Quotes and locker room sound from the Seahawks following their 12-9 win against the 49ers in Week 2.
Head Coach Pete Caroll
(Opening…) "Games are hard. Particularly when we did a few things that were uncharacteristic for us. I thought we didn't catch the ball as well as we normally do. We gave away a couple touchdowns early which really would have made a whole difference in this ballgame and then we missed some tackles we don't normally miss. Those were out of character for us a little bit. What I did like was that we played tremendous defense all day long, the guys played great and stayed with it. We made a mistake on one run that broke out and we just missed some tackles on the other one; other than that just couldn't throw the ball much and I thought our guys were great. Terrific play on third down both sides of the ball today which is something we've really been hoping for. But then Billy made a catch and scored a touchdown and we didn't get that done today. It's just uncharacteristic. I think that we're moving in a positive direction. We played really hard, we played tough, stayed healthy throughout the game and saw some guys do some marvelous things."
(On Russell's big drive…)"That's just who he is. He was right in his element when he hurried up a little bit. Up tempo to make sure that we could shift what was going on and then he handled that beautifully and took advantage of it. He took off four times in that drive and made first down so pretty big time stuff."
(On Chris Carson's game…) "I thought again that Chris looked really good. I thought Chris has shown us really nothing but positive stuff. There's a style about the way he runs that you might recognize. The high knees and the big chomp, chomping at that ground and its really downhill at you. We've seen it for a long time and we're hoping to see it continue. I think we got something, I think he's a really good football player. I say that because he's a good pass blocker, a good catcher, a good route runner , and he can contribute on teams too and that's a lot of real positives for a first time guy. Really he has very little background. Junior college kid, didn't play much as a junior, carried the ball 80 something times as a senior so he has not had a lot of football behind him but you would never know it. That's not what we're seeing, and that's not what we saw in the offseason. I'm really fired up for him."
(On the 49ers team…) "I think they looked good. I thought that their offense was challenging, did a lot of good things today. We didn't give them much but still taxed us because they have a really good scheme. They have nice principles and things they're trying to do. I thought Robert Saleh's defense looked great today. I thought they hung in there and played really good, solid football. It wasn't enough to win but it was a very good job. They look like they're going to improve like crazy because they're so young and they're so new at it all.
Linebacker Bobby Wagner
(On getting taken down by a WR…) " I think to my defense, I think he's a track star, right? Runs a 4.2. and I did not see him coming so they're still going to give me trash but it is what it is. I got the pick though, I didn't drop it."
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Defensive Tackle Sheldon Richardson
(On what his first two games with the Seahawks have been like so far playing with this defensive unit and how they have all fit in together) "We're fitting all right, we have to do better though. A couple of the runs bounced outside on us, but other than that, we have to do better in the run [game on defense]."
(On what the biggest challenge is of the defense when the offense is misfiring at times and what does the defense have to do to keep the score down and keep in-tune) "Get our win on third downs. Win third downs, create more turnovers, that's something I can say we harp on. Other than that, we've been doing our job."
Cornerback Richard Sherman
(On how they played…)"I think we played solid. We obviously gave up the big runs, you always want to find a way to stop those because those were easy plays to fix if guys just fit it right but [49ers head coach Kyle] Shanahan does a great job scheming up and coming up with some unique runs. He's done it for a long time in Washington and Atlanta obviously so you have to give him credit too and [49ers running back Carlos] Hyde did a great job reading it to make the big plays, but those are fixable plays and we're ready to do it."
(On if there was doubt he'd play with his hamstring injury…)"No. You guys have to give me credit one day, one day you guys are going to give me credit. I've been playing every game for seven years, until I miss one just go ahead just give me the benefit of the doubt. Playing football you've always got something. I've had numerous nicks and bruises throughout my career. Now we just have to mention everything to make sure the league is not, you know they want to be aware of things. I think I've got a hangnail so we're gonna put that on the injury report next week. You know we don't want to miss nothing."
(On it being tough for the defense when offense is struggling…) "Honestly they weren't really struggling. I mean they were doing everything they needed to do in terms of time of possession and controlling the clock and things like that. We have a lot of highly paid guys on our side of the ball, a lot of guys that play the game at a high level and there is a certain standard that is expected and we expect it from ourselves. We expect that regardless of what happens on the other side of the ball so at the end of the day it's really on us so it's not any tougher for us or anything different. We hold ourselves to a high standard. You've got guys like Mike Bennett, Cliff Avril, Bobby Wagner, Kam, KJ etc etc go down the line Earl, myself, rookies playing lights out football so we expect to get stops. Sheldon's done a great job since he's been here and we've gotta find a way to get those stops and get those plays corrected.
Running Back Chris Carson
(On what the team needs to improve on…) "Everything. Nothing that we did out there was perfect. As runnings backs we need to work on getting our shoulders square getting downhill faster. The wide receivers, I don't really watch them too much, but I'm sure they have stuff they feel like they need to work on. We all just need to be better."
(On if he was surprised by the amount of carries he got…) "I don't think I was surprised but I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity that I was given. When my number is called, I want to be ready to go."
(On if this was the role he envisioned for himself coming into the game…)"I knew I was going to play, but I didn't know I was going to be finishing it off in the fourth quarter. I knew that when my number was called, I was going to be ready."
Quarterback Russell Wilson
(On the touchdown…) "I think it was third and seven, third and nine something like that and then we got down there, we marked the field and we had to find a way to get in the endzone and capitalize. We'd been down there several times, been down there a few times earlier in the game and we missed our opportunities there so this is all we got. We've got to go make it happen right now and so just try to scramble and keep the play alive and guys did a really good job of moving and running around. Then P-Rich did a phenomenal job of making a big time play and scoring a touchdown."
(On Chris Carson's Performance…) "I thought he did a tremendous job. I think he rushed for 90 plus yards or something like that. He kept battling hard, downhill. Kept getting north, getting his foot in the ground and that's a tribute to our offensive line. To be able to trust that those ones and twos early are going break open at the end of the game and sure enough they did. In that four minute situation to be able to ride out those first downs and get those first downs to close out the game."
Strong Safety Kam Chancellor
(On the defense's responsibility to step up and win the game for the Seahawks today against the 49ers) "The adversity in the game, us sticking together, playing together and just keep grinding out until it was over, I think it's a great experience for this group [on defense]."
(On if he learns more from a game like this where the defense has to come up big to get the victory) "Yeah, you learn a lot from a game like this. You just learn to stick together; stick together until the end and don't dwell on what's happening in the past. Just keep controlling what's going on towards the rest of the game and just stay together and keep grinding. Keep looking forward."
Wide Receiver Paul Richardson
(On his touchdown…)"My first move didn't work and then I started to look that way and the DB he was near me so I was just like man I hope Russell's coming back this way. Soon as he broke this way I jabbed inside and broke to the front pile on and Russell always knows where to put it."
(On the challenge for the offense when Wilson is scrambling…)"There's no challenge. We practice it and it's one of our repetitions. I think we're really good at it in practice. It helps that we're doing it against the best defense in the league. We get really good work in. I don't think it's difficult, it's more or less like how can I help [Russell] when he's scrambling. If he can help us by running and getting the first down, then he's going to attack the line of scrimmage and get the first down."
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Defensive End Michael Bennett
(On if the low scoring games put more pressure on the defense) "No, I think in the sports world, there's always games where the offense and defense just have to combine to play good. It's better that we keep the game low, they get a chance to score. It's easier for defense because we have so many of the same players that go out there. Offense, they have a lot of new guys. So, it's going to take a little bit of time to get that camaraderie. They were closing in on the last four minute drive, they ran the ball every time. They ran the ball from the ten yard line to the sixty. So, that was good."
(On getting the feel for how good this defense could be) "Yeah, I think we got a lot of good players and I think you always have the core guys who play good and now you have a lot of young guys coming up and making plays too. It's just a combination of a lot of great players on one team."
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Wide Receiver Doug Baldwin
(On the win overall…) "It was good. It was ugly, but that's football. When you grind it out like that, there's something special to that. It's not pretty, we had a lot of mistakes, but for us to come out of there with a victory and to grind it out like we did, it's the beautiful part of the game."
(On having ugly offensive days but still being able to come through at the end…) "It shows our resiliency. We call ourselves a tribe here on offense. All the letters stand for something. Trust, resiliency, our investment to each other, our belief and then the execution of it. We had to use all of that today. I don't want to take anything away from the 49ers. But we felt like we should come in here and have success. And it was ugly. We had to dig into who we truly are as men, not only as football players, but as men. I can't be more proud of the offense today."
Center Justin Britt
(On if the offense was playing how they want to play at the end of the game…) "We preach about finishing, it's something that kind of lives in all of us and the coaches preach about it so that's all that we were thinking about doing. We aren't trying to do more than we need to, we just need to do our assignments to the best of our abilities. Running in the NFL is hard and in the beginning of the game, it's going to be tough to break long runs. But by the end of the game, it's all about toughness and who's going to fight longer. It's kind of up to the defense if they want to go out there and keep getting beat up."
(On if the team was able to improve the run game this week…) "Sure. And at the same time, no. We have a lot to get better at. But we took a big step forward to being us and what we're about. To see Chris [Carson] out there doing what he does, it was cool for us. We have Thomas [Rawls], C.J. [Prosise] and Eddie [Lacy] back there and all four of them can take it to the house. It's easy for us to go out there and block for someone that's willing to throw his body around and fight for extra yards. We have a lot to improve on, we improved a lot as a unit. But it's a long season and it's a grind."
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Defensive Tackle Nazair Jones
(On the atmosphere of getting a win on the home opener) "Yeah, very special. It's just hard to get a win. You know, you can always go out and play your game and think you did really well, but, if you don't win it doesn't matter. It feels great just to get a win."
(On how the defense did today) "I think we did really good besides a few plays here and there. I think we really played sound and we played our brand of football."
Cornerback Shaquill Griffin
(On how big of a win this was today for the Seahawks after losing last weekend at Green Bay) "Coming into this week, we kind of started to figuring things out, so we needed that [win]. You have to look at the team after a win like this; we kept fighting, and that's something that you can love your team forever for. Just my first home win is incredible."
(On if he felt more comfortable and less nervous playing today versus last weekend's game in Green Bay as his first game ever in the NFL) "It all feels the same. I don't ever catch myself being nervous, I'm always prepared, so of course you get butterflies, but it's never really nervous. I was just excited to go out there and play [today]. Every game, I feel the same, so it wasn't any different, but I was more excited being home. That's definitely different, just being more excited when you get a chance to play in front of your home fans like that, and the way they supported us was awesome."
