Great win. Man, I’m just really proud of our team, our approach, the whole week coming out of the bye. We got guys banged up, even guys throughout the game. But this is the stuff that we preach on how we train our guys. And you know, we’re really bringing, like, the ready squad and the 70 to life here. So that’s probably what I’m most proud of, is the guys stepping in, upholding the standard, you know, the mentality of the team when we get leads, to try to finish the game the right way. So, [QB] Sam [Darnold], our offense did a tremendous job, especially in the first half. Really a great team effort, great game plan by our coaches. But, Sam’s execution right now, he’s just ridiculous, just plain to sight. All the things we talked about that he’s been doing, but decisive, making smart decisions. Our receivers doing a great job. I thought the protection was really good. So, it’s just a great win. Arizona [Cardinals] here on Monday night, and we got it, we’re going back across the country. So, we’ll get home, refocus, and go get ready for next week.
On LB Ernest Jones IV and CB Josh Jobe:
So, Ernest has a bit of a knee [injury]. We’ll figure it out. I don’t know. It’s not season-ending, but we’ll see how it goes. Who was the other one? Josh? Yeah, so, concussion. He’s in the protocol, so we’ll see how that goes too.
On if he thinks Jones will miss any games:
Yeah, there’s a chance. I’ll give you a timetable immediately. [laughs]. We’ll see.
On his thoughts about the first drive:
Yeah, incredible. I forget what coverage they were in, but just a great job. Coop is [WR Cooper Kupp] down for the day, [WR] Tory [Horton] steps up. [WR] Cody White stepping up, first touchdown. [TE] Elijah [Arroyo] stepping up in that situation. Just awesome with the guys. That’s why we train the way we do. It’s why we practice. It’s why we take all those reps, so those young guys can develop and grow.
On the sideline celebrating with TE Cody White after his touchdown:
Yeah, it’s such a great story. But [Cody’s] a great worker. We’re celebrating there in the locker room, really happy for him, so. But we got to keep it going. And believe it or not, there’s gonna be room for growth when we watch the tape. And we got to keep, keep growing together. But really happy for those guys, the young guys, man, I mean, talk about the amount of work that’s gone into it. What’s this, year six for Cody? I think. Just really happy for him.
On the offense’s potential for growth:
Well, I thought we took a massive jump today with our operation. I was proud of them. We took the line, and motion, and shift, and it’s been a massive point of emphasis for us. And they’re playing together, so it didn’t matter how old you are, but this group is committed to play for the guy next to him. And that’s a powerful thing. And you can do some special things. If you keep doing that.
On finding consistency with the ground game:
Yeah, you nailed it. I mean, get the ball moving, especially on the ground. That’s going to be something that we’re going to have to do consistently, and close games out as well. We’ve been great to get some first downs there in four minute at the end of the game. And I’m sure that’s what we’re going to be looking at, answers and where to go from there.
On QB Sam Darnold’s performance:
Believe me when I say, I’m not surprised. We watched Sam every day on how he operates, and he’s the same guy every day, which is what you love about him. And we’re chasing it. The guys are determined, and it’s fun to watch. And when the team comes together, that’s this type of stuff that you can do when you play the right way, you prepare the right way. And our coaches deserve a lot of credit too, man. I thought [Offensive Coordinator] Klint [Kubiak] called a great game. All the coaches involved in the game plan process, I thought we had some great answers, and it all came together.
On the energy that CB Devon Witherspoon brought:
Well, you know, spoon, he’s a spark plug. You lose your middle linebacker at the end of the half, and you come out, you still play good defense in the second half. I mean, this team that we’re playing is an elite second, third, fourth-quarter team. I don’t know what the point differential is, but it was really high in this, especially in the second half. So, we needed to close the game out after that first half. And for our defense, to go out there and really not skip a beat until the fourth quarter, was tremendous. And that takes everybody. That’s our coaches making the correct adjustments. That’s the guys going in. [LB] Tyrice [Knight], had like nine tackles, and really proud of him coming in and playing good football.
Just keeps building, just keeps stacking great plays. He’s another guy. I know he’s been starting for us here for a minute, and we’re going to need him to keep playing great football for us while [S] Julian’s [Love] out. When I think about Ty, I think about his attitude every day in the building. I think about his attention to detail in the game plan. I think about how great of a teammate he is and how much he loves the guys next to him, and its 100 percent effort all the time. And you got a bunch of guys like that on your team and on your defense. It’s pretty cool, and it makes it a really fun group to coach.
On Seattle Seahawks S Ty Okada’s interception:
It was incredible, it was incredible. Yeah, just made it almost feel like it happened in slow motion, seeing the second foot come down and toe tapping. Wish I could say we taught him that, but that’s just a phenomenal play all around. That was a big point in the game right there, between that and the fumble and the kickoff return that really helped us.
On how sudden change and explosive plays define what they want to be offensively:
Yeah, with all the situations we work, Coach Frazier [Seattle Seahawks Assistant Head Coach Leslie Frazier] is always asking for sudden change situations. So I’m holding us back on that front. Look, it’s about a mentality of stacking plays. It’s really that simple. That we have a standard that we want to play for our team and for our city, and it doesn’t matter the situation. We can be up ‘X’ amount of points, it can be after a takeaway, Sunday Night Football, like it’s all you’re up, whatever. It’s just the guys are committed to playing our style of ball, and when we do that, we play really good football.
On Seattle Seahawks DT Brandon Pili’s forced fumble and recovery:
[Seattle Seahawks Offensive Line Coach] John [Benton] and I were just laughing when [Seattle Seahawks Special Teams Coordinator] Jay [Harbaugh] said, ‘Well, now we can play Brandon Pili on the kickoff team’. I kind of took a deep breath and tried to figure out what the heck was going on. But, yeah, I mean again, who puts a defensive tackle on the kickoff team and who’s bought into the role, and then goes out, and it’s kind of like, ball finds energy type of thing. You go out, you have a great attitude, you prepare the right way, do your job to the 100% of your ability. And it’s funny how things work out like that, but happy for Brandon.
On why Pili was on special teams:
Well, hey, I’m not going to share the tactic behind it. But, there were some things on why we wanted to, and that’s a shout out to Jay and “Fitz” [Seattle Seahawks Assistant Special Teams Coach Devin Fitzsimmons] on how they strategize and use our whole roster. So, they think out of the box, and they’re always trying to find ways to give us an edge.
On the emotion on their sideline seeing QB Jayden Daniels’ injury:
Yeah, your heart goes out to him, man. You never want to see anybody get injured in our game. He’s just, you don’t. It’s just it. He’s a great player, any player, you just want guys to be healthy. And when a guy goes out like that and it didn’t look good. They were telling me upstairs. Yeah, your heart goes out to him. Our sideline is right there with him, and we’re rooting for him. We want him to get back as soon as possible, and want him to be healthy. Say a prayer for him, and hopefully he’s back as soon as possible. So that was tough.
On how all three phases have come together halfway through the season:
It’s funny how you say it, it’s like, that’s not how we’re looking at it. We’re just trying to have great days. And that’s just it, it’s really that simple. So what we’re thinking about right now is, ‘Let’s get back home as soon as possible’. Let’s figure out who’s going to play in the Arizona game. How are we going to get ready for this game, and let’s go rock and roll with those guys.
On the consistency of WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba and WR Jake Bobo:
It’s remarkable. And I think I don’t know the staff, but it seems like it’s the first time we’ve done it for our team. Let’s keep doing it, and it’s only three-quarters of the work. So, team football. I mean, it’s either like it feels like it’s almost like he’s the catalyst to spark somebody else that gets open, or if the run game is working. That sets it up for “Jax”. Just feels like it’s complementary right now. When his number is called, he’s coming through. But, yeah, it’s tremendous. I mean, probably the big, in my opinion, one of the biggest game plays of the game was the first play of the two-minute. Coming out, getting the ball moving. I’m in a situation where if we don’t complete that pass, Washington might get the ball back, and now you’re talking about a different type of football game. But being able to answer that touchdown with points was really critical for us.
On the option to call a timeout and avoid the 10-second runoff towards the end:
I thought, basically, what we were going to do is we were going to take the 10-second run off and kick the field goal and take the timeout. But I think it was Washington’s decision whether or not they wanted the runoff, and they decided to take it. So then we said, ‘All right, we’ll let it roll a couple of seconds. We’ll take a timeout and go kick it’. At that point, it wasn’t probably worth taking a shot to the end zone from where we were on the field.
On their improvement on third down conversions:
Yeah, we just said all right, now, let’s convert third downs, this is what we want to do [laugh]. We haven’t wanted to do that. I think the way we answer those, the way we saw it throughout the bye and answering the questions throughout the week, we knew it wasn’t good enough, but we liked our process. And so I felt like, same thing with the running game, I feel like it’s the same way. Let’s stick to it. Let’s keep hammering out the details. Let’s keep finding new edges and things that we can do schematically to help our guys and then it’s great to have results this way to kind of show fruit for the labor that’s going into it. But our guys deserve a lot of credit. I mean, I thought we protected [Seattle Seahawks QB] Sam [Darnold] really well, and [Seattle Seahawks Offensive Passing Game Coordinator] Jake [Peetz], [Seattle Seahawks Quarterbacks Coach Andrew] Janoko, [Seattle Seahawks Offensive Coordinator] Klint [Kubiak], the guys that are involved in game plan, third down, thought they did a great job.