Pete Carroll: Seahawks’ preseason approach, rookie standout, Adams extension

We’re just a few weeks away from the start of the 2021 NFL regular season and who better to get you prepared for the upcoming Seahawks season than head coach Pete Carroll?

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Carroll, who is entering his 12th season in Seattle, joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s Wyman and Bob for an exclusive interview on his team. Carroll shared his thoughts on why he’s so excited about the preseason, a star’s recent contract extension and much more.

Here’s a bit of what Carroll had to say during the interview.

Preseason strategy

The Seahawks return home for their second preseason game against the Denver Broncos, and Carroll made it clear what he’s looking for on Saturday.

“I wanna see running and hitting. I wanna see these guys get after it and show how much they love playing for this team and show their heart so we can figure out if they belong or not,” he said.

Carroll said during the interviews that last offseason and in some previous years, young players didn’t have as great of an opportunity to showcase their talents as in previous years. With starters and veterans playing less and less in the preseason, Carroll is very excited to give younger players a chance to make a name for themselves.

“In this mode we’re in right now, it’s the best shot we’ve ever given them to compete for their spots because they’re getting a lot of play time,” he said. “I really like it. We learned a lot last offseason in a different way, so we’re really going to make the most of this for the young guys. And because of the opportunities they’re getting, they’re getting better and it will help us down the road and it will just make us stronger.”

“What we have realized is this is a wonderful opportunity to develop our team from the inside,” he later added. “We’ll try to take full advantage of that and stressing guys to play a lot and make them stay on the field and have to work through it and show who they are and what they’re all about and give them really a tremendous chance to make the club. That’s what’s most important to me.”

Jamal Adams

The big Seahawks story of the week was that Seattle and star safety Jamal Adams agreed to a four-year contract extension, which makes him the NFL’s highest-paid safety.

When asked what his role is in contract negotiations, Carroll, who also is the Seahawks’ executive vice president of football operations in addition to being head coach, said he’s “the overseer.” In that role, Carroll said he watches what’s happening and has a feel for the pulse of the negotiations in order to make sure things are on track and that both sides are communicating and making sense of the other side.

“And try not to get skewed or get out of whack where we can’t talk and all that,” he said.

In the case of Adams, Carroll is happy that process, which he said was very professional on both sides, is done.

“It’s really great it’s over with so we can get back to getting better and playing football and all of that,” he said. “There was no animosity at all. It was just business and we made it through it. Their side competed really hard, our side competed really hard and we got to a place that made sense.”

Carroll made it clear that Adams, who came to the Seahawks in exchange for two first-round picks, a third-round pick and a starting safety, has been worth the trade haul and is worth the record-setting money that Seattle is paying him.

“He played great football for us even though he was banged up last year, he showed who he was, he showed the value in the trade we had to put together,” Carroll said. “The whole time we were going to do another contract, we knew that, and we recognized we were going to have to go through this process to get there. We saw it through, got it done, everybody’s loving each other and hanging together and away we go.”

Carroll also made sure to praise a key member of the organization for their role in the contract negotiations with Adams: owner Jody Allen.

“I know our fans don’t know her well because she stays very quiet, but she’s an extraordinary owner,” he said. “She’s got the toughness, she’s got the clarity, she’s got the sense and the character about making decisions and how we want to represent our fans. She loves the people here and wants to make sure we’re doing everything we can to help them and put the best team out there, and she’s done that.”

A rookie standout

During an interview with Wyman and Bob earlier this week, Adams had a lot of positive things to say about rookie cornerback Tre Brown, who the Seahawks selected in the fourth round in this year’s draft. The team’s head coach is also very impressed with the young defensive back.

Carroll said that Brown has been extremely steady during his time in Seattle and is making a strong case for serious playing time as a rookie.

“His consistency has really been what gives him support as he makes his appeal to be a starter on this team,” Carroll said. “He continues to make tough plays and avoids the real mistakes that DBs can make and corners in particular. He’s making a real bid for it. I’m really excited about what he’s doing.”

Brown’s mentality and makeup really stand out to Carroll as well.

“I like the fact that he’s got a little chip on his shoulder,” he said. “He’s got a juice about him, he’s tough and it’s not too big for him … So far, he’s done a lot of really positive things. So we’ll see how it goes. We’ve got a couple more (preseason) games to see how it turns out.

A key player back on offense

The Seahawks have had a very busy offseason when it comes to signings and extensions, which has caused the re-signing of running back Chris Carson to go under the radar.

After testing free agency for the first time in his career, Carson, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, is back in Seattle on a new deal. Carroll, who loves Carson’s physical running style, is thrilled to have his starting running back back with the Seahawks.

“So proud that we were able to get a deal done with him and he was happy about it and to represent,” Carroll said. “He didn’t want to go anywhere else. It was his chance to move on and he decided to stay with us and we put together a good deal.”

Carroll said Carson had a “phenomenal” offseason and that he’s in tip-top shape as well as he gets ready for the 2021 season.

“It’s unbelievable what he’s able to do with (his training),” Carroll said. “He’s revved up and ready to go and he’s going to be ready on gameday at the start of the season. He’s a big part of what we’re all about.”

The interview with Carroll will be available on the Wyman and Bob podcast page a few hours after it airs.

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