Head Coach Pete Carroll
9-27-10
(Opening) “We’re very pleased with the win yesterday and the game, the outcome of it. It was a
really, very exciting day of football at the stadium. I know our fans were all over it there, right
there with us the whole way. We had a great locker room afterward, had a lot of fun with it, but
as we look at the film there’s so many things that we have to work on and so much to take care
of that we just have to stay after it. So it was a really exciting game, it could have gone either
way obviously. We played against a great quarterback who had a great day as it turned out, but
we were able to make enough plays at the end to turn it around and get ourselves a win. We had
those back to back four-down situations down there in the red zone with their chance to tie the
game up and our guys came through the first time, and then we couldn’t get a first down, so we
had to go back again and they had to do it again. They really came through in a big fashion. So it
was very exciting, challenging, I think we can grow from this game. We saw fantastic
demonstration of our special teams work. There really, really were…obviously the two kickoff
returns are what you think of, but we had punt returns, and we covered kicks well, and the
intensity and the energy was really something that we set off. So I’m very pleased with the
outcome and some big parts of it, but we have a lot of work to do. We gave up too many
opportunities to score in the red zone, too many points given away, and didn’t handle the end of
the half effectively. I was disappointed, I really didn’t do that well. Honestly, I realized that after
all those years at USC, with our offenses being so dynamic and all, I can be a little bold about
our situations. We need to take care of business better. I need to do a better job and make sure
that we get our points and we get our opportunities and they’re not always going to come back
around again like it used to seem like it happened. So we’re all growing and getting better and
looking forward to this next challenge coming up, going on the road again. It’s obvious that we
found a real energy level to play with at Qwest (Field) and to match the crowd and to play along
with them, to cooperate with the stands and the fans and everything that’s going on, that’s good.
But there’s a whole another part of our schedule that we have to react to and respond well to and
so we’ll take that in (mind) this week and see if we can get a good game going into St. Louis.”
(On any injury updates) “Yeah, we got banged up a little bit. I think Williams has a sore
shoulder. After the game he had go in and come back out, and did finish the game, and played
well with it, but he’s real sore today and we’ll see how that turns out. It’s going to be exciting,
for the first time we’re going to see Russell Okung and Chester Pitts out there together playing
and practicing for the first time. Those guys are coming back from injury situations, but that’s an
exciting thing for us on the offensive side. Marcus Trufant his ankle is bothering him, he had to
come out, couldn’t finish the game, Walter Thurmond had to finish for him. Brandon Mebane
has got a sore calf; we’ll see what that means. Aaron Curry has got a little hamstring thing that
we don’t think is real serious, but it’s something that bothered him enough where he couldn’t
play. And E.J. Wilson will be a little bit hobbled this week as well. So we’ve got some guys that
we have to mend during the week, we’ll see how they do; we really don’t know how they’re
going to turn out until really the end of the week. So we’ll wait and see.”
(On if any of those guys are ruled out of this Sunday’s game) “None of those guys are ruled
out.”
(On if he tells the team about improving himself and his coaching) “Yeah, exactly. Today is
about telling the truth and for us, so we got to get to the essence of what happened. We just have
to own up to what’s going on so we can get better. The thing that is important for us on this day
is to come together and agree what took place so we can move forward. So that’s what happens.
And we had a nice play thought down there, but under the circumstances we needed one more
play. So with that thought we needed to do it in a fashion I think…where we were too bold, in
that regard. So I’ll take note of that. And I can sense where it comes from, personally, and it’s a
little different setting here, so you have to handle it differently.”
(On being that bold on certain situations at USC) “Well, we scored so many times and were
successful in situations where we were bold so much that you get accustomed to it. And I like
that attitude, I like the…I love the way we played in that regard, but just have to make sure it’s
the right thing, and it’s not just hoping that it’s the right thing.”
(On if he is referring to the play at the end of the first half, or more in general) “No, well in
general I’m speaking somewhat, but in that particular instance I like the thought of, you know,
stuff it at them and knock it in the end zone and get a touchdown right there, but in that instance
we would of liked to have a fourth-down opportunity too, and that eliminated it, all but. We
thought maybe we could get the (play) in there, but we couldn’t. You need more time than that,
you need about 16-17 seconds to get that done and we were just a little bit under that.”
(On if he was aware if Matt Hasselbeck had got the first down on that play) “No, we didn’t.
And we (didn’t) have enough understanding of the situation to realize that we weren’t going to
be able to find out if he was short because they might not have stopped the clock in time to
measure it, or show us and tell us what was going on in the clockwork, we thought the clock
would run out. So it was all or nothing, kind of score or kick the field goal, we rushed the field
goal team on there, and you know, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
(On if you can ask for a measurement in that type of situation) “You can, but you don’t
know if they’re going to stop the clock in time. We just couldn’t take the chance on it.”
(On the empty backfield formations, four and five wides, and going to that formation in the
red zone) “Well, that’s been part of our offense all along. We’ve gone empties and spread stuff
out. It’s just trying to take advantage of opportunities with your opponent and sometimes we use
it more than others. As you vary the game plans, sometimes it fits and sometimes it doesn’t. So
that’s nothing new for us really, but we did utilize it pretty much effectively, getting the ball on
the perimeter, the ball got out pretty nice and Matt (Hasselbeck) was in good control of it, so it
worked out fine.”
(On adding firepower this offseason, and if there are more playmakers now than when he
took over the job) “I think, like you were saying, I think it’s early to tell. Certainly, Leon
(Washington) showed his presence in big fashion. That’s no surprise that he’s a good kickoff
returner, you know he’s done that before. We were hoping that if he would be well that he would
be able to do that, we were hoping that Earl (Thomas) would be a guy that could make plays, if
you remember we talked about it, he was one of the most active guys in college football, we
were looking for a playmaker type of guy and thought that was a good choice, Golden (Tate) was
always that kind of a player, so as you look down the draft picks those guys were all pretty
productive players, Walter (Thurmond) was a great returner in college as well, so I think that the
obvious guy that shows up as a touchdown maker is Leon (Washington) coming on board
through the trade. But on the other side of it too, let’s not forget Clem (Chris Clemons). Chris
Clemons has done a very, very good job for us. He had a huge game this week. Not just the
sacks, but the knockdowns on the quarterback and the (quarterback) hurries that he came up
with, as well as chasing the ball in the running game, that’s playmaking too, a little different than
what you’re getting at. So we’ve added some, yeah, I think so, and we’re a long ways to go until
we figure it out.”
(On if Okung and Pitts are now starting Sunday) “No, no, no, we’re not there yet. They have
practice first, they have to get to Wednesday and see how that goes. But it’s exciting for us, we
have a chance to continue to improve and we need to improve, we’re a long ways to go. But
those guys were guys that we had slated as guys that would be factors for us and that would help
us be a good football team. And now when you think (about it), Russell (Okung) has only had
five days of practice, so he’s a long ways from being in the groove, so we’re just going to have to
bring him along and see what the information tells us, Wednesday, Thursday, (and) Friday, and
see where we go. Just because he’s healthy doesn’t mean he’s starting. And that’s for anybody.
We’re just going to wait and see how guys fit in and how they look as they come back, but it’s
still a boost for us. We’ve been waiting for the big fella’ to get back in there. I’m anxious to see,
Chester (Pitts) has been practicing with us, but this is the week that we’re deeming him full
speed and so we’ll see how he does. And he’s going to play left guard some too, so we’ll see
what happens. We’re really happy. Polumbus has played very well for us, coming in short
ordered and fitting in to the offense, he did a great job for us and so we’re fine with him playing
and feel like we’re OK if he’s in there. So there’s not a necessity that we have to start Russell
(Okung), but we’ll get him back in there as soon as we can.”
(On Clemons) “Yeah, I think this is a great time for Chris (Clemons). He’s never really had the
opportunity at the places he’s been to be featured as a starting player and a key, critical, crucial
pass rusher in that position and all. So it’s a great time to see him. With the opportunity he’s
rising to the occasion and he’s really showing us what we want. He had two great Qwest sacks,
you know the crowd was going crazy, he came off the football perfectly and timed it beautifully
and was able to get by an effective left tackle and make two classic sacks for us. And that’s
exactly what we were hoping we would see. We were hoping that Chris (Clemons), or one of the
guys that would elevate to the starting position, would be able to take advantage of rushing on
third-down for us in that kind of matter, so that was really cool, really good.”
(On playing defense at Qwest Field) “You know, way back in February or whenever it was, we
started talking about how we would like to construct the defense. We talked about the factor, just
hearing that the factor was so obvious with the crowd. If you remember the first day I got here
the first guy I went to was to find out what Aaron Curry was doing, to talk about him because I
knew that he ran in the 4.5’s (sec. range) and he might be able to rush outside and to take
advantage of this opportunity to play here. John (Schneider) went out and found Chris Clemons
to come in and add to that; and that was exactly that thought. We wanted speed rushers to take
advantage of the opportunity with the crowd and the noise and if that happens it’s so effective
and a factor on third-down, it’s exactly that. So we’ve been pointing to that for a long time.”
(On if Thurmond will remain on the outside if Trufant is unable to go this week) “Yeah,
we’ll work at that. That was the way that we were set up to do it this week, and I don’t know
anything about what we need to do in this game plan yet, we’ll wait and see. It would also give
us the chance with Nate Ness too, to elevate him. He’s been a guy that we’ve been looking at
here for a couple weeks, and he’s a nice looking athlete and has worked hard. He may be able to
help us too. Roy (Lewis) has done really well inside of the nickel spot, and more likely than not
we wouldn’t flip those things around, we’d just keep them the same, but we’ll have to wait and
see.”
(On what you lose without having Trufant if he is unable to go on Sunday) “Well, we’ll just
wait and see. We don’t know anything yet. So let’s talk about that later if we could, I don’t even
want to go there.”
(On the running game and if Justin Forsett is the number one guy) “Yeah, well we’re
definitely going that way and this week was the first time where we (said), ‘Let’s get him as
much as we can, let’s see what happens, let’s see how he produces.’ And he played a good, solid
game, had a big 28-yarder (28-yard rush) and all, but the competition in my mind is not closed at
all. But that’s the way we lean, we wanted to see what would happen when Justin (Forsett) really
got the ball more than seven or eight times in a game. So we just fed it to him a little bit more, so
we’re still growing, trying to figure it out. But that’s where we are right now; nothing is going to
change this week in that regard.”
(On Julius Jones’ role) “Still battling away. He didn’t get many turns this week at all to help
out. But he’s right there and ready to help us at all times and we’re just trying to get a sense for
it. It’s going to take us awhile. I know that it might make you feel real impatient about that, but
I’m not. We’ll just figure it out and take some time and get some more reps in there. You know
you get excited about Leon (Washington) because he made his touchdowns and he didn’t get
much done, (just) a couple shots in there on offense, but this is a long season and the competition
remains and all that. We have a starter right now, that’s what I think I can tell you.”
(On the offensive struggles in the red zone and if they are still searching for an offensive
identity) “Yeah, I think we’re still working at it. Honestly I think we’re still working at it. You
know you can’t tell…they don’t know where we’re going either right now. So we’re taking that
as an advantage and we have good players that we like going to…we were able to get the ball to
John (Carlson) five times in this game and try to get him a couple other times. So we’re still
working at it. I thought Matt (Hasselbeck) played a really solid football game for us. He
managed the game well, he did a good job, (and) we just didn’t quite get it knocked in. We
should have scored with Deion’s (Branch) play; it was a great play by their guy to knock the ball
out. I feel like we’re still on track and we’re still moving in the right direction with what we’re
doing and all that and we’re counting on it to come through. We’re really counting on Matt
(Hasselbeck) to be able to engineer our stuff and we need to help him more than we did.”
(On Matt Hasselbeck’s performance) “Yeah, he played very solid, very solid game. Thirddown numbers were good, we just missed…when he threw a touchdown pass to Deion (Branch)
and it didn’t happen, and he got one to John (Carlson), so I thought he played a good, solid
football game. I liked the way he got out of the pocket that time, scrambled for a first down, that
was nice, avoided getting hit. I thought he was in good command of the game. We missed a
couple; of course everybody’s going to miss a couple.”
(On if he feels like he dodged a bullet with Hasselbeck being healthy right now with all the
personnel issues on the offensive line) “I think the guys have worked really hard. I think
scheme-wise, Jeremy (Bates) has done a really good job. There’s more than just the guys up
there playing, there’s some scheme things that we’ve done to make sure…to give us a real good
pocket so Matt (Hasselbeck) would be able to do what he wants to do. But the exciting thing for
us is that it’s not settled yet. We still have guys coming up that are going to fit in and help us out.
Stacy (Andrews) is still just starting with this, if you can imagine. And Polumbus is just kind of
starting a week ahead of Stacy (Andrews). And then with Chester (Pitts) and Russell (Okung)
coming back we’re still kind of in motion. So I like holding out the thought that we have an
opportunity to continue to improve, but I think one of the things that we can count on right now
is that we can protect the passer and we’re doing a pretty good job of that. So hopefully (we will)
continue that and get better and do all that stuff. It’s going to help us improve and get a little
more explosion in the offense and get a little more creative with our opportunities to score in the
red zone. We’re just growing, it’s very early, and we have a lot of room to improve here.”
(On if he has any time of possession concerns from Sunday’s game) “No, not really, other
than the fact that the defense had to play so many plays. When you have the two kickoff returns
and then the safety also, those are three sequences that they go back on offense against us. That’s
how that happened this week as much as anything. Like you said, it’s different, it’s been
different. Last week it was third downs for the defense…but not really. But we are accumulating
a number of plays on the defense, that’s right.”
(On two of his protégé’s meeting this week in the UW/USC game) “Well, they were great
friends and they were kind of comrades as they grew up in the system you know. Lane (Kiffin)
was in his first year as a full-time coach and Sark (Steve Sarkisian) was his first time as a
graduate assistant. Those guys kind of grew up learning our style and our system and all that.
They became kind of real products of it. They’re much different, not the same individuals, but
they got along well, about the same age, had fun together and all that. They had a great time as
they watched our offense and our whole program really emerge and they became really the
beneficiaries of it and all that. Really humble and respectful fashion. It’ll be great, I think it’s
great to see them. Last week watching Bo (Bo Pelini) and Sark go against each other was very,
very interesting to me. Both those guys…I think I was with Bo for five years and then Sark for
maybe six or seven years, whatever the heck it was. So I don’t know, it’s just fun to see those
guys work at each other and see the styles. Now these two guys come from directly the same
source and it’ll be interesting to see how the game goes. It’s a big, big matchup for both teams at
this time, for sure. Very important game for these guys, so we’ll be rooting for them, and we’ll
see what happens.”
(On who he is pulling for) “I’m just excited for them. I’m thrilled for whatever these guys get
done, but I’m a little closer to the ‘SC program than to the Washington program, but we’ll be
rooting for everybody.”
(On if he takes pride in the coaching family tree) “Yeah, yeah, I think in some ways. I think
it’d be really interesting to watch the game and see how it goes and I’m going to make sure and
see this one. I don’t know if I’ll get it on replay or whatever, but I’ll see it. Just kind of see how
the things come about, the decisions that are made and all that, and it’ll be interesting to watch
the game plan as much as I can tell. They have tremendous information on each other, so you
think that somebody has an advantage over the other, but I think that kind of gets washed out.
But it’ll still be very exciting to see it happen.”
(On if he has the time to talk to a guy like Earl Thomas during the game, or if that is for
someone else, like Lawyer Milloy) “On the field, Lawyer (Milloy) and Lofa (Tatupu) they carry
the message, and the reminders and things like that. But we’re pretty close to those defensive
guys now; I hang with those guys pretty closely as the game goes on for adjustments or heads
ups or things like that, particularly with Earl (Thomas). We’re looking out after him. He’s just
such a young player and has so little football background that there are a lot of first time
experiences occurring still. And the exciting thing for that, he’s a fantastic football player and
he’s just going to get better and better. And the free safety spot, so much of it is just prerecognition and understanding what is going to happen, and he just doesn’t have the benefit of
that yet. He has the benefit of great wheels and great instincts and playmaking ability and handeye coordination and really a great competitive nature. In time, when he was the game in hand
he’s going to be a fantastic football player. So we’re really excited about him. He could of have
had four picks in this game; he missed one on the touchdown to Gates and Walter (Thurmond)
knocked the ball away from him at the corner of the end zone that he would have had a great
chance to get too. So we’ll see. And that was a game where the ball was flying and not all games
are like that as well, but Earl (Thomas) had a lot of chances so he’ll continue to get better I
think.”
(On what he said to Earl Thomas after his last interception) “I don’t know, just yelling at
him, we were just having fun. I didn’t know what the penalty was, I think it was for taking his
helmet off over there though, but knowing that there was like six seconds left it didn’t matter at
that time so I didn’t care. We were just having fun.”