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Pass Rush, Injury Updates & Other Takeaways From Pete Carroll's Wednesday Press Conference

News and notes from Seahawks coach Pete Carroll’s Wednesday press conference.

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The Seahawks kicked off a condensed week on Wednesday, the result of a Monday night game on the East Coast, and are looking to get back on track after a third straight loss that dropped their record to 3-8.

"We've done a Monday and a Wednesday with these guys already, meaning we've got to it and talked about it," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said, "Clearly, we've talked about making the choice to do each one of these weeks right. That means that we get after it and have the intent to compete, battle, try to get better, make the corrections, and do everything we can to have as much fun with it as possible. The mood (of the team), they're with us on that, so we're off and running again."

In addition to the big news of the day—the addition of future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson—here are five takeaways from Carroll's press conference, including some injury updates:

1. Damien Lewis on track to play, no IR for Rashaad Penny and other injury updates.

Starting left guard Damien Lewis missed Monday's game with an elbow injury, but Carroll said there's a good chance the second-year guard will be back for Sunday's game against the 49ers: "Good positive signs going in to today from the docs. We'll see what happens. This week will help him a little bit. He'll get another couple days where he won't have to be jamming on anybody, so we'll see if that doesn't help him. We are thinking he should be back."

As for Rashaad Penny, who missed last week's game with a hamstring injury, Carroll said the running back isn't headed towards injured reserve, at least as of now.

"We are going to see how he works this week and see if he can get back into action," Carroll said. "We are not sure yet, we have to wait and see. It's a week that we are in a little bit of a different mode because of the Monday night game, so as we make it through the first couple of days of the week, we are kind of in a recovery mode. He should be able to do everything is what the trainers are saying, so we will see what that means."

Defensive tackle Al Woods limped off the field at one point in Monday's game and was checked out by trainers, but he returned to the game and Carroll said he should be fine this week.

2. Russell Wilson's miscues are "easily corrected".

Since coming back from a three-game absence caused by a finger injury, Russell Wilson hasn't been as sharp as he usually has throughout his 10-year career, and while Carroll was quick to dismiss any notion that the team would consider resting Wilson to give the finger more time to recover, he did say he and Wilson have gone over some of those miscues and talked about how to get it right.

"As we went through it, and we watched it together, there's a few plays in there on the shorter passing game that he just really tried to drill the football and maybe threw it a little too hard, harder than normal," Carroll said. "Trying to make sure the ball was there and crisp and all that. The balls down the field, he threw the ball really well; on the move, really well. We weren't as sharp as we needed to be, and it showed up on three specific third down situations that all could've been very convertible for us. That's just as we looked at it. They're easily corrected, easily corrected. He feels great. He does not feel like he's burdened by the surgery from the past and all that. He's ready to go. To address the other question, he doesn't need to be rested. He's not tired or worn down or anything. He needs the action. He needs to get back to the activity. He needs to play more and get into the flow of it as much as possible."

3. The pass rush needs to be more productive.

The Seahawks were able to get pressure on Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke in Monday's game, but with the exception of one Darrell Taylor sack, they weren't able to turn that pressure into sacks or even many hits. Overall Carroll likes what he has seen out of Seattle's pass defense in recent weeks, but the next step is to get to the quarterback more and finish sacks, something that can also lead to more turnovers.

"I think our numbers were 38 percent—you guys can double check—that we had pressure on the quarterback, but we missed three sacks that we really should have had," Carroll said. "They had one explosive pass play in the game, so we are keeping things under wrap, but not being able to hit the quarterback and the problem that results from that is that you don't get the chance to get the ball from them. That's one of the most vulnerable parts of the game, getting after the quarterback, and when we are not as effective as we need to be, then we aren't getting our shots at the football, the poor throws or the ball is coming out. We are just going to keep working at it. I was surprised, I didn't feel like the rush was significant enough in that game, but the numbers show that we did some stuff. We have to do better, we have to finish the plays, and we have to finish the opportunities. That's where the ball comes out and we need to make those turnovers to help out the offense."

4. A losing record doesn't change Carroll's outlook on who plays and who doesn't.

While the Seahawks' chances at reaching the postseason decrease with each loss, Carroll doesn't see this as a time to start playing young players just for the experience if it means hurting the team's chances of winning every time it takes the field.

"We are doing everything we can, just like we know how to, to win every game with the guys that have done the work to put us in the best position to give us that chance," Carroll said. "That's what we are doing. I would love for everybody to play, I would love to get everybody in the game. We need to get way ahead to give those guys a chance to jump in and work their way back."

5. Jamal Adams and Jordyn Brooks have both been very active of late.

As Seattle's defense has improved since some early-season struggles, two players who have been making a lot of plays of late are safety Jamal Adams and linebacker Jordyn Brooks, both of whom had big games on Monday, with Brooks matching Bobby Wagner with a team-high 14 tackles, and with Adams recording nine tackles, two passes defensed, and his second interception in three games.

"He's taking advantage of his opportunities well," Carroll said of Adams. "We're moving him around quite a bit. He's doing a lot in the scheme. He's drawn a lot of attention. We continue to see that, they continue to find him in protection. We need to take advantage of that more. He's playing really hard. He's playing tough. His confidence is up. He's really bringing a lot for us."

On Brooks, Carroll said, "He was really active. He's a really good ball player. He's a great tackler, for the most part. You can see his strength all the time. When he gets ahold of guys, they don't get away. He continues to learn, he's learning. He's still in the process of getting rid of a couple plays here, the coverage opportunity, reading the screen. There's things that happen. Sometimes he does them really well. Sometimes he's excited to make the play that he's making, and sometimes he's just going to get better. It's experience, it's time. Did he make 100 tackles this week? What a fantastic second year for him. To have two guys over 100 tackles, I don't think we've ever been that. I don't know if we have. He's just getting warmed up. We've got a lot of games left. He's going to be a fantastically consistent, big-time producer. But, he's still got room to grow. Still got room to get better."

Go behind the scenes with team photographer Rod Mar as he shares moments from the Seattle Seahawks' 17-15 loss to the Washington Football Team on November 29, 2021 at FedExField. Eye On The Hawks is presented by Western Washington Toyota Dealers.

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