Check out what the Seahawks are saying about the Cardinals leading up to the Week 10 game for Thursday Night Football at the University of Phoenix Stadium.
Head Coach Pete Carroll
(Opening statement...) "Ok, we made it through this week. This week is a challenge though for the players and for both teams to get back and get right, and there's some issues of getting through and we did it, and had a good week of work. You'll be asking about some of the guys who're up and down and we'll tell you, but that's what is challenging, and these guys are ready to go. We're going to have a great night, we heard that they are opening up the roof, it's going to be beautiful, and we're looking forward to a really big ballgame."
(On how they've played pretty well on Thursday Night games and what the key is to them short-turnaround to getting guys back and ready...) "Well, you have to adapt to the players and what they can do during the week, and make sure that you can push the guys that need to be pushed and take care of the guys who need to be taken care of. We just worked real hard; every individual guy has an individual case, and we'll try to make sure that we manage that well."
Quarterback Russell Wilson
(On the biggest challenge of preparing for a Thursday night game…) "Yeah, it's a great challenge obviously for Thursday night games. You go from Sunday to Thursday and you got a big game coming up. I think the biggest thing is the preparation part of it. You have to be able to prepare at a very, very high level and process and be very efficient with your time and what to takes to be ready to go. That is the thing that we are excited about. We do it really well as a whole team and me and Austin [Davis] and stuff in the quarterback room, we have a really good plan on how to study and how to plan, and so that is a good thing for us."
(On why you guys perform well on Thursday nights…) "Yeah, I think it is very simple. I think it all just comes down to the preparation. How you prepare, how you are processing things throughout the week and how you are taking care of your body is really, really critical. I don't think that people really understand the physical nature of the game after the game. You watch it and it's all fun and it's entertaining and everything else but Sunday night, Monday morning, especially Tuesday, Wednesday, those are usually pretty tough physical days for everyone not just me, but everyone. No matter what position you play. It is key to have your time for that body to heal but the good thing is too about Thursday game, I will say is that you have the weekend off so you get to watch your college football games, the other NFL games, so that is the benefit of it."
(On the rivalry with the Arizona Cardinals…) "Well it's an NFC match up and an NFC West match up. It is one of those things that two great teams who have great players on both sides, on offense and defense on both teams, so I think it is one of those things that whenever you go down to Arizona or they come to us, we know it is going to be a heavy weight fight and we know it is going to be one of those games that you really respect the players on the other side of the ball and you love that. You want those type of matchups and those type of moments because that is what you play for. You play to play great teams and great players and I think you will definitely see that come Thursday night."
(On how many carries would you give Adrian Peterson on Thursday after getting 37 on Sunday…) "I would try and give him 38. I would try and give him 38. Adrian [Peterson] is AD all day. He is one of the best football players to ever play the game honestly, to watch him and I've been around him several times and been able to spend time with him at the Pro Bowl and stuff and just watching him and his process and just how he works. You can't compare anything to his work ethic. So that is why he is so great."
Defensive Coordinator Kris Richard
(On if he is in the same situation Thursday night if he would do the same sequence as last weekend against Washington…) "Well, it depends on whether or not we want to be aggressive. Again, there are different calls that we could make and it all depends on how our attitude is going to be at the time."
(On what Adrian Peterson is doing for the Cardinals so far at 32 years old and how impressive he has been with the Cardinals so far since they acquired him…) "That was very impressive, and he fits this offense to a T. It's what he's done historically; he's explosive, still has speed, he's a daylight runner, and their offense tests your discipline as is. If we get undisciplined and we pop out of gaps, then we're going to exploit his athletic ability, and we don't want to do that."
Linebacker Bobby Wagner
(On what is key in keeping Adrian Peterson contained…)"I think tackling. I think this is a style of offense where he is excelling really well in because he is a very patient runner and this is a patient kind of run game where it is just crunching and just waiting someone to pop out of their gap. He does a good job of finding it, but I feel like we have been very disciplined when we played him and we understand the problems that he kind of presents when we play him if we stay gap sound, we should be fine."
(On why the team is good at playing on Thursday night…) "I think Coach [Pete] Carroll and the training staff and everybody does a really good job of monitoring the schedule, not going as hard and I think that is kind of what it is. It's really hard to turn around, play Sunday and especially when you have to travel to a different city to play. It's an extremely hard schedule but I feel like our coaches do a good job of getting us as healthy as possible."
(On anything different you have to do physically to prepare for a Thursday night game, like starting to prepare last week…) "You know, me personally, I had to do that. That's why they were kind of playing around with me coming out there for the hamstring because of the short week. But you just really have to be on it. It's unfortunate how the schedule works out but fortunately you have a Monday night game, so you just play what they give you."
(On how much does Drew Stanton change the Cardinals offense and what you have to account for…) "We actually have some film with him starting against us too, so you kind of go back to that film and see how they tried to attack us in that game, see what they did well, see some of the things that they maybe had success on but didn't come back to and maybe they will try to come back to it this game. I think they are going to still try to do their offense. They are going to try to get Larry Fitzgerald the ball. They are going to give A.P. [Adrian Peterson] his touches, and try to spread the ball around and obviously going to try and take some shots down the field."
Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell
(On how disruptive Arizona Cardinals pass rusher Chandler Jones is to an offense...) "Yeah, he is doing a great job. He works hard. He has really nice pass rush moves. He's got great hands. He is going to be a handful for us. They can move him around. They can put him on either side, so we will see how that goes."
