, we have this opportunity coming up here against the Vikings before bye time comes. We're looking forward to finding the consistency that's got us to where we are just winning four games, and we're going to try to do it again. There's a lot of areas, I think I said to you guys earlier, that we can improve on, and we have to keep stressing getting better at every phase of things. That's really what's at hand right now, just keep improving and try to play real consistent, good football, and if we take care of the ball, then we have a pretty good chance of winning.
The Vikings have had a very difficult schedule. They've played really good clubs and they played really good last week. They've got great scheme. Coach Zimmer does a terrific job. Just the whole football team has a style about them. They run the football hard and tough, they play good defense, they're good on teams, and they've been really explosive in the passing game with receivers that are terrific.
So we've got a real challenge for us. They know us, we know them. There's a lot of commonality in that, and so hopefully we can put together another good week and come out firing here back home playing in the northwest. It's good to be home, good to not have to take that trip that we keep making across the country.
Q. We saw you signed Snacks Harrison and Jonathan Bullard today. What is the plan with Snacks, and being on the practice squad for now, and how does Jonathan Bullard fit into things, as well?
PETE CARROLL: Well, both guys we're hoping are going to help us. Jonathan you probably don't know as much about. We have some background with him. Clint coached him a while back, and so we have some inside scoop on him where he fits into the rotation, and with Snacks, he's been a real force in the league, and he's got a real special style and he's so big and so strong and stout in the middle. This opportunity to get him now and to get him on the practice squad is to get him some chance to work and get ready, learn what we're doing and see where he can fit in as soon as possible.
If you've noticed we've been able to use players off our practice squad that can be playing in our games and they've been part of it. It's an expanded roster in the new format, and we're trying to take full advantage of that and make the most of it.
Whenever you can get a guy -- Damon comes to us, he's a player that's got big character in the locker room, his attitude and personality that he shows to the team is really special, so whenever we can do that we're trying to get better, so hopefully he'll be able to add. Right now we just want him to get to work and get going with us.
Q. Dalvin Cook leads the NFL not only in yards but also in broken tackles. What is it about his style of play that has him leading in that category?
PETE CARROLL: He's really explosive. He's got great speed. He's not the fastest running back in the league but he plays like it. He's such a quick accelerator that the whole field is available to him on any play. He can wind up play starts wide to the right all the way going out the back door. He's done that multiple times and if he's running an inside play it could wind up being an outside play in either direction. He's very creative and very explosive. Obviously looks like he's in great shape and really fit and ready to handle it. And they can throw the ball to him, and he's really dangerous in the open field. He's an excellent football player.
They create the balance that an offense can have by having him in the backfield. It's a real good part of their game. It's really helping their play action game, too.
Q. You've been very forthcoming about the discipline that's necessary to play during a pandemic. I'm just curious seeing what's coming out of Tennessee now with some of the players holding their own practice when they were not supposed to be doing so, do you think that forfeiting games should be on the table or losing draft picks? What do you think is the appropriate response to try to punish a team when stuff like that is going on right now?
PETE CARROLL: Well, that's really league business. I don't -- the league doesn't want teams to find a way to get ahead of another team, and they're trying to keep the competitive playing level equal. And so if guys aren't -- if teams aren't doing what they're supposed to do, then they've got to do something. I don't know what's appropriate right now. We're in kind of new territory right here. Kind of sometimes you get fined and you've got to pay it and sometimes you get docked something and you've got to give it up.
I don't have a good thought for how you would balance that out or where you should go. It's really not my discussion, you know. But we're going to try and do everything right so we don't have to even face that issue, of course, but the league -- you've got to expect the league to take action. They're trying to keep a level playing field, and that's really a big issue for the league. That's how they're going to go about it, then that's how they're doing it.
Q. You just mentioned the bigger practice squad, being able to move guys around. I know this all came about because of the unusual circumstances of this year, but do you like this? Would you like to see more flexibility to have more guys and move --
PETE CARROLL: Oh, yeah. I think this is great. It's great for a lot of reasons. When you're practicing -- if you can imagine being on a football team and you're on a practice squad and you know you can't play as opposed to now you're practicing and you've got a chance that you could be playing in this game, and all 16 guys have a shot. It's just better. It's just a better way. I don't know what'll happen in the future, but the flexibility, the opportunity to use those variables to coach, it's cool. It's a cool part of it. It does call for John and I, the personnel people and the football staff to really work together on this, but I think it's a great new way. I hope we can find a way to keep something similar to this. Plus you've got 16 guys instead of 10 guys. You've got more guys playing football that love the game, whatever that is, six times times 32, it's probably 100-something. That's a lot of players that get to play the game that wouldn't get to play otherwise.
Q. How are Jamal, Quinton and Jordyn Brooks doing, and what led to Neiko ultimately needing to go on IR for you?
PETE CARROLL: Well, let me start, Neiko has got the athletic hernia kind of symptoms coming right now. We've got to see what he needs to get right. He's been working real hard to get back and he just can't get going. Often when you have that injury, you feel okay, you don't hurt, but you just can't quite stride and go. That's kind of where he is. He's worked hard to get to that point, so now we know. So we've got to try to get him fixed up, and whatever we can do -- I'm not sure what the course will be, but we're open to everything for him.
You asked about Jordyn Brooks. Jordyn is still working on coming back. He's not able to move around yet, so it's going to be hard for him to get back this week. Did you mention somebody else, too?
Q. Yeah, Jamal and Quinton Dunbar.
PETE CARROLL: Quinton went through the walk-through today. He'll practice tomorrow, and we'll see how that fits for him coming back. He's determined to try to get back for this ballgame, so we'll see what happens there.
Jamal is still going to be another week away unfortunately. He's not going to make it back.
Q. Curious if a guy like Damon Harrison can help free things up for Jarran Reed maybe from a pass rush standpoint?
PETE CARROLL: Well, Snacks has been notorious run defender. He's big time in the middle and stopping things up. He's not been a guy that's going to be a 3rd down pass specialist. But that doesn't mean on the earlier downs by him creating the penetration he can't free up space and all that. He's been a factor like that in the past. We'll hope for that as we get going. We've got to get him back in there first.
Q. You mentioned Minnesota and their explosive plays. Their rookie receiver leads the league in catches over 20 yards. Can you talk about his impact on the team and also the tight end?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, if there's enough time in a four-game season to start slow and then really get going, it took him a game or two and then he's just exploded on the scene. He's a fantastic football player in every way. He's explosive, he's big enough, he's really got a great catching range. He's got a creative way to get to the ball and all. He's really good after the catch. The reason his numbers are up is he's made some people miss him in the open field and yards after catch have been available to him. He's just a terrific player.
Q. When you look at a guy like D.K. Metcalf at this point last year compared to this point this year, what are the main differences that you see?
PETE CARROLL: Well, there's quite a bit really. Because he was new and we were trying to figure it out, trying to bring him along and he was always really smart learning his stuff, but you just take care of the rook, you don't give him too much, you don't want to overload him. As we got near the end of the season we realized he really could handle the whole package. He goes into the off-season and comes back with what we do and what he does with a whole new thought about what he can add. We can move him all around, put him in different positions, we can run every route with him. We were more conservative a year ago.
He has dedicated himself to finding every competitive way he can to get as good as he can get, and I'm so thrilled about seeing that. It's so obvious because he works so hard and he cares so much, and he's obviously so talented that he's just opening up the world of being a great player to us.
Also the time that he spent with Russ in the summertime was so beneficial for their confidence in one another and the chemistry that a thrower and a catcher can develop, they're well on their way, and they'll get better. They'll just continue to improve. But they made a big jump from last year at this time. He's just improved in every way, our confidence in him, his confidence in himself, the relationship with the quarterback is at the essence of all of that.
Q. Is Snacks cleared through the protocol at this point where he can actually practice today or does he still have some days to go?
PETE CARROLL: No, if he's out here he's cleared. Yeah, so he's --
Q. And he's going to be participating today?
PETE CARROLL: Yes.
Q. And then what do you remember about John showed you Ryan Neal and the idea of bringing him into the practice squad I believe it was before the -- at the start of last season?
PETE CARROLL: Like what we saw of him on film?
Q. Yeah.
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, I think he was in Atlanta, and he was just running around and he just showed a real aggressive style. He had good-looking -- he's tall and long and all that, and we thought maybe he could play corner for us. He had grown up as a safety, I understand, and so we kind of always knew that, but we wanted to see what would he look like as a corner, which only helps him in our system because we don't have a hesitation at all to match him up with whomever. I think it was really the aggressive style that he was kind of an attack player is what caught my eye, and I thought you could see enough in the film we saw that you could see what kind of a style player he would be, and we just didn't know how good or how he learned, we didn't know all that stuff at the time, but he's become -- gosh, what a great addition to this opportunity and to this defense to come in and do what he's been doing. He brings a lot with him. It's not just athleticism, it's his smarts and his attitude and his character and all that that's added to it.
Q. When you're assessing whether your defense is good or not, what are the metrics that you prioritize? I know turnovers is one, but besides that what are the metrics you turn to first?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, it really starts with, and this is going to hit right to home here, but it starts with not letting people have easy plays, easy long plays. That's where it begins. If you're giving up long plays you're not playing well. And so you notice the emphasis just from the two weeks ago to last week how important it is for us to just get that out of our football. I'm not accustomed to that, and I let these guys know it, that we needed to fix that now. So that's where it starts. If you're giving up long plays, you're no good.
Fortunately we survived kind of the growing pains of kind of getting the season started with having the really productive offense, and guys come through, too. Players came through at the end of games and did the things we needed to do to win. So it starts there.
Then the next thing is if they can run the ball at you, then you're no good because it's too easy for them to be on offense if they can run it, so as basic as that sounds, long plays, running game, and then getting after the football. If you can get after the football and take it away from your opponent, that makes all the difference in the world, and of all the things, other than just giving up easy plays, if you can get the football, you can change the fortune of your games and seasons and stuff like that.
Fortunately our guys are hawking the football pretty good right now and we're just getting started. We have not been knocking the ball out as much as we want, fumbles and stuff, but we're on it, and if we can get that going and get our numbers going -- we've always anticipated being on top of the league in turnover ratio and that's just a goal of ours, and when you're doing that you usually can win. So that's as basic as I can give it to you. That's really the parameters of it.
Q. Pete, what's the chances that Harrison can play Sunday night?
PETE CARROLL: Let me see him on the practice field first. I don't know. I've got to see what he looks like running around. Learning the defense, he'll be fine there. He's a really smart football player. That's not going to be a problem. It's just how fit he is and all that. He's a big man, so we've got to see what he looks like.
Q. We saw the new COVID protocols the league published yesterday in a memo after you talked about it Monday. How much of a departure is it for the Seahawks? I saw more buses, I've seen more buses on you guys' road trips already and all that stuff. Is this a departure from what you've already been doing?
PETE CARROLL: No, it's just calling -- no. Our expectations and standards have been pretty much in line with everything that they've called for from the beginning. The things they've called for are basically the things you have to do to have a chance to control this thing. To us it's more of an update and kind of a jerk your neck a little bit and make sure we're on everything. It's more about the discipline than the newness of stuff. That means guys just doing a good job with -- they've made a statement about the masks, the style of masks which I think was really good, and I think they're right about it and they might have gotten a little lax, we had something on so we felt okay, so we stepped that up. But it's really the consistency. We have to just stay on everything at all times forever. There's no in-between times. There's really no relaxing time. The heads-ups and the reminders are really, I think, in line just with anytime you try and discipline something you have to come back to the details and the focus and you've got to remind people how crucial and important it is to stay in connection with it, so that's really what they've done, and I think it's nothing wrong with that at all. I think it's good.
Q. Do you think the league has been punitive or proactive in the way they've handled this?
PETE CARROLL: Well, they're trying to be a combination of both. They're looking for the results, and as always, if it's not happening, then you've got to make a statement. Just as they did with the masks with the coaches right in the first week, they didn't think it was good enough and they made a statement and we changed, and they're right, and they did a good job there.
The punitive part of it has not really shown up much yet, but with this step up in emphasis, it's more apparent that they're ready to go and willing to do what they've got to do. You can fight it or you can just go along with the rules of the game, and that's what we're doing, and we're going to make sure that we exercise really well and do this really well and pull it off.
We're trying to win a lot of games here. You've got to win football games, you've got to win the COVID game, you've got to win the travel game. There's a lot going on here, and we just have to be on it and not back down at all. Their reminders to me, yeah, I think we all can use that. It's good for us.
Think about way back six months ago, if we'd have been this strict about everything, all the way we're living, all of our communities, if everybody would have done -- the whole country would have gone about it as strictly as we're going about it right now. We're bubbling now, we're doing it, and we're finding success doing it, and we're finding that there's some holes in it even at that, but had we been this disciplined at the start across the country, we would never see what we have seen. It's demanding, it's difficult, it's uncomfortable. Sometimes it's hard to make sense of it. But you've got to do it anyway because it's the right way to handle it. So...
Q. Harrison hasn't been on a football field in almost 10 months now. Given the restrictions around COVID, how much more difficult is it this year to make mid-season transactions when you can't know very much about the guys you're picking up?
PETE CARROLL: Well, I'm trying to see where we would know more in other years than we would know now.
Q. Well, you'd have off-season practices --
PETE CARROLL: Okay, well, once -- I got you. Once we're here, though, once we're here in the season it's no different. But yeah, there's all kinds of information we'd have gathered across the board on players had we had the off-season. You're right about that. But once we're here, bring the guy in, you've got to check him out. These guys come in here, they're in here for five days now before they can even get to the building. That's just part of the transition period.
So he's already been in town for a long time, he just hasn't been doing any football. Once we're here, it's pretty much the same.
Q. What have you liked most about the way that Russell has played through four games?
PETE CARROLL: Well, first, it's consistency. Each game has almost looked like the last game. He's just carried on -- like two weeks ago we were a little bit different, didn't feel quite the same, but the results were excellent. So his consistency, his command of what's going on, his comfort in the pocket with our protection, his connection to his receivers, using them uniquely to the way they bring their game, because Tyler and Russ operate on a level that nobody knows, and he and D.K. are finding a way, he and Greg are finding a way to start hooking up in crucial situations, which is great. I mean, I think it's all of that, but I think the consistency is what's most important, and I do think it's because of all the factors fitting together.
Q. Yesterday ESPN had an article that ranked Carlos and Chris Carson as two of the top-10 backs in the league, and I'm curious what you like the most about this combination.
PETE CARROLL: Oh, man, I love this combination. I really do. I can't wait for Carlos and Chris to get back out there. I hope Carlos can get back in this week. What I love about it is we have two guys that present alike issues for our opponents, and they both just are relentless at being physical and aggressive. I just love that part of the game, their style, and they don't look the same when they run but the results are similar. They both rushed for 1,000 yards last year and in kind of similar fashion. So it's just the constant that we can bring with two hammers, and I love the way those guys play, so it's really fun to have them.
Q. Has Rasheem Green progressed to where coming out of the bye he'll be back available for you? Do you know yet?
PETE CARROLL: There's a good chance, yeah. There's a really good chance that should happen. He's got a couple things he's got to get done, but he's working great and all the reports say that's likely to happen.
Q. You mentioned Carlos; it sounds like he's got a chance to get back this week. I was curious if this shoulder thing is related to the surgery he had last year.
PETE CARROLL: No, it's other shoulder as a matter of fact. He's going to practice all week like he did last week. We're not going to get him hit during the week, so he'll keep, like I said, he'll be able to keep his timing and tempo and all that stuff and conditioning and all of that, and then if he feels good enough to do it, then we'll go. There's that big week coming up, the bye week, can work in different ways for us as we try to project how to do this. If he doesn't play, then he'll get two big solid weeks and then the next week as we prepare, too, and he'll be in great shape. We should come out of this bye really with a new boost from our personnel, which we're excited about. But I know he wants to play right now, so we'll see if we can get that done this week.
Q. Phillip Dorsett, is he a guy who could maybe come back after the bye, as well?
PETE CARROLL: Absolutely. I just talked to Phillip today. That's exactly what the plan is, for that to happen. That's what we're shooting for.
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