Pete Carroll, Geno Smith and Ashton Jeanty Presser – 12.3.25

Pete Carroll, Geno Smith and Ashton Jeanty Presser – 12.3.25

What do you got, Pete? Jack Bash is somebody that keeps kind of flashing, especially on third downs. He seems to have a knack for for being available in those situations. Is he earning more time uh in in your eyes in the Yeah, he definitely is. He’s in the rotation much more so. Yeah, he’s done he’s done a nice job lately. What in particular has uh has has in terms of growth has he shown? Um, one of the when the guys are new, you know, they they you can see their talent, but they got to get all of their assignments and all the little things and all the details of stuff. And for the young guys, that that’s why you play them sparingly as they’re bringing them up and you raise them. Hopefully, like I’ve said a bunch of times to you guys, you get to the halfway point, they should have their their act together. Well, he’s he’s an indicator of that. So, um, so it’s it’s just being really precise is what’s hard for the young guys. Uh Pete, there was a there was a report recently from NFL Network in regards to like the dis I don’t even know where this is going, but I’m not sure I like this. You probably won’t, but um but um in terms of the disconnect between you and Chip Kelly, how the offense should have been operated when he was here, I was do you have any comment on those reports about that? No, I I don’t know about the reports. I know who I sounded like right there. I don’t know about about what you’re talking about other than there was some clamor because I said something that came out because it wasn’t accurate. And that’s uh Chip’s a tremendous football coach and we got along great and communicated well and all that. We just needed to make a change. You said you’re doing a right guard yet. No, this we got to practice these next couple days. We’ll see what happens. But we’re working at it and we’re open to, you know, how the competition plays itself out. I know um I know in in the summer over the summer time you mentioned how like you was you’re not afraid to play young players, but I I was wondering as over the course of the season kind of like what’s been the challenge for them to get I would say more consistent reps? Is it more like the the learning curve been a little bit steeper than you guys anticipated with some of these guys? Just what has been that? No, it’s up, you know, it’s up to the the the competition at the spots, you know, and and who they’re trying to kind of remove from from the play time or or gain some play time on the just depends on what’s happening. And uh not everybody, it’s not a wholesale idea. It’s it’s a it’s an opportunity uh to compete to find your way on the field. And we want to be wide open to it, which we are. And then they got to earn it. And so that’s that’s basically what it is. Some guys come along faster than others or other guys maybe play better at their spots because they feel the pressure of it which is kind of the whole idea. What have you seen from Alice Kappa now that he got a little bit more burn at the center spot? He he he he handled it really well for for the few times that he’s been able to play the spot in in his past. Um this was like you know starting over kind of but he had because of his background his experience his wherewithal uh his his ability to communicate he he helped us and so he did a nice job. program practice week going on this week. Is the chance Meredith might be able to work his way back or um we’re going to see how he does. We’re going to let him practice and we’ll see how it goes. So, we’re hopeful that he’ll get to return. There’s an analytic site out there that ranks you guys as the best in terms of fourth down decision making, whether they go for it, punt, you know, etc., etc. Um, has that evolved in terms of the decision making, what goes into it, the analytics of it all? Yes, it has. It definitely has over the over the years and and it helps to have somebody that that you know has a good feel for that. Nate’s really good at doing that. He he handles uh that in connection with the coaches have they’re involved in it but yet they don’t have the say and uh but we we take their input when we can but we that’s how we work it out and you know we feel pretty clean. I didn’t know we were where we were but uh I know we’re very comfortable with the process and the situations. We’ve been through a million of them. How much of that is is predetermined, you know, in terms of if we come across this situation, this is what we’re going to do as opposed to going by your gut when when it’s when Yeah, it’s how much you say. Well, it it depends. We we try to get through everything we can think of and when we can predetermine how we would go, then we it’s a matter of when the opportunity arises, you capture, you know, what the thinking is and then you go ahead and make the call. And there is there is some gut situations in here, you know, and uh you know, for years and years and years, that’s how I did it. I did it right from the gut, you know, and uh now we have a nice group, a nice connection. Uh uh Ryan Pagnetti helps us in a big way as well. And so we’re we’re I feel like we’re really well prepared and whatever happens, we feel pretty confident about making the choices. Brock Wayne had four targets uh on Sunday and I think that’s like the second fewest in his in a game in his career. I was just wondering what led to that. Is that just more of like Gino Smith not having enough time due to being under the rest for most of the game? Kind of like what led to the There’s there there is a few variables in there and and some of the way they played him and uh we we’re always looking for him always. You know, we we love the way he plays and the plays that he can make. So, we’re it’s never like we’re not we’re holding off to throw to somebody else. That’s not the way this works. But, um some of it was pressure and some of it was things that they did. You know, they they really committed hard and uh you know, it worked out for them better than for us. We we would like him to get, you know, close to 10 targets a game, you know, and somewhere in there and more. We we’ll take whatever we can get. He was easily looked at with the thought of targeting in the maybe a dozen times in the game. So, um it just didn’t work out. Where does that catch rank for you that he made? Well, it’s it’s a very unique catch. You know, you think about all the great catches that we’ve seen. So, so unique that he would catch it off the the top of the the turf, you know. Um, I thought it’s one of one of the really excellent catches I’ve seen and because you never see anybody do it like that. Uh, made it special even more so. You guys run zone at the highest rate in the league. I’m just curious like philosophically, what is it that you like about zone and how it can make life tough on a quarterback? Uh, it’s mixing it’s mixing your looks as much as you can, you know, keep changing up so you can fit guys in in different ways. We we do a variety of things uh uh to do that. Um, and it’s it’s it’s just kind of the the pattern of that we have been really successful at for a long time. And uh, so we like it and but that doesn’t mean we don’t like playing manto man. We’ve worked really hard with our corners and our nickels to make sure that they can hold up and we feel confident in them. Um, I I think you know there’s there’s always reason you could do a little bit more man-to-man stuff, but um, and we need to we need to get a third down defense in order and we that that will call for us to play more aggressively. The reason I asked that question is because Bo Nick struggles against zone. Uh, and you know, I’m just curious how you guys feel you. Yeah, we need to play a lot more man-to-man this week. Greedy greedy bass up from the practice squad. What has he been showing you guys? Um, I I I would think that every time you ask me about Greedy, I I’ve feel so positive about his his ability. He’s uh he’s got a real knack about making plays and he’s got great confidence. What that is what the players have that that are willing to make take the chances. he’s got that and uh he’s a really good tackler, you know, for a smaller guy. Um and he he’s just been obviously a guy who who could make a play and we’ve seen it all through camp and in the offseason and all of that. So, um I’m glad that he’s he’s one of the guys that’s benefiting from, you know, the time time on task and uh you know, we like what he does. You anticipate Michael Mayer being able to practice this? Um we have to wait. It’s dayto day. Have to wait and see. Pet despite the difference in records, you guys played them very tough up in Denver. Does that give you any confidence heading into getting them back here in Vegas now? It was it was a really good game in on, you know, both sides. Both teams played really tough and played right down to the nub. Um there was a lot of really good field position things that happened. AJ had a great game. Um defense played really well when we had them backed up and got off the field and did some great things there. Um they had some penalties too in the game, you know, that they I’m sure they they’re going to try to avoid. Um, but it gave us a real shot to play a, you know, nose ton-nose defensive ball game come right down to the last the last possession. And so, uh, we we do understand that. We have a lot of respect for their team. The team has done some remarkable things this year. They’ve had remarkable games, uh, comebacks and finishes and all of that kind of thing that we really respect. So, we know we’re up against a really tough opponent, but yet we did match up all right and and, uh, so we’re looking forward to see if we can take the next step. Uh, I know you mentioned that you you you were hopeful in terms of Colt Miller returning at some point during the final stretch of the season. Like given this given where you guys are at standingswise, does that like impact kind of like your decision whether to It doesn’t impact mine. No. And and the trainers are pushing him as much as they can. He’s working as hard as he can to get back and we’ll see what what the time frame is. Um, it really doesn’t have anything to do with the other aspect of it. Just trying to get him out there. What makes Nick so hard to handle on defense how they use him? He’s explosive. Um, he’s really slippery. He’s a really good all-around athlete. He’s got all the kind of the knack, you know, physically to to to slip you, to avoid you and to race right on past the the tackles. Um, and he has a great motor, you know, he really goes. So, those guys like like when we see Max play, he plays at such a high level that when if a guy just makes a false step or just doesn’t quite get off on the cadence like like on Max’s sack last week, you know, they take full advantage of it. And so Nick’s doing all of that and he he’s been he’s having a terrific year. He’s got 50s something pressures or close to 50 pressures or whatever it is. It’s amazing. Good. Pete, you reportedly gave guidance to Lane Keifin when his decision to go from miss to LSU. What was your thoughts on him moving on and taking a new challenge? You think I’d answer that? I ain’t answering that really. In all respect to the question, um, yeah, I don’t have any opinion that I’m going to let out about what he did. I mean, I just talked to him the way the way I knew him, you know, I’ve known him just about his whole life, you know, so that was just uh just being there for him. Thanks, coach. Okay. Well, you waiting for the You don’t need him, bro. Got the timer. Denver is really a defense. You faced them before. or what did you maybe learn from them for the first time? Yeah, I mean they’ve got a great all-around defense for sure. Um, great pass rushers, linebackers, and safeties. So, um, main thing is they’re leading the league in sacks. So, we got to do real good job at, um, you know, giving Gino some time and then us as running backs, tight ends, chipping those DNS, give them some extra time. You’re always a willing blocker, but how challenging has that been just week in and week out having these great edge rushers and and defenses, you know, having us try to slow them down? Yeah. No, it’s it’s been tough. And I mean, you know, that that’s kind of the difference like, you know, the DNS, you know, some of these guys are, you know, just as explosive as like a skill player coming off the ball and, you know, can be shifty and make you miss. But um yeah, just really continuing to grow and um just attacking it and you know getting better each week. Last week you said you know even with Greg Olsson now being the play caller, a lot of things aren’t going to change about the offense, but after a week after a game, what are some things that you like that were positive in the way he played called against the last game? Yeah, I think just uh kind of trying to set, you know, things up throughout the course of the game, whether it’s, you know, running a play action off, you know, our our run schemes and then, you know, just setting it up, you know, throughout the course of the game. Um, but also, you know, coming in and we’re making adjustments in halftime and, you know, knowing what we’re going to come out with and um, you know, attacking and trying to execute that. Jack, like obviously used to losing after being beat to Boise. When you see someone like Max who’s been here a while, going all out, players like that, what does that do for you as a younger player as far as keeping your head up? Yeah, I mean it it gives you, you know, all the motivation in the world to, you know, look at a guy like him who’s continued to uh keep going, you know, despite um not having the best um you know, you know, years um you know, with the team in a winning perspective, but also just wanting to keep playing and you know, fighting for guys like him and you know, trying to get better so that we can get to some wins. question, there’s just a little over a month left in the season. You know, what are you looking for out of yourself to look back on this rookie season as a a personal success for you? Um yeah, just that I look back, watch the film that, you know, I got better in all aspects of the game, you know, blocking, you know, running the ball, running routes, and you know, despite the, you know, the record and how things, you know, look, you know, I continue to just work hard and um, you know, inspire others around me. Is there any of those things that you’re kind of looking especially to improve on in the last stretch of this season personally? Yeah, I mean for sure just continuing to get better blocking, you know, got to protect the quarterback. Um I think routes, you know, as well and then trying to be more effective in the run game. For sure. Talk about running routes. What are some things that you feel believe you’re really starting to master in terms of the nuances of route running and also just being a good pass catcher in general at the running back position? Yeah, I think just um obviously catching securing that ball and then you know being able to get yards after the catch and then you know just reading the coverage whether it’s man or zone because that dictates dictates our routes um sometimes for Friday night just go out there and execute man how will you kind of measure how the season was for you I mean statistically obviously you know everybody knows in the record but like how how are you going to be able to judge like maybe growth and Um, I mean, I don’t think statistics always kind of show that. I think it’s just more of watching from game to game. You know, maybe it was a read or a run scheme. I didn’t read the best that week, but, you know, this next week we ran it again and I read it better. Or maybe on this route it was zone and I thought it was man and I ran the wrong route. So, just continued improvement in that sort of way. But it stats don’t always show that. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? You uh you went against this defense just a couple weeks ago. Um what did you maybe learn from that game and take away from playing a really good defense like them that you can take into this one? Yeah, they’re pretty stout up front. Uh they obviously, you know, the amount of sacks they got on on the year and um just overall where they rank really good defense. They got um players on every level. Um they play sound, they play together. Uh you know, I thought we fared pretty well against them. Obviously um you know, move the ball decently, but didn’t score enough points in our previous game. And so um that’s the challenge for this week. You know, how many points can we score? How can we find ways to um stay on the field, help our defense out, move the ball, and obviously finish in the red zone. How did it feel on the field working with Greg Olsson last week? Felt pretty good. Um obviously there’s things that we can get better at. We all can, but I thought Oie did a phenomenal job at, you know, trying his best to put us in position to make plays and uh, you know, he he’s a he’s a coordinator who’s, uh, who’s done it before in this league and, uh, he knows what he’s doing. So, I think this week will be even more improvement. Gino, do you feel like um, there’s been a few missed opportunities with Trey Tucker down the field where it looks like he’s got to step on the defense and that’s something that could be capitalized on? Yeah, uh, we want to hit our shots for sure. um you know whether it’s Trey or whoever else is downfield, we want to hit our shots and um yeah, we we definitely got to capitalize on those when we get chances. Uh Gino, uh I was wondering at this stage of the season, the way this this season has gone for you guys in particular, I was wondering, do you do you yourself kind of like think about the future of your future here? Like where does your mind go when you’re at this? My future is, you know, what God’s right for me. Um I focus on the day-to-day and getting better every single day as a player. That’s all you can do as a NFL player. you can never look too far ahead or even too far behind. You know, uh the whole your future thing, um I got a bright future. I know that for sure. But, uh you know, as far as um you know, what I have to do here is is lead this team and focus on you know, today’s practice and how we can execute and get better, prepare ourselves to go up against a tough team on Sunday. The study that came out yesterday about analytic space that said you guys have been really good at making decisions going at the right time. Uh that has done that really well this year. Uh does it what does it mean to you that he has faith in you guys to go out and perform on a fourth down situation? Uh that’s coach man. Coach is uh Hall of Famer, one of the best coaches all time. Um you know, and I think he knows what he’s doing. I know he knows what he’s doing. Uh he’s done it for a long time, a lot longer than I have, a lot longer than I’ve been living. Um he understands the game completely in its entirety and uh you know, he he usually makes the right decisions. You know, no one’s perfect, but I think for the most part, he’s got a really good handle on things. He said he himself has learned over the years like maybe in early in his career it’s like hey it’s just a gut now he’s learned like oh there’s math involved that really matters like have you seen a progression in him at all? Uh you know I’m not really in those talks. Uh I kind of just try to execute the plays and you know he he lets me know hey this may be a four down situation um based on you know where we are in the game or you know uh field position those type of things. Um but you know he he got you know control of that. I just try to you know run the plays. How challenging has it been working with offensive line that continues to different parts come in and out due to injury or just poor play or whatever and just a lot of different guys in different roles? I mean, that’s what that’s the situation, you know, and um you know, I try my best to go out there and make it happen no matter, you know, who’s out there. Uh obviously, you know, we lost cotton early in the year. He’s a big part of our offensive line, but I thought, you know, guys have stepped up and and done their best to uh you know, make it work. And um the coaches, they control, you know, a lot of that stuff. But, you know, for me, I’ve got to lead the troops, lead the guys that are on the field. And um obviously with O line, you want that continuity. You want guys to be able to play alongside each other for uh you know, a long time. But, you know, that that hasn’t been the case. And so, there’s no crying about it. You got to go out there and make it happen. What about Cap at the center position? He got a start last week. Man, I love Cap at the center. Um you know, it’s my first time working with him. Uh and he jumped right in. Um he’s a super smart player. Uh he’s been in this league a long time. he knows what to do and he does a great job at leading the guys as well. So, um, Cap’s been doing a great job and we’ve all got to help him as well. Greg Olson’s obviously called plays before, but I’m just curious like given the timing of it all, you know, him being thrown in there as a coordinator and everything like that, do you have more agency at the line to kind of change things and stuff than maybe you did before just given the change in the middle of the year? Yeah, I mean, like this question has been asked to me a few times. You don’t, you know, you don’t just go up there and start changing plays. Um, there has to be a rhyme or reason. We’ve got to practice it. you can’t just go out there and just flip the script because no one will be on the same same page at that point. Um, which is what we need. But, um, yeah, he he gives me a lot of, uh, you know, ability to get to different plays at the line of scrimmage, but it’s all based within the game plan. And so, um, I’ll try to do the right things according to what we’ve practiced and what, you know, obviously the guys can handle. Coach has said a lot like it just feels like a good thing is about to happen that the team has, you know, has always felt like it’s about to turn the corner, at least offensively speaking. How do you feel that way for the last month of the season? You know, I always feel that way. I always feel, you know, we’re very optimistic. Coach is very optimistic. I am myself as well. Uh I always feel like something great is right around the corner. And um you know, it’s all a process, man. Like if you going I’ve gone through this so many times in my career where you have these ups and downs in the league and one minute they love you, one minute they hate you, you can never focus on that. You got to focus on the day-to-day process. And um if you believe in yourself as a player, if you know who you are as a player, eventually you come out on the right side of it. So, um, I’ve always had this ability to kind of block out the noise and just stay focused on what’s in front of me. And, you know, that’s the way coaches as well. And so, we all believe that, you know, if we continue with this process, which we’re working hard, extremely hard, uh, great things are going to happen. So, I believe that. Cool. Thanks, guys. Thank you guys.

Head Coach Pete Carroll, QB Geno Smith and RB Ashton Jeanty address the media.

0:00 Pete Carroll
9:33 Ashton Jeanty
14:01 Geno Smith

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