Seahawks 22, Cowboys 14
PETE CARROLL: Good, successful night. Coming out here again to Lumen, playing really good, hard football. Really pleased with the overall feeling of the game from start to finish.
We got our ones a little bit of work. Selective ones played on both sides of the ball. Got enough to just get them out there. That's really what we wanted to get done tonight.
Starts with Geno getting some snaps, the O-line, all that. That approach seemed to work out all day. It's a long night for the twos once they get going. Hats off to those guys. That's two big games those guys have played back to back, done a nice job, all the way through to the finish, which was cool.
Both Geno and Drew were five for six, popped the ball around pretty good, looked in command, had no problems at any time really. I wished Geno, we could have connected on the slant we threw, but other than that it was a really clean night for those guys.
I though Holton was a freaking blast watching him play. This kid is a fun football player. He's tough, he's scrappy. He comes up with the throw. Threw a great fade ball that we didn't handle right. He knows how to finish games. That was really fun watching him play.
Tyjon looked good tonight. I thought he had a nice game. The younger guys did some cool things. Tyreke Smith had a really nice game on his side, on the defensive side. Eight tackles, big sack at the end.
Both last two weeks to finish on the defense with chasing the quarterback, getting him knocked down, getting the big sack to win the game, I think is just the feeling of how you finish. I was pleased with that just kind of in a general sense.
There's a bunch of stuff. I loved the interception that we got from Tre'. Huge time. Really looked like they're going, he makes a big steal. We had a little bit of pressure, forced the quarterback out. Really good reaction in a scramble situation for Tre'. A real nice play, nice return, all that.
Did I miss Tyjon's punt return. It was a huge play. That was a huge play in the game. Really field position shift. Then John with his blocked punt was beautiful. Unfortunately Bobo couldn't put it in the end zone, but it was good to get the safety. It was a huge play.
First time I asked John, Have you ever blocked a punt before? He has blocked some in the past. Wasn't new to him. Very adept at getting that done. Really big play in the game.
Q. You've talked about how much you value preseason games. Did Tre' Brown win a job tonight?
PETE CARROLL: No. Not at this point. I can't say that. I haven't watched the film. I haven't seen anything.
He did a nice job, though. Cool open-field tackle that he made. The one he missed last week, makes this week. Beautiful improvement. He's a good football player. He's doing pretty well. He's played really well consistently. We're lucky to have him on our side.
Q. He was out there a lot. Did he miss so much time last year he needs the reps?
PETE CARROLL: No, it's depth. More than that. The younger guys, we're nicked up a little bit at the spot. Benjie just made it back the day before the game. He had to play a lot.
Q. Drew Lock okay?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, sounds like he's going to be fine. After the evaluation, got a little bit of a strain in the back of his knee. Hyperextended a little bit. No damage. Think he'll play next week.
Q. Second straight game that your defense gave up less than 3.8 yards per carry against the run. How encouraged are you you're seeing that with the defensive line?
PETE CARROLL: What I really like is I like our overall player, overall leveraging the football, containing the football. The force elements of our game. We made a huge emphasis of this in the off-season. I thought we were sloppy in the past, not accountable. Tonight, you saw us again pounding on those things.
I think we're better than we've been in the last few years at this early stage of leveraging the football. The big plays aren't getting out. That's why the numbers are in the threes. It's a really good, early statement because it's been a huge emphasis for us. We'll see if we can do it again next week, keep growing with that.
Q. You were able to get some explosive plays out of the passing game. What did you see out of the passing game?
PETE CARROLL: I was fired up about it. Those guys, they're 10 for 12, the first two quarterbacks. I thought Shane gave them some good chances tonight. Went after them a little bit. Coming up with some big plays in sequence. I really liked the way he called it.
We ran the ball for 140 yards. That's the kind of balance that we're looking for. Gives us a chance to be able to do all of the stuff, all of the play passes and movement stuff that we like doing.
Q. Would Drew have played more if he was okay?
PETE CARROLL: I wasn't going to put him in. You're talking about me, right? You said, Are you going to play more? It's always on my mind, but of course I can't do that (smiling). Doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it.
I'm sorry, what did you ask?
Q. Would Drew have played more if...
PETE CARROLL: Yeah. I was going to hopefully see Drew play a ton tonight with Geno getting a little bit of work. Drew was preparing to play. He knew he was going to play a lot of football. I like that whole process.
Geno really taught us something. A little side-bar here in that we've learned from him the mentality that it takes to be in that situation where you're backing up, be but on the ready. We would give him credit for doing that for four years straight. Then when he finally got his chance, he kicked butt.
Drew was practicing that tonight. He knew he was going to play, so all week long he practiced like he knew he was going to play. So the game comes, and he does in this one because it's all set up.
But that's the way he needs to think. That's Geno prep, that's G prep, what we're talking about. That's Geno, how he's done it. He's learned from that.
I'm hoping these other guys will gain from the example that Geno gives us. It helps guys prepare better. I won't get in. Offensive linemen in particular. Those guys have to think they're going to play because it can happen one play away.
We're learning something. I'm proud. We can give Geno for that. More than that, our guys executing well when they get their opportunities, which is really important.
Q. What has Lock shown you?
PETE CARROLL: I asked him about, Did you feel different this night than last time? He said, Absolutely. Last week was his first time coming out, hadn't played for our fans in the stadium and all that.
He was a little nervous about it. He wanted to do well. He could feel the difference tonight. He was calm. He was relaxed. He was ready to go. He had a blast playing. He was having fun out there, running the show.
This next week is a really important week again for him to come back and get a lot of play time. We're just trying to get him ready so he's ready to pop if the opportunity comes. We'll be able to get that done.
Q. When he's on, does it show you this guy has started in the league?
PETE CARROLL: I think he's a starter. That's what we're so excited about having him. We thought that when we got him. It just didn't work out. Geno was just too much in command. But I think he's playing like a starter. We think of him as a guy that can go out there and win a football game for us, running our whole entire offense.
There's nothing we do that he can't do, doesn't have a command of. That's a fortunate situation. I hope he comes out of this, this yank he got on his knee here, and can play this next week. We will have done everything we can to prepare him when the opportunity comes.
We believe in him. You can see, he's a fine athlete. He can move well, smooth, quick, throws the heck out of the football. He's just growing up with us. Real pleased about that.
Q. That's the plan and preference for him to play most of the game next week?
PETE CARROLL: He's going to play a lot, yeah. I want to get as much football under his belt as we can, getting him ready.
Q. With Tyreke Smith, he said he's a little bit rusty after so much time off. Is he back to the player you drafted?
PETE CARROLL: He did well tonight. Now, it's taken him some time in camp. But he had a really impressive week. You could see it coming. The fact that he goes out and does it in the game, it's kind of what you hope happens from the coaching perspective. He did it. He was quick, assertive. He used his calls and stunts and things really well to make plays in the backfield from the backside. He was a really active player in college. We never even saw him last year. We practiced for two days. Never even had a clue.
It seems like, yeah, the rust is getting knocked off and he's really ready to contribute and play for us. A good ballplayer. In that rotation with our guys, he has to try to get in that rotation with our guys. I think Boye did a nice job tonight. I don't know what Uchenna got done. Darrell is going to come roaring back here next week. I would bet he's pretty close. It's that competition for those guys. We'll see how it goes.
Q. (No microphone.)
PETE CARROLL: I like it. Yeah, I like these guys. I really like these guys. I don't mind who is in the game. We have four or five guys that are playing. We like 'em all. If we can keep them fresh and keep them really fast, that's going to be a great asset for us.
Q. You got a little bit of a look at Jarren playing nose tackle. How do you feel about that spot?
PETE CARROLL: We're so fortunate that Jarren came back to us, really are. More than just the playing. He is such a leader for us. He's got a great mentality. He's tough. He's demanding of the young guys. He coaches 'em up. He's assumed that role that he's kind of the statesman there. He's not that old, but he assumes that kind of posture with them. He's got a great kind of approach to it.
He can play three technique, he can play the one technique. We can move him around. Great that he got a sack. I don't remember what down that was. Third down sack I think it was.
He's vying, trying to get on that nickel rush team. Be part of that. We're lucky we have him back.
Q. Do you have the depth you want there at the one spot?
PETE CARROLL: We got to get Mike back. Mike Morris showed some really good stuff at both spots that we're playing him at. His shoulder is pretty good, but we just wanted to protect him one more week. I hope we can get him out back next week. That's a factor. Kam, too. Have not seen enough of Kam. If both those guys get a shot, and Austin is coming back before too long. We're hoping all those guys can be part of that rotation. It should be somewhat formidable.
I think it's because of Jarron Reed's play that gives us a chance to rotate guys in. He'll be the steady for us. See what happens.
Q. All those guys are so unproven. Are you good with the depth there?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah. I've seen enough. I haven't seen Austin enough. He had one day on the practice field. Really we haven't seen enough from Kam yet. We know him well enough from all the time we studied him that he should be able to do everything we're asking of him.
Q. Tre' was saying he feels different this year. Are you seeing that?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, he's very elusive. He's got a real edge-ability to him. You'll see him in the backfield quite a bit. We'll give him chances to move, try to play to that strength as best we can.
He's a creative player. He sees things real well. That's why when we were first looking at him, I saw a trace of what Mike Bennett was like, get in the backfield, slip and shied, all that kind of stuff.
Q. I was talking about Tre' Brown. Are you seeing a difference?
PETE CARROLL: Am I seeing a difference? I see Tre' as I did before he got hurt. Remember, I was fired up about him. He was looking like a starter then. He played really well, done some great stuff. He just had to leave. So he's come back, he's just shown that he's a consistent football player. He can cover guys. He's explosive. He's tough. I really like the tackle he made tonight.
Q. (No microphone.)
PETE CARROLL: What happened with that one? Oh, yeah, on the hit on the sidelines, he banged his shoulder a little bit.
Q. You mentioned Boye earlier.
PETE CARROLL: He's just doing it.
Q. Seemed like he was doing everything for you. What do you see out of that?
PETE CARROLL: He's doing everything better. A year ago the newness, you didn't know, looked like he didn't have a clue what was going on. He's not like that any more. He's physically really apt for the position. He's fast, long, strong, got a good motor to him. He seems to have good endurance. He's not getting worn down when he's out there playing.
To me, it's not any one person, it's the rotation. Uchenna is really the leader of that group because he's the steady guy and all that, the vet. He's going to do right more than the other guys. But it's a good mix. Hopefully we can keep everybody going.
Q. (No microphone.)
PETE CARROLL: We're still just letting it go. There's no reason to call it. Let these guys keep battling. Let the competition play on.
Right now if we were playing a game, they'd all play, all be in the rotation. Try to keep them all as fresh as we could. We trust every one of them. A good spot for us.
Q. Looks like Jordyn Brooks got some work in the pregame.
PETE CARROLL: He did, yeah. It's really frustrating for him right now. He's so close to being back out there. This will be a good week for him. He's ready to practice hard and go. This will be maybe that first week we can maybe break him into some team reps and stuff like that.
The process of getting him the walk-through has really allowed him to get there. Really, really fired up about him getting back out. It's hard for him watching us play and he's not part of it.
Q. What's left you need to see or do or find out about the rest of pre-season?
PETE CARROLL: We got to go on the road. We got to take our show on the road and play really hard from start to finish again.
It was a pretty consistent effort tonight, again, carrying over from game one. I'm really pleased about that one. That's something I was hoping for more than anything, we could play good, hard, tough football across the board. We got that done.
Now we got to go somewhere else and do it on the road and show our guys it doesn't matter where we play. Try to teach that, stand for that. Doesn't matter who we're playing or where we're playing, but you got to go prove it. Very difficult place to go.
Q. Zach Charbonnet, what have you seen?
PETE CARROLL: Pretty good. Zach has shown us already. We feel like we already know who we got. We think we got a hell of a football player there. There's so much stuff he does well. I wish he would have broke back again. He said the same exact thing. I didn't come back quick enough, come back against the grain on his big run.
He's explosive. He's consistent. He's really smart. You can totally count on the guy. He's a heck of a football player. It's just a matter of he's playing. He's going to play.
Q. What's SaRodorick shown you?
PETE CARROLL: Like his style. He has a slasher type of style about him. He's done well.
Q. (No microphone.)
PETE CARROLL: Unfortunately they catch the fade on him. It's kind of underthrown. He's all over the guy. He got tangled up a little bit. That's why they got the penalty on him. There was a tackle Mike had. He'll hit it better than he did tonight.
But I thought he continues to play well. He's an experienced veteran guy for us that we can really count on. It's just kind of like the outside backer spot. We got guys that can play, we like the opportunity to be flexible there if we want to.
Q. With Witherspoon, when he might be back?
PETE CARROLL: I'm going to be surprised if Spoon isn't running a lot this week or next week. We're looking at three weeks, the game week, the opener. We come back for the bye week, then this final pre-season game. He'll be doing all the walk-throughs I think this week. That's kind of the staging him to come back the next week. That's what I hope happens. We're close to that.
Q. (No microphone.)
PETE CARROLL: His knee is getting better. He jogged a little bit. He's getting closer. It's not in terrible shape right now. He's just got to get back out. But it's probably still a couple weeks.
Q. What did Patrick show you to get the start today?
PETE CARROLL: Patrick? Bobby wasn't playing (smiling). And Rhattigan had missed a number of days with his elbow. Did a great job to get back out there tonight and get some play time.
Patrick is doing a nice job. He's shown some consistent play. Really anxious to see what it looks like tonight. I didn't get to watch him much. He's building trust because he's doing well. We're starting to like what he brings.
Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports