First and foremost, got to give a lot of credit to the Seahawks, coming out here, playing tough all day, coming up with some big conversions throughout the day. And then from there I just got to talk about our defense and the amazing game they played to give us opportunities offensively. We didn’t do anything with those. Part of that was just the Seahawks having great scheme playing together, making things difficult on us, but we made mistakes. We made mistakes on the offensive side and when you play a good team like this, you have to be able to take advantage. You have to do things right and that’s what we have to look at in front of us there.
On how WR Tetairoa McMillan’s illness impacted the game and what happened on QB Bryce Young’s interception
(McMillan) was playing his butt off out there. He looked fast. He was doing everything. If anything, I would say just schematically just trying for me and for [Offensive Coordinator] Brad [Idzik], just trying to figure out ways to make sure we create access and opportunities for T-Mac [WR Tetairoa McMillan]. I didn’t see a drop in his game in terms of his performance and all that. I love the fact that he was able to get out there for his teammates and do what he did. The interception, underthrown slightly there in zone. [S Julian] Love played it low to high. Came up underneath it. We thought we had a nice concept to the boundary right there. There was some space and I think [QB] Bryce [Young] would be the first one to tell you he would like to be able to put that ball on a line on the inside right there.
On why the offense wasn’t able to stretch the field against the Seattle defense
They did a great job having discipline, staying deep on a lot of our concepts. I think what you saw is a lot of balls go to the check-downs in different ways. They rallied up and tackled us really well. We didn’t end up getting a lot of yards out of some of those check-downs, but when they play it right and the defense plays from depth and they stay on top and disciplined. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. We called some passes to try to go down the field, and they did a great job of making the ball get to the check-down and rallied up and made some tackles.
On his emotions and the emotions of the locker room after the game after seeing that Tampa Bay lost
Yeah, we definitely feel the missed opportunity, but at the same time, we know what’s in front of us. It’s clearly defined. It was going to come down to this game, us handling our business and facing the [Tampa Bay] Bucs [Buccaneers] one more time on the last game of the season. Couldn’t ask for a better situation
for this. The guys are excited and fired up about that and we got to get over the fact that we missed an
On CB Jaycee Horn’s facemask penalty
It was unfortunate. He rallies up to make a tackle. He didn’t really pull the facemask but there’s contact there, you know. He grasped it a little bit and the official called it the way he saw it. Really unfortunate it happened in that situation where we could have had a chance to get the ball back and try to do something.
On how he will address the missed opportunities and bounce back from this loss
Yeah, it’s going to come down to some really basic stuff. From what I could tell live, just whether it was formationally or whether it was just the technique that was involved in what we were asking them to do, we have to make sure we clear those things up so we can play our best ball. Especially when you’re playing a really good defense, we have to be sharp (and) we have to be on our stuff.
On his assessment of QB Bryce Young in today’s game
I thought he was competing and he was making the ball go where it was supposed to be. Other than the interception, he was competing and giving us an opportunity and operating in what we were asking him to do. I’ll have to look at the film to get a full grade on it but I saw him out there competing. Making some plays with his legs. Critical fourth down right there on the touchdown drive to be able to get us a new set of downs so that we can stay in the flow of it.
On WR Xavier Legette’s offensive offsides penalty
Yeah, the official tried to warn him. He was telling him he had his foot there. He was trying to let him know and [WR] Xavier [Legette] didn’t see what he was doing and thought he was okay on that, so we got to clean that up.
On if he is still confident in WR Xavier Legette
Just keep playing ball. Keep playing ball, keep working on the fundamentals.
On if he looked at the Tampa Bay score during the game
Not at all. For us it was going to be about playing this game all the way through the duration of it and right until the game got 17 points away from us there at the end, like down 10 points with time on the clock felt like we had a good opportunity to make that happen. They got a big sack on us to really create a fourth-and-long situation. They made it difficult there, but for me, it was just, like, let’s compete. Let’s find a way to win. We need all those reps. We need everything we can. Every series matters for this group, so wanted to try to take this thing as far as we could.
On the decision to take a knee at the end of the game
Yeah, ran the ball on the first one, and for me, like at that point, 17 points down with the amount of time we had, the important thing for me is to make sure we get to this next game healthy at that point. My brain never went there before that drive, but once they scored that last touchdown, I knew what it was. And [RB] Rico [Dowdle] looked good today running the ball when he had chances to touch it and so did [RB] Chuba [Hubbard]. I just wanted to make sure that we’re able to go into this next game at full strength.
opportunity with the Bucs losing that game, but our focus has to go to the next one really quickly.
On if he requested for the Tampa Bay score not be shown in the stadium during the game
They gave me an option, and I really want to treat it like any other game. I wanted to make sure our guys were focused on the task at hand. It’s every play, every series that matters right there. Didn’t want anybody looking around trying to figure out what was happening based on the score of that one. Let’s play our best football. That’s the got to be the focus.
On the injury status of TE Ja’Tavion Sanders and how losing Sanders impacted the game
Yeah, definitely took some of our game out of there. We were table to use [OL] Jake Curhan a little bit in some of those spots. [TE] JT [Ja’Tavion Sanders] suffered a broken ankle, so he’s going to get surgery tomorrow, I believe, and we’re going to miss him a lot because he’s been so versatile, a guy that we can really count on.
On what he and Offensive Coordinator Brad Idzik could have done differently on offense
Yeah, just try to isolate the safeties maybe one-on-one in the middle of the field. They did a great job matching us on the outside and Coach [Mike] Macdonald did a great job of mixing the types of coverages. Played a little bit more man than they had shown on film. So where we’re trying to attack some of the fire zones and different things like that, we shifted to some more run-away type of concepts in case they threw the man out there. So I think it’s just a combination of things, dialing in when they are making this transition, where are those oddballs coming from and making sure we can execute in those spots.
On if he’s worried about having to continuously bounce back after losses and the morale of the team
It’s just who we are. The guys will look at the film and we’ll be able to make some corrections and move forward and that’s been the response from this group. I don’t expect anything different this week.
On how his mindset these past few weeks has prepared him and the team for the division matchup with Tampa in Week 18
To have that mindset, to know that each game truly is a championship opportunity. Here we had one today against a fabulous team and we couldn’t ask for a better situation here to see where we’re at and to see if we can call it up and play a really good team and come away with it. We weren’t able to do that but we have another opportunity in front of us. The guys will be used to having this championship mindset. The way I see it is we’ve been playing playoff football for over a month and every single one of these games has mattered. That’s the approach that we have to take. It heightens the focus and the guys come in ready to work.
On if he has a preference whether the Week 18 game is a Saturday or Sunday game
Either way I know that if you play Saturday, if we do win that game, it allows you to kind of have a normal week of prep in case you are the Saturday wildcard so there’s an advantage there. But
