Q. When you went back and looked at the film, what really was the catalyst for the run game that we saw on Sunday?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, I got to say hats off to the big guys up front. It starts with those guys. I thought just when you watch the film, like I thought they did a tremendous job of finishing. You see a bunch of guys pushing the pile, you see guys running down the field, getting extra blocks.
I think when you look at the run game, you think about the big splash plays, but a lot of times those unsung heroes and those unsung plays are just the little things, just giving extra effort, and I thought that was great from the guys.
It's something we've been building on and we look forward to continuing.
Q. Do you think the run game has turned the corner?
GENO SMITH: It's always a work in progress. It's something that we always got to work on. Turning the corner, like I said, I don't really get into that much. I just think we believe in our guys. We've got the right guys. We've got the right system. It's all about execution for us. When we go out there and execute the right way, things usually work out well for us. Yeah, I think we're moving in the right direction, but again, it's all about what you do on Sunday.
Q. It looked like you checked in to the 51-yard touchdown to Charbonnet at the line. I'm curious how much pride you take in those kinds of checks to the run game.
GENO SMITH: Yeah, I actually didn't check that one. That was a designed call by Grubb right there, so I've got to give Grubb the credit for that one. He saw something up top. I guess he saw a blitz or something weak and got to that look.
But yeah, we do have the ability to get to those checks, and we have done that throughout the course of the season.
Whether it's a run check or just getting the right pass protection or figuring out that they're in zero coverage and we can get a way to attack those guys, I take a lot of pride in that. I feel as though I'm the coach on the field. I'm out there going heads up with not only the defensive guys but the D-coordinator and just trying to get my guys into the best looks. But I also have Grubb who's right there with me, and he does a great job of doing the same thing.
Q. Mike Macdonald was talking yesterday about some of the ways teams are defending D.K. and how much attention he gets. How have you seen D.K. kind of respond to the games where it's hard to get him the ball and what are the things he's doing other than catching the football to help you guys?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, it goes back to when he was a rookie, we both got here at the same time, and I had been around the league for a while, seen a bunch of receivers, and I told him, man, if they don't cloud you, you're the X. If they don't W you, you're not reaching your full potential. Sure enough, he's right there. No team that we've faced is just going to leave him one-on-one.
I think it's a gift and a curse because you want to throw him the ball as much as you can. You want to give him the ball. But you also realize you can't force it. When defenses are loading up and they're putting two and three guys on the backside for him, it just creates more numbers to the front side for us.
We're always going to take advantage of the right match-ups. D.K. has done a great job at blocking downfield, being a leader in the huddle, just doing all the little things that he's always done. But he's understanding, man. He's drawing so much attention that it's opening up things for other guys, and him being the selfless player that he is, the selfless person that he is, he enjoys that. He enjoys the fact that the entire offense can benefit from having a star X receiver like him.
I think he's done a tremendous job. We've still got to find ways to get him involved, but if they're going to just load up the coverage, then we've got to do the right thing there.
Q. You mentioned his blocking. Can you tell his dad was an offensive lineman the way he blocks downfield?
GENO SMITH: Oh, for sure. Just his entire mentality is like one of those linemen. He's a fearless competitor. He's as tough as it gets. He's tough as nails. Blocking downfield, man, those guys don't want to see him out there. They're running away from him and trying to avoid him as much as they can. That speaks to who he is and how he was raised.
Q. When you watch film and just watch football for fun, do you see any other teams using the pre-snap shifting the way that you guys do?
GENO SMITH: Not as much as we do. I can't say as to why they don't or why we do. I think that's just a part of Grubb's system. He's done that when he was at UW. He was doing that last year. He's brought that to us, and it's definitely a tremendous help for us. Do you get a lot of answers. You can see some things out there when you shift and just try to figure out what the defense is in or how are they reacting to certain things. It helps us a bunch.
But we do expect teams to try and counter that. We've already had some of that. Again, it just goes out to the quarterback has now got the final answer, and I think I do an okay job of getting us to the right plays, but I've just got to continue to see it and continue to put us in the right position.
Q. The Charbonnet touchdown, was that the play call the whole way, like you guys were supposed to start off in --
GENO SMITH: I can't tell you, know what I mean? Everybody listening, yeah, we'll talk about it, but we've got things that we can get to.
Q. You guys are here in December, one-game lead in the division, got the whole nation watching on Sunday night against a really good Packers team. The enormity of this game, how big is this to you?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, it's a very big game for us because it's the next game. We've been saying that the entire year, and that's not going to change. We understand what's at stake. We understand that -- you want to have meaningful games late in December. You want to have your crowd, these great fans that we have, their cheering and have something to be excited for in these meaningful games, as you said.
Like I said, we've just got to take it one day, one game at a time. We can't put more emphasis on it than it needs to be. It's a very big game. We know what's at stake, but it's just the next game. We've got to make sure we approach it the right way and take it step by step.
Q. A lot of people have mentioned the idea of being in playoff mode since bye week. Ernest Jones actually called it "death zone." It's kind of caught on among fans to label the defense the death zone --
GENO SMITH: I like that name. I like that name right there. I think it fits them well, suits them well. I've been in playing mode my whole life, is nothing is going to change for me. Every day I live and die by it.
Q. What have you gotten to know of Scott Huff since he came on?
GENO SMITH: I love Coach Huff. I think he's done a tremendous job with that room. You think about all the guys who have been in and out of the lineup, he's got veteran guys, he's got young guys from all over the place, and he's getting each and every one of those guys prepared to go out there and be their best selves. That's really what you want from a coach, and I think outstanding human being, first and foremost, but just the way that he coaches, the way that he can connect with the guys, and then the way that he pushes the guys. Everyone doesn't get to see how stern he is and how honored he is with these guys, but he's right there, and they respect him, and I think that's a big thing. But Huff has brought a lot to this offense, a lot to this team, and I can't wait to see where it goes.
Q. Getting the ball downfield to your playmakers could be a challenge given the ball-hawking nature of the Packers. What do you have to be aware of against that secondary?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, like you said, they've got some ball-hawking guys. One of their safeties I think leads the league or is tied for the lead in the league in interceptions, McKinney, and he's been a perennial Pro Bowler. He's been a great player throughout his career. I think he's a really good safety back there. So eyes on him, where he is.
Jaire is supposed to be playing, I'm guessing, and again, he's been a perennial Pro Bowler, a top corner in this league. So he's often making plays on the ball. Those guys are really trying to hunt picks, man. They're trying to find ways to get turnovers for their team.
For us, it's always going to be the emphasis taking care of the ball. That's first and foremost. But we want to be aggressive. We want to stay aggressive, as well, and take our shots.
Q. Does that change the shots you're willing to take?
GENO SMITH: Not at all.
Q. You guys have faced a ton of zone. We talked about that for a while. You checked the ball down more in this last game than you have in other games this season. You guys got a lot of yards out of that. I'm curious, talk about what checking down can mean against zone defenses and why it's important to utilize that.
GENO SMITH: I mean, it's the power of completions. I guess checking it down has become like a frowned-upon thing. I hope not. Football is about executing plays and moving the chains, and whether I'm throwing it down the field, throwing it underneath, intermediate, just trying to do the right thing out there, so they're going to try and play a bunch of shell coverages and cover two and they're going to bail and play quarters, then the underneath still is going to be there, and we're going to take it. We've got guys who can catch and run.
It's all about making the right decisions. No matter what the defense is doing, we've got to have answers for it, and I've got to make the right decisions and put the ball in the hands of the playmakers.
Q. Why have you been in playoff mode your whole life?
GENO SMITH: Man, born in Miami, Florida. Shoot, man, a Black man in this world. Come on now. Simple.
Q. Pocket awareness and then pressure awareness in the pocket, because you didn't have any sacks last game, how do you balance that when there's a lot of pressure and then when there's not pressure?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, it just comes down to, like I said, making the right decision, throwing the ball on time, in rhythm. Again, the guys up front, doing a tremendous job of protecting me. I thought that's first and foremost. I thought they did a great job with that.
When there is guys around me just making sure that I'm getting the ball out. I had an intentional grounding that I'll continue to say I don't think that's intentional grounding. But trying to get the ball out, not take sacks, not take negative plays, keep us on schedule. That's the main thing. And it starts up front with protection, those guys, but also a part of it is me and getting the ball out and then using my legs. If I have to, go out and scramble, get a couple yards, get a 1st down, maybe a touchdown. Some good stuff.
Q. Talk about the blocking from your tight ends. Can you talk about how they've helped the run game?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, I thought fair row, man, fair row, AJ, Noah, I thought even on Zach's touchdown, man, you see Brady got in there, he made a good block. Just that entire group. They really bring our offense together. Pass catches, dynamic pass catches, dynamic blockers. Those guys are great on special teams, just doing it all for us.
The more we can lean on those guys, the more they can go out there and be physical, help eliminate the edge for us so we can capture the edge and get some runs to the outside, it helps our offense out, helps our play action and our boot game, as well. Those guys are a big part of our offense and we've got to continue to lean on them.
Q. You guys have won four in a row, but Packers come in here to your home stadium and they're favored. A lot of people are picking them to win. Does the locker room use that as fuel or do you just ignore it?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, I can only speak for myself when I say this: A doubter -- I don't get to see them every day. I only see the people in this locker room and we all believe. I don't think any of that type of stuff really creeps into our mindset. We're so focused and locked in and just continually working on bettering ourselves.
Stuff on the outside, they've got to pick somebody, right? We've been favored in games and we've been not favored. Does it really matter? No. You've got to execute on Sunday.
What people have to say, everyone has an opinion. They're entitled to it. But doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Q. You referenced that play; do you have a good understanding of what "in the vicinity" is? It's kind of vague sometimes.
GENO SMITH: Yeah, it's definitely vague, and you can pull up games from throughout the course of this league and you've seen plays like that that don't get flagged. Again, I don't really go at the refs. They've got a hard job to do. They're humans. But I just think that one in particular wasn't intentional grounding.
Q. What did Kenny MacIntosh give you guys Sunday?
GENO SMITH: Shoot, I thought he ran the ball well, was explosive. I think like two or three of his runs were explosive runs, and I thought he was physical. He finished his runs well. Even in pass protection I thought he was great. He's been that way since he's gotten here. Obviously the opportunities with Zach and Ken were limited, but it was great to see him step up into his role. Hopefully he gets a bigger role and gets to get more touches.
But he did a great job, and really proud of him.
Q. What do you think this Packers defense does well and does it remind you schematically of any of the defenses you've faced so far this year?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, they kind of have like a 49ers background, similar to what we faced there. They do a little bit more stuff on 3rd down I would say. But they're very similar to us in their 3rd down packages where they'll have a bunch of guys at the line of scrimmage making you determine is it cover zero, are they bluffing and playing zone. But they also do a great job of getting turnovers.
I think that's the main thing. They've gotten a lot of turnovers. They might lead the league in that category. They do a great job, and they help their offense out in that way.
Again, big emphasis on the ball. That's something we've always talked about. We've just got to make sure we go out there and execute.
Q. You do stuff around the community all the time, but when you do it around the holiday time, maybe Christmas in particular, does it feel like it's more impactful for some of the kids?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, I think it's just great to see the smiles on their faces. We actually are going to be at the children's hospital this Christmas and going to pass out a lot of gifts and stuff. I did it last year, and just seeing the smiles on their faces, like their families, and just the joy that we can bring to them during the holidays, it may be a little thing to us, but it's so big to them. It's a life-changing experience sometimes.
If we can go out there and be an advocate for the Seahawks but also just uplift people and lend our hands, shoot, we've got to do more of it. Yeah, it does make us all feel good.
Q. Why the children's hospital?
GENO SMITH: Well, it started with Russ, so I did it one time when Russ was here, and I just kind of took a liking to it. I really enjoy being around kids, and especially those kids who have to spend their holidays in the hospital and stuff like that. Just to be able to go out and reach out to them, it just means so much to me personally, and I'll have a bunch of my teammates there, as well. Everyone wants to be a part of it. We want to make it a big thing, and we want to continue to be that voice.
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