Pete Carroll says Jimmy Graham a game-time decision, Titans’ creative defense

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll says Jimmy Graham’s status on Sunday against Tennessee will be a game time decision.

“We’ve just got to make sure he’s O.K. all the way to game time, but he really feels like he can do it. So, we’ll see,” Carroll told Dori Monson on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM on Friday.

Graham’s status versus Titans up in the air

Caroll talked about slow starts on offense, the need for explosive plays, and running back Chris Carson.

Here are a few other notes:

What the Seahawks are learning about themselves offensively: “You can’t help but realize, we’ve been a very explosive team. We’ve been always up in the top of the league for explosive plays and whereas we haven’t had them in the first two weeks, it’s hard to score. It’s really hard to get your points on the board. We all know you’ve got to score in the red zone, you’ve got to score touchdowns. But even more than that, we’ve got to continue to create our explosive (plays) and without them, the game goes right back to the defense and Jon Ryan punting the football. And so that’s where we separate. We’re doing a really good job taking care of the ball, but we need to get the football off our opponents (and) we need to make sure we’re doing our part here, and explosive plays are a big part of it.”

On early-season breakout player, rookie running back Chris Carson: “When John (Schneider) and I looked at this guy in particular, he jumped off the film, and we didn’t hold the numbers or the history of his college career, his four-year career, against him. I’ve been a junior college guy myself; we have a little compassion for (them) — sometimes guys, once they go to four-year colleges, don’t always have a really productive first year, which he didn’t, and then it can be other circumstances. We just loved his styl; his style of running, he has got a way about him and he’s very aggressive and he was very good as he was attacking the line of scrimmage, attacking tacklers, and attacking the goal line that just separated him. I thought you could see other great players’ qualities in his style. So I was sweating it out (during the draft), I really wanted him to be on our team, and all the way down to the seventh round John assured me that we would be able to get him there and he was likely to be a free agent otherwise, and so we nailed it and took care of business and so far he’s done really well.”

On the Titans and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau: “It’s a good club; they drafted well and acquired a lot of good talent, and they’ve got a lot of highlight players, and they’re young. They’re young and agressive, and they’ve got a good style about them. Very creative team, too. And then Dick LeBeau’s over there, too. Dick’s been coaching in the NFL for 45 years, if you can imagine, and he’s one of the most creative guys you ever will go against. He’ll give us all the problems you can want to try to handle; with the blitzes and the pressures and the looks and the disguising, and all of that. Offensively, because of the running quarterback, and they know they have one, they’ve got real good scheme and style and utilizing him to accent in a style that they want to run the football. So, they’ve got a running quarterback that’s really talented, really poised kid, too, great competitor. So, this is a really difficult team for the future and I’m hoping we can get by this game, find a way to win it, and then put them back in their division for a while and not have to mess with them.”

Follow @stacyrost