Scribbles from the Pete Carroll interview on Jan16 at 9:30 on 710/ESPN/B&S, not verbatim.
Saturday: Turning point was obvious, first drive was beautiful, second drive we barely missed a TD, third drive penalty backed us up to the 11, RW stepped on, Safety, the flow of the game took a big knock.
Weren’t able to keep up with them in the second half
We never found the consistency of our execution for a variety of reasons. Never got our ‘role’ going. Saw that against the Packers and Atlanta. Missed a feel and momentum. QB banged up, Thomas broke his leg, ET broke his leg (not a six week injury). When we were firing on all cylinders like Detroit, that’s what we want to look like. This group needs continuity. Ifedi and Fant will grow, we can expect to do better.
Three plays made the difference. We were not that far off on Saturday.
Players losing their poise happened at times. Need to be more restrained when players get their butts kicked.
The leaders made it clear they were here to go for it, and are still here to go for it. The team has a chance to be really good, still have that and they know it.
Regrets: Injuries, especially Thomas Rawls, so frustrating. Showed some bad expressions on the sidelines, personal issues going through hard times, should have remained behind closed doors.
Extraordinary character growth, Frank Clark, Doug Baldwin – so much fire but harnessed differently. Bobby, KJ.
Personnel changes: Faster, stronger, may not be able to find replacements for starters but there will be more competition.
Maturity of guys up front on offense. Competition at RB. CJ, nobody else can do what he does, see his yards against New England. Almost made it back.
DeSean (PC sounds pessimistic on timing) and ET getting back. Will add to the secondary for sure.
Emergence of PRich, Tyler coming back.
OL has the talent to get a lot better. Rees will be a good competitor too, just didn’t get the play time. Weren’t quite as clued in as we wanted to be, example on Saturday.
Constantly challenge the staff to keep competing, function at a high level.
Haven’t lost the sense that we are going places. We tasted good health at the end of the year, Rawls and RW, Bennett, we had a chance but didn’t quite hit it.
Run/Pass balance: We have our way, are going to continue trying to excel at it. Complement the QB, protected, have the tools he needs, etc.
Exit interviews: Everyone pretty worn out but in the locker room after the game they showed tremendous gratitude to each other. Unique in how close they are to one another. They embrace sincerity and care.