After 3 missed FGs, Blair Walsh ready to ‘get back out there’ for Seahawks
Nov 5, 2017, 6:12 PM | Updated: 6:41 pm
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is standing up for his kicker Blair Walsh. (AP)
(AP)
Sunday was not a good day for Blair Walsh.
And he’ll be the first to tell you.
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“I’ve been having fun all year playing for this team and playing here, and when you have one of those days where you don’t do your job, it’s tough,” the 27-year-old Seahawks kicker said after Seattle’s 17-14 loss to a visiting, banged-up Washington squad.
Walsh missed three consecutive field goal attempts for Seattle: once in the first quarter from 36 yards out and twice in the second from 39 and 49 yards out.
Head coach Pete Carroll said he was “disappointed” for the five-year veteran, who signed with Seattle this offseason.
“I don’t know,” Carroll said, when asked whether he was worried about Walsh’s confidence moving forward. “I’m disappointed for him. You know that he had trouble in pregame, when it was blowing. The weather was kind of nasty early on. I’m disappointed for him. If we had a shot, I was totally counting on him to kick the game-winner. I wasn’t thinking anything but that.”
Despite a poor outing, a surprisingly patient Walsh stayed around to answer questions first from a group of reporters in the Seahawks’ locker room postgame, and again when approached by another reporter.
“It’s hard to be around your teammates when you know you let them down,” Walsh said, adding that the Seahawks were supportive after his missed attempts. “For me, it’s just, gotta go back out there. And the nice thing is you have a quick turnaround.”
Seattle (5-3) hits the road this week for a Thursday night matchup against the Arizona Cardinals (4-4), a team fresh off a 20-10 win over the 49ers.
Walsh now has a chance to bounce back from his worst game of the season; his last missed field goal was Oct. 1 against the Colts.
For the next three days, Walsh is focused on one thing: consistency.
“There’s no need to change or just starting pressing or start to do something weird or wacky. It’s a bad day. You want to eliminate that and manage the bad day. I didn’t do that. So, that’s the part that I take the most pride in, is kind of minimizing those bad days. But today, it just kind of got away from me.”
Injury updates
Free safety Earl Thomas’ (hamstring) status is still in question for Thursday, and he will be a game-time decision vs. Arizona. Given that it’s a short turnaround followed by a Monday night game, the Seahawks could choose to again hold him out. Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson (oblique) has a chance to make it back. Both were inactive Sunday versus Washington. Defensive end Marcus Smith left Sunday’s game to be evaluated for a concussion. Linebacker D.J. Alexander has an ankle injury, and Carroll said the team does not yet know how serious it is. Fullback Tre Madden was announced out with an achilles injury during the game, but Carroll clarified postgame that he is dealing with a calf injury. Eddie Lacy sustained a groin injury – the severity of which is unknown – and did not return to the game.
