A recap of the activities at Virginia Mason Athletic Center for Jan. 19, when the Seahawks held their "Tell The Truth Monday" meetings after Sunday's overtime victory against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game:
FOCUS ON: TRUE GRIT
| STAT DU JOUR: LOOK WHO'S NO. 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Seahawks have become the 12th team – how appropriate – to return to the Super Bowl after winning in the game the season before. Here's a look at the group they've joined:
|
Pete Carroll met with the media Monday, but offered no updates on the injuries sustained by the All-Pro tandem of free safety Earl Thomas (left shoulder) and cornerback Richard Sherman (left elbow) in Sunday's game.
But the Seahawks' coach does know one thing when it comes to the grit displayed by Thomas, who returned to the game wearing a shoulder harness after being injured in the second quarter; and Sherman, who refused to leave the field after he was injured in the fourth quarter.
"It's worth mentioning again the effort that those guys put out," Carroll said. "We don't even know what happened to them yet, we don't know the results of the injury. Both those guys were in dire straits for, could they play? They didn't flinch. Not for a second.
"And when they played, they played their hearts out. The courage and the toughness and standing up for who they are and what they mean to this team and all couldn't have been more evident in their willingness to throw their body out there again and try to finish this game, and would not allow it to be any other way. It was so impressive. It really was."
Asked if he has considered what the Seahawks' defense would look like without Thomas and Sherman, Carroll offered, "I'm OK about that. But I'm not going there."
THE DEFENSE DOES IT, AGAIN
The Seahawks allowed 22 points against the Packers, the most during their current eight-game winning streak. And the Packers' 306 yards were the second-highest total during that stretch, behind the 362 they surrendered to the Carolina Panthers in the divisional playoff game.
"It didn't seem like the defense was at its best in the game as you watched it," Carroll said. "But you look afterwards and a great quarterback (Aaron Rodgers) throws for 178 yards; and as good as Eddie Lacy did, he rushed for 73 yards; and they were 3 for 14 on third downs.
"So it was a fantastic night of football for the defense."
The most fantastic element was the Seahawks turning the ball over five times – which is called a sudden change – and the defense allowing only six points, despite the Packers getting the ball at the Seahawks' 19- and 23-yard lines in the first quarter and also close to midfield twice.
"That's phenomenal football," Carroll said. "The stops early weighed huge later on. We weren't sure what that was going to mean, but those were huge stops."
OPPONENT WATCH: BILL BELICHICK
The Patriots' coach is not known for embellishing his comments during news conferences. But when Belichick met with the media in Foxboro on Monday, he was asked about Carroll – the coach he replaced in 2000.
"I think Pete's a great football coach," Belichick said. "His record speaks for itself. I've always had a lot of respect for Pete. He believes what he believes in. I think they kind of have their way of doing things, but it works very well and Pete's consistent, he's got a consistent message.
"I think he coaches pretty much the same type of – he has the same type of style and similar type of coaching personality and scheme and just kind of the whole thing for many years now. It's well over 20 years that I've coached against him and known him through our different competitions in the National Football League."
But wait, there's more.
"Pete's a good friend," he said. "I sit down and talked with him on many occasions and I really respect what he does, how he does it. His players play hard, they play well and he has a really resilient team with a lot of energy. I think he's done a tremendous job in Seattle, as he did at SC, and he's a really good football coach, and they have a really good team. I like Pete, like him a lot."
UP NEXT: AN "OFF" DAY FOR THE PLAYERS
| YOU DON'T SAY |
"We're exactly the same. We kind of liked the way it worked out."Coach Pete Carroll, when asked about the team's schedule this week compared to this week a year ag |
The players will be "off" Tuesday, when the coaches will begin working on the game plan for the Super Bowl matchup against the Patriots. They will return Wednesday to begin a normal week of preparation, with practices Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
"We do have to get a lot done," Carroll said. "This is a very-heightened time for us. This is not like, sit back and let's take a couple days. We go after it, because Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we're game-planning. We'll have the game plan in before we leave (for Arizona).
"That's an old Bill Walsh way," he added of the former 49ers coach. "It's a really good way for the coaches and the players to focus before all of the distractions that naturally come up when you get on the road."
