Pete Carroll previews Seahawks-Cardinals, hints at return for WR Doug Baldwin

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll spoke with 97.3 KIRO FM for his weekly Friday interview to preview Seattle’s upcoming divisional matchup against the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday, Sept. 30.

Double Coverage: A behind-the-scenes look at the Arizona Cardinals

The Seahawks are coming off their best performance of the season: a 24-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys, during which the team saw their first 100-plus regular season game from a running back since 2016.

“It was a really good Sunday,” Carroll told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny O’Neil, standing in for KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson. “It was important to us to get going, one, but it was (also) important to us really to connect with the 12s and show that we could play good ball and light up (CenturyLink Field) and really show our new players what it’s like and what it feels like when you play there in the regular season. I think, most of all though, to play in the style that we played in was really what was rewarding. We’ve been talking about it, we’ve been trying to get it done, and we finally got in the right groove.”

While Seattle leaned into the run, the hope is the passing game could see a boost from the return of wide receiver Doug Baldwin. Carroll also indicated Baldwin, who has missed two games with a sprained MCL, will be active Sunday.

“He looked great (in practice this week),” Carroll told KIRO Radio, “He looked great. He was explosive. The suddenness that we have come to love in his play was there. Caught the ball great. You could just feel he and (Russell Wilson) hooking up on different stuff. Russ was so confident throwing him the football in his routes. So we’re really excited for him to play, and play in this game.”

Here are a few other notes from Carroll’s interview with Monson. You can hear the full interview at 12:30 p.m. on 97.3 KIRO FM. The podcast will also be posted in this article after 12:30 p.m.:

• What do you expect from the Cardinals? “There’s some unknown. Because of the change of the quarterback. We know that their defense is going to play really aggressive and tough. They’re really hard to run the ball at. They’re just hard to deal with because they’re so aggressive. So we have to handle that well and maintain our poise and execute in the face of that. The next thing we have to do is figure out how they’re going to balance out their attack. They’ve got two really good running backs. These guys are as good as we’ll face anywhere. So with that thought, how are they going to mix (the run game) with a young QB? They have not had really good balance in their offense so far because they’ve been behind some. So we’re anxious to see how they do. Do they mix the run and the pass to try to make it easier on (Rosen) to enter into his first start ever, or do they just cut him loose? He’s got the kind of skill and arm that they can expect he can throw everything, he’s really talented. So we don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see… (we’ll have to) adapt during the game and try to make the right adjustments so that we can play them well.”

• Not to ask you what’s going on with Earl Thomas, but as a manager, when you have a highly-productive, really passionate employee and, for whatever reason, things get out of step and there’s some tension, from a coach’s perspective, how do you keep guys like that in the fold within the framework of your team? “I’m kind of glad you asked me because I know there’s a lot of questions and people want to know, ‘How are we doing it,’ ‘Are (you) turning your back and just letting him run the place?’ We’re not doing that at all. We have really high standards and expectations for how our guys have to be part of this program, but we don’t always share it everybody because we don’t need to. But … we’re all over it. And because of the background that Earl and I have working together, and my really intimate knowledge of what he’s all about and what he’s like and how he works and what he needs and all that, and he knows me too, we can work through anything. And we just did. And we’ve made it to this point where he’s performing beautifully, he’s practicing hard, he’s focusing and studying, he’s having a blast with his teammates… we’ve dealt with it, I think, in a manner that demonstrates respect for him but also respect for our club. And so that’s important. I don’t care if everybody knows how we do it or how it gets done. But what I would share with you is it’s done on a personal basis because we spent so much time developing relationships that matter so much we can work through anything. And that’s really what we just did. So we’ll go one week at a time and keep working forward.”

• Your coaching style is relationship-based. What does that mean? “That the people matter. And I know the people matter, but really how they need to be understood and received and dealt with and challenged. It takes time to work your way through that. And the only way to do that is to develop a relationship with them. You have to look, watch, listen, care, love them up, kick them in the butt, you have to do everything. But it’s based on the fact that we’re going to invest our side of it to understand them so that we can bring out their best. You’re going to luck out if you bring out someone’s best and you don’t know them. If you figure them out, you know what’s important to him, you know what makes him tick, you know what he wants… then you can work with them and help them feel comfortable in (the Seahawks) culture and feel connected in our culture.”

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