Pete Carroll Show: Loss hurts, but Seahawks have positives to look at

Dec 9, 2019, 2:08 PM | Updated: 2:41 pm

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is upset about the loss, but saw some positives. (Getty)

(Getty)

Seattle Sports

While many are concerned after the Seahawks’ performance on Sunday Night Football, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is still his optimistic self after the 28-12 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

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Carroll joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant Monday morning for the weekly Pete Carroll Show and talked about some takeaways from the game on offense and defense as well as providing injury updates and more thoughts about the game.

Digesting the loss

The loss drops Seattle to 10-3 and to the No. 5 seed in the NFC. Despite the letdown, Carroll feels good about his team.

“I’m feeling (well about it),” Carroll said of the loss. “I’m disappointed that we had that showing. It didn’t work out at all like we had planned and (the Rams) picked up where they left off in Arizona … They came out firing and did a really good job of really controlling the tempo early in the game and we were working hard just to get caught up.”

Eventually the Seahawks’ defense was able to keep the Rams in check, limiting Los Angeles to just seven points in the second half.

“Once we (settled in on defense), we quieted it down, but we didn’t have enough firepower (on offense),” Carroll said. “We didn’t get enough explosive (plays) and the big plays weren’t happening for us to get us back in it even though in the third quarter things shifted.”

Carroll said a lot of credit needs to be given to the Rams for their execution on Sunday.

“They’ve found a little bit of a rhythm here and we were not able to offset it enough to get a win,” he said.

Two key pieces of the defense were out in linebacker Mychal Kendricks and defensive end Ziggy Ansah. Starting in Kendricks’ place was rookie Cody Barton, who made his first career NFL start.

“He did OK,” Carroll said of Barton, a third-round pick. “The rhythm of the game, there was some stuff that he had to get lined up on and some things. The speed of it happened a little quicker for him at times, but he played really hard and played tough football and when he had his chances, he did a nice job.”

Injury updates

The most notable injury of the game was second-year running back Rashaad Penny. He left the game with a knee injury and Monday afternoon, Carroll announced Penny is done for the year.

Penny was starting to earn more touches behind starting running back Chris Carson and had more than 100 total yards in both Week 12 and Week 13, but now C.J. Prosise and rookie Travis Homer may get more looks on offense. Prosise has been a healthy scratch throughout the season while Homer has played exclusively on special teams.

“Both those guys will be part of it,” Carroll said. “Thankfully we had C.J. come in and ready to play and he was able to be active in this game to get him started … He has a lot of assets that we like in the offense. We just numbers-wise haven’t been able to get him up so he’s ready to go. And of course Homer has kind of been sitting there on the backburner. It may mean he gets the ball a little bit more, we’ll wait and see. I’m really glad C.J. is available for us.”

The linebackers were already banged up entering the game, but both Barton and K.J. Wright got hurt during the game and left before returning.

Wright dislocated a finger and will be OK going forward, but Barton’s immediate future is murkier.

“Cody, he strained his knee a little bit and had a little bit of an ankle thing,” Carroll said. “We’ve got it figured where he’ll have an MRI today and we’ll find out where he is. He was able to go back in the game tough as nails and finish it, but I don’t know.”

As far as Kendricks, it’s unclear what his status is.

“I can’t tell you. I checked him before I came through in here (for the interview) but I won’t know until we get through the week,” Carroll said. “So, it will probably be very late in the week before we’ll know how he’s doing.”

Ansah, who has a surgically-repaired shoulder that has continued to bother him this year, had practiced last week but wasn’t able to go ahead of Sunday’s contest.

“He just didn’t have full strength. It’s his shoulder and if he can’t exhibit full strength then (the trainers) can’t allow him to go out there and be vulnerable,” Carroll said. “He was able to practice during the week, he practiced all week along and was able to (get) through it, but when it got down to it, he didn’t have what he needed.”

Defensive tackle Al Woods had a knee injury but didn’t want to be examined during the game. Carroll said they’ll monitor him throughout the week.

One good piece of news is Carroll thinks receiver Tyler Lockett is 100 percent healthy.

“Yeah, he’s back,” Carroll said of his No. 1 receiver. “This week was the first time he was really back. This game he was able to contribute some and get going and I think he’ll be a big part as we finish this thing out.”

Offensive miscues

Two of the Seahawks’ pass catchers had chances to extend drives in the first half but the ball fell off their hands to the ground.

Tight end Jacob Hollister had a drop on third down and receiver Malik Turner dropped a fourth-and-1 pass as well. Carroll still voiced confidence in the pair.

“They just had one play each, but they were crucial plays,” Carroll said. “They caught other balls and Malik made a terrific play earlier in the game in the exact same route concept (as the drop). … Those guys are fine. They’re really good ballplayers who’ve done really good jobs for us.”

Also on offense, quarterback Russell Wilson didn’t have a touchdown and was sacked five times. A big factor is that the Rams’ defensive front is one of the toughest to block in the league, Carroll said.

“There were times when Russ held the ball and he was waiting for another opportunity,” Carroll said. “He’s had so many marvelous experiences of things happening, but against this group they’re just coming at you and they’re going to be coming off blocks. There was some really good pass protection when we did get sacked because we held onto the football, but then again, Russ does make those things happen that last night wasn’t available to us.”

Carroll also talked more about the Seahawks’ performance on defense, whether the loss is good for getting the players’ minds right, Josh Gordon’s role and more.

Listen at this link or in the player below at the 22:50 mark.

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