Seahawks takeaways: Pete Carroll on Adams, LBs, Dissly and more

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll spoke to the media Monday afternoon in what normally would have been an early training camp day. Due to the current state of things in the NFL and the world in general, however, the Seahawks are still weeks away from a normal training camp practice, though he noted that defensive players did see some time on the field Monday.

Seahawks reportedly adding back recently released DE Jackson

That’s not to say Carroll didn’t have much to talk about, though. Quite the contrary. For 40 minutes, Carroll spoke about his team and answered questions from reporters, full video of which you can watch at this link.

Let’s highlight some of the more notable things Carroll had to say.

Jamal Adams

This was the first chance for Carroll to speak publicly about Seattle’s acquisition of the All-Pro safety, and the head coach who has typically built his defenses around the secondary was noticeably giddy about being able to coach Adams.

“There’s so many things that he does well that we’re excited about,” Carroll said. “… I’m thrilled to be putting this thing together.”

Carroll has coached several legendary safeties in his career, such as Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas in Seattle and Troy Polamalu at USC, and he sees similarities to those types of players and Adams.

“The style of his play is that he’s really aggressive, he’s an attack-oriented guy. He’s (like) the kind of guys that I’ve seen in years past that when they see things, they don’t hesitate, they go,” Carroll said. “They’re very decisive and very physical and creative, as well. It takes creativity to see the opportunities and then seize those opportunities. He’s got all of that. Great burst, physical nature and then also the athleticism to make the plays happen. He’s really good in coverage one-on-ones, he’s good in zone stuff, so it just all fit.”

Carroll also praised the work by Seahawks general manager John Schneider and the front office to get the deal with the Jets done.

“This is such an extraordinary deal that John figured out – and his guys. To not give him credit for this is to totally not understand what happened. This thing started months ago when there was no time that you would think that this guy would be on our club… John had a thought that it could happen.”

Quinton Dunbar

Carroll didn’t have much to say about the Seahawks’ previous big trade addition to the secondary before Adams, which may be an indication that Seattle is moving on at cornerback for now and not counting on Dunbar’s legal situation to be settled any time soon.

“It’s really out of our hands and we’ll see how that goes,” Carroll said, adding that he had no updates on Dunbar’s status.

Marquise Blair

The Adams trade gives Seattle a new option at the top of the depth chart at safety, and Carroll said 2019 second-round draft pick Blair, who was already going to see time in training camp at nickel cornerback, will indeed be looked at more at that position.

“For the most part we have to figure out Marquise. He’s the one that’s gonna get the opportunity (at nickel cornerback), get in on the slot and do some stuff that puts him in a position to be really active and be part of the pressure packaging and some really aggressive part of the play,” Carroll said.

Jordyn Brooks

So where does Seattle foresee their first-round draft pick linebacker getting a shot at?

“He can play all three spots at linebacker,” Carroll said. “He’s physically capable, and there’s a lot of film of him playing all three spots. … The flexibility is there. I think his clearest path and might be the most obvious path will be the WILL backer spot. We’ll see how that goes, we’ll start him there and then see how fast he can grasp it and how soon he can become comfortable and we’ll see.”

That’s certainly interesting because K.J. Wright has been Seattle’s WILL (weakside) linebacker, so Carroll may be hinting at Wright seeing more time elsewhere on the field. And since there are three linebacker spots in the Seahawks’ defense and the middle one is where perennial All-Pro Bobby Wagner plays, it most likely means strongside for Wright. Then again, Carroll didn’t rule out Seattle using Wright, Wagner, Brooks and Bruce Irvin on the field all at the same time.

“We have tremendous flexibility in our program. … K.J.’s been a fantastic player, might have had his best year for us last year. Bobby’s at the top of his game and we’re thrilled to have Bruce back, but that doesn’t mean that all those guys don’t play at the same time and all four of those guys are on the field at the same time. There’s options for how we can do that that we’ve worked out and the competition will settle it.”

Josh Gordon/Antonio Brown

The Seahawks have been connected to the two suspended free-agent receivers throughout the offseason, but it’s safe to say his response when asked separately about them was warmer about Gordon, who spent time with the Seahawks than 2019, than Brown.

“Josh did a really good job with us last year. He fit in really well. … We are very open to that thought and we’ll see what happens,” Carroll said. “I don’t know, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen on that.”

As for Brown, he said Schneider was “all over it” and that Seattle would “see where it fits somewhere down the road.” Unlike in his response about Gordon, he did not explicitly state that the Seahawks have any interest in Brown.

Rashaad Penny

The fourth-year running back is coming back from knee surgery and was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list Monday, and Carroll said he’s set to arrive at Seahawks camp later this week.

“He’s coming in on Thursday. We didn’t think we needed to rush him in because he’s still rehabbing, coming back. … We’re anxious to get him back. He’s working out really hard, the reports are really strong that he’s doing well, but we have not had him in our building for a while now.”

Will Dissly

The most positive injury news is that Dissly, whose second season with Seattle as a tight end was cut short by a torn Achilles, passed his physical. That’s great news for the Seahawks as it pertains to his availability for the start of the season.

The former UW Huskies player was apparently very impressive in his rehab work.

“Will had an incredible offseason,” Carroll said. “He worked out in LA, the group that he worked out with told me… he spent nine months working out on a real rigid schedule, he didn’t miss one minute of one day in nine straight months. They said they’ve never seen anybody do that before, and the benefits of it is that he comes in and passed his physical. … We’ll look after him, make sure he doesn’t come along too fast.”

Follow 710Sports.com’s Brent Stecker on Twitter.

OK Boomer – Esiason reckless to speculate about Seahawks’ Adams

Follow @BrentStecker