Pete Carroll meets with Richard Sherman over sideline outburst: ‘He knows that wasn’t right’

Richard Sherman doubled down Thursday night, unapologetically defending the way he came after Seahawks coaches in frustration over an offensive play-call during the team’s win over Los Angeles. The morning after, he apparently backed off.

Coach Pete Carroll told “Brock and Salk” that all is now well after he met with his star cornerback for an hour Friday morning to discuss his latest sideline outburst. Carroll described his actions as unfortunate and said Sherman realizes he was out of line, a change of course from how both talked about the incident Thursday night.

Sherman’s outburst reflects Carroll’s approach | How will Carroll respond?

Carroll said he was communicating with Sherman after the game and that he asked Sherman to meet with him Friday morning. It sounds like they had an earnest conversation, the way Carroll described it.

“I haven’t seen his comments after the game. I just spent an hour with him and we’ve been through it,” Carroll said. “I love Richard. I just flat-out love the dude. I’ve been with him through so much and watched him grow and do so many unbelievable things. We made it through it and he knows that wasn’t right. He’s just so fiery and we’ve seen him before. Let him speak for himself on that, but I feel very good about where he is right now, and we’re going to be alright.”

Sherman’s frustration with Seattle’s offense, seemingly building for a few weeks now, boiled over during a third-quarter possession near the goal line. Sherman shouted at Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, saying afterward that he was voicing his disapproval over the decision to throw the ball from the 1-yard line. Russell Wilson’s first-down pass to tight end Jimmy Graham in the end zone was nearly intercepted. Seattle then ran a running play that was stuffed for no gain before Wilson hit Doug Baldwin for a touchdown.

Sherman referenced the infamous ending to Super Bowl XLIX – when Seattle lost to New England after Wilson was intercepted at the 1-yard line – while explaining why he was upset with the play-calling.

Richard Sherman said he was upset about the Seahawks throwing from the 1-yard line. Didn’t back off. “We’ve already seen that.” pic.twitter.com/WLH875lbLX

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) December 16, 2016

“It was too bad. It was too bad,” Carroll said. “It was a distraction to the game and that’s not the way it’s supposed to go and all that. I understand it and we worked through it and he gets it. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of him because I know how passionate he is about his world, his life and how it comes out sometimes, and I love that about him. I love it about him. Sometimes it goes the wrong way. He’s a real man and I was so proud to visit with him this morning about it, so he’ll speak his own.”

In his press conference later Monday, Carroll seemed to indicate that he would have considered some sort of discipline had he not heard from Sherman what he needed to hear, and what he apparently did hear.

“I think if we weren’t able to come back from that, I think so,” Carroll said when asked if he felt Sherman’s actions amounted to insubordination. “It would depend. It would depend on how the meeting went. The meeting went very well, and it was very clear. I know the guy I’m talking to. I know him as well as you can know a guy, and I know how he feels about it and I’m fine about what happened.

“That doesn’t mean that it was OK. That doesn’t mean it isn’t something that needed to be addressed. He was the only guy that was in my office this morning, so we went right after it. I was going to make my decision on how to move forward based on what happened and how we communicated, and I feel very good about it.”

Carroll said he has no concern about a possible rift between Seattle’s offense and defense, but Sherman’s actions Thursday night as well as some of his comments in recent weeks suggest there’s some frustration on that side of the ball, at least with him.

What’s clear, though, is that the wounds from Super Bowl XLIX aren’t completely healed. Carroll said it still stings him – and that he lets it.

“I’ve got a lot of games like that. That was the worst one,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of things that fuel me, and I’ve said this before: I don’t mind holding onto some stuff because I need the edge and I need to be whatever it is that that makes me. I don’t mind. I’ve made the choice to leave some things kind of on a shelf that I’m going to run into every once in a while. It’s going to remind me of what I believe in and what I stand for and what’s important to me.

“I know Sherman feels the same way about that and a number of our guys do. But no, it’s not fresh, it’s not something we talk about, but that just stirred up something and it just caught Sherm wrong, and he went off.”