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Seahawks Executive VP/General Manager John Schneider joined 710 ESPN Seattle's pregame show for an interview with 'Voice of the Seahawks' Steve Raible prior to Seattle's Week 5 matchup with the Bengals in Cincinnati.
The full audio file is embedded for you above and a few conversation highlights are laid out for you below.
(On going up against the Bengals...) "This is, in my opinion, the hottest team in the NFL, probably besides Green Bay. Their defense is like plus four in turnovers right now, they're taking the ball away, they're putting pressure on the quarterback, they're playing the run real well. Offensively, [Bengals quarterback Andy] Dalton is like second in the League right now to Aaron Rodgers and they've got two real good runners in [Jeremy] Hill and Giovani [Bernard]. It's going to be a heck of a test for us today. I'm glad we're playing them at this time of year."
(On the Bengals defensive line...) "You could really say six to eight they have a real nice rotation. [Defensive end] Wallace Gilberry, he's going to dress today, which I was kind of hoping he wasn't. But [defensive tackle] Geno Atkins, they're just extremely active up front and we need to come off the ball and play together as a unit up front."
(On what the Seahawks need to do on offense...) "Offensively we really just have to play together. Offensive line has to really be more cohesive than we were last week in terms of communication, working together, sliding protections, and just getting on the same page is the more important part of it than it is the physical aspect because you get to this level and everybody's pretty much the same in terms of strength and quickness and everything. We are a zone team, so the zone-running teams need to be in concert with each other. We're not a pure power team, so that's just where we are right now."
(On the Bengals offense going against the Seahawks defense...) "I think it's strength against strength. It's a team that throws the ball down field, they're a big seam team and that's been our strength with [free safety] Earl [Thomas] in the middle of the field and the bigger corners outside. I think the thing you've got to look for in this game here is our ability to manage the check downs with Giovani Bernard and Hill and try to put pressure on Andy."
(On placing CB Tharold Simon on injured reserve and promoting RB Rod Smith from the practice squad to the active roster...) "I was able to speak with Tharold a little bit in the locker room earlier. He understands what's going on. He needs to get healthy, get 100 percent. He hasn't had that opportunity since he's been here and really since his junior year in college. It's one of the reasons we were able to draft him where we drafted him was because of some of the nagging foot issues that he had and some other things that were going on. But Rod's done a nice job for us. Marshawn [Lynch] is not with us today. Fred [Jackson] made a remarkable recovery [from a high-ankle sprain]. So we just want to be able to protect ourselves at the running back position there. I'm excited, Fred, it's pretty cool to see a guy come back that fast like that."
(On the number of 12s showing support in Cincinnati...) "They were all at the hotel and they're definitely down near our tunnel, so it's pretty cool to see the 12s, there's so many of them all around, walking around town and everything."
