HEAD COACH PETE CARROLL
Opening:
Well, this was an amazing football game, from my perspective, to watch us battle these guys and go toe-to-toe, in their style, in our style. Halftime was tied. It was a game that had a chance to go right down to the nub, but it didn't because we gave them two big scores. Whenever you lose the turnover ratio, you're in trouble. If you lose the turnover ratio and they score with them, then it's almost impossible, and we were trying to bring in a possible impossible comeback. There was a chance. We had a chance to score three times at the end, and that's what we were shooting for. But, we gave them too much. I thought we played really well on defense. I thought Lamar Jackson was phenomenal. It wasn't on their designed runs, it was on the scramble runs, that he was so explosive, and he's faster than he looked. When you saw him in person, he's faster than we saw him on film. He was able to just find the space and get out of things. There really wasn't any missed tackles. He just ran around people and found a way. I think they are doing a fantastic job with him in their offense. He's totally unique, and they know it, and they've recognized it and they're playing ball with him. That's a great factor. But even with that, we had our chance. I thought the defense played really good and hard [other than] those exceptional plays that game off the scrambles. We just have to find another way to get him down. Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don't, and we weren't able to do it enough. On the big turnover plays, Russell's play, just a mistake and he knows it. He just went late in the flat, and couldn't do it, and the ball gets ricocheted for a touchdown. And then we lose the ball, switching hands there, with DK, and they scoop it up. Other than maybe he didn't catch the ball, that was a terrific play by them to get that done. They took advantage of it. So, I really respect what they're doing and how they played their game. They played the game kind of the way they wanted to play it. Like us, if we go plus-2, we're going to win. They were able to get that done today. It was a tough loss.
On 29 of the first 44 offensive plays being pass plays:
We were just trying to move the football. Try to do what we needed to do. We were aggressive with our calls and our thoughts. That's just the way the game called for us to play.
On the play of Marquise Blair:
I thought he did pretty good. I caught him a few times, and I have to look at the film to really know, but for the most part he came through and he did fine. He had a couple of nice plays, and was good playing the ball one-on-one. He seemed to hold up his edge. It was a pretty basic game for us in that regard, in what he had to do. I thought he did his part.
On whether Bradley McDougald can return next week:
We think so. We think so. We're very positive about the thought. He wasn't quite able, today. But, he still has to do it. He still has to get well. He has back spasms, you know, and that didn't really release the way that sometimes they do. So, maybe over the weekend he will make a comeback for us.
On whether Jaron Brown should have done something different on the pick-6:
No, not really. You always want to come back to the ball better. Russ felt he was sitting there and he was wide open. It was just an error. Always, you come back to the ball, but I don't know that it would have made a difference on that play. It was a pretty easy play for them. It was a good job, it was a nice job making it, but we kind of gave it to them.
On how shocking was the Russell Wilson interception, because of how well he has played in 2019:
Somewhere you have to make a mistake, you're going to mess something up. How many games can you go without making an error like that, I don't know. Everybody in the locker room knows it. Russ said something after the game. They're telling him, don't worry about it. We understand that there's a burden to that, and all, but we've seen Russ do so much. It was just a bad play.
On whether frustration led to the pass interference challenge:
We were mixed on going for that. I mean, the guy has his hands all over us. But, I'm learning. I'm learning. This is a new time. Yeah, it was a little bit desperation. I thought it was a big enough situation to try for it, because we were going to have to give up points, otherwise, and it was a chance. So, we took a shot at it.
On whether he thinks they will ever overturn a pass interference call:
Yeah, they will. They will when it's really, like they say, totally miss it. They're not there to police pass interference, really. We kind of had that thought for a while, that they were going to police it, and they were going to clean things up and all that. They're not doing that. They're waiting for the play that's an obvious miss. That's OK. That's the way the rules are. That's they way they've been saying it, so they're doing what they're saying. We just have to adapt to it. I've been pretty aggressive about trying. I think we're at the halfway point of the season after this week coming up, and I think I have it pretty well figured out. I will tell you the next time that I screw one up, that I don't. So, we'll see what happens.
On the play of Jarran Reed:
I don't really know. I can't tell you much. I know he played good inside. We were physical inside and played tough. I didn't see him get clean on the pass rush and all that. We didn't get to him. Just the fact that he was able to play and play all those plays. I don't know what his count was, but it was great. We're on the way back. He's got to be rusty, he hasn't played in months. Just for him to be in shape and prepare as he did to play this much on this day was really a tribute to his want-to and his willingness to be part of this team and wants to help out.
On the play of Jadeveon Clowney:
I thought he was penetrating and causing problems and making tackles. He had a game where he had a chance to make a lot of tackles. I don't know what his numbers wound up being, but he's playing really hard.
On whether the Ravens' blitz more problematic than expected:
No. We weren't able to connect as much; the completion percentage was different than we've been. I thought our pass protection, particularly when you looked at us going down the field at the end of the second quarter in the two minute drive, the guys did a great job. I think Russ was able to maneuver within the pass rush that was happening today. I don't know how many times we went down; how many sacks were there? [One.] Russ is getting banged. He's going to hang in there until the last second. He's a stud about that. But, I thought the pass protection was pretty good.
On whether there was consideration of going for it on fourth-and-three as opposed to attempting a 53-yard field goal:
Yeah. There's a discussion about that.
QB Russell Wilson
Q. We have to ask you, Russ, what happened on the interception?
Just made a bad play. They obviously made the play and took it back to the house. But we weren't out of the game at that point. We stayed encouraged, were able to move the ball down the field the next drive. I think we scored or kicked a field goal or something like that and the game was 13-13 for awhile. But just disappointed, just a good player over there, he made a good play.
Q. Is that the type of route that you if you go late you're probably flirting with danger there?
Yeah, especially with him, he's pretty quick. He makes good plays, that's what he's been doing. So you got to move on and keep your head down and sometimes you just focus on the next play and a lot of great, expecting a lot of great things to happen after that.
Q. How did their blitz affect you today?
They pressured a lot and I think we had some big opportunities down the field that we hit. There was a couple that we could have had potentially, too, down the field just because they were bringing pressure. We normally really like the pressure and stuff like that and we made some really good plays and they made some too. So it was just one of those games. It was really kind of down to the wire in the fourth quarter. It was a tight game between two really good teams. They made their plays on offense when they needed to on some third downs, and then we unfortunately weren't able to. So that's the name of the game. And we turned the ball over, that's not how we normally play, so that's just unfortunate for us.
Q. How much did you admire Lamar Jackson from the sideline, what he did?
Lamar can really run. He had some crazy runs. He's really special out there, especially on some third downs and stuff. So he's had a great season, he's been playing great and always loved watching him in college and talked to him after the game, so he's a tremendous football player.
Q. The message to the team just to bounce back from this one?
Yeah, the reality is we're 5-2. We're not down in the dumps. We're focused on what we need to do. We got a road game coming up, got to fly to Atlanta, go there and try to find a way to win there. We have been playing great on the road so far, so hopefully we can do that again. We're encouraged. We had some unfortunate plays in the game, that's, take those away, the game's going to be a lot different. So we still stayed the course, though, even though in the midst of it all. And unfortunately they made one or two more plays than us. So we're focused on what we can do, we're excited about where we're at, we could be better, though, and that's the good thing. The two tough losses that we have had, we haven't done our best, we've had some funky plays here and there. And that's the reality, you take those plays away. So that's what we need to focus on is just continuing to try to play great football. We have been playing great all year and we're not going to change, we're not going to waiver from that.
Q. You guys had a couple drives that sputtered down in the red zone and it seemed like you had a lot of time in the pocket to scan and receivers just weren't getting open. Was there anything particular they were doing that was making it challenging to get the football to the end zone down there?
I wouldn't say that. I think that the receivers did a great job trying to fight and trying to find ways. We had some scramble opportunities, you know. And so have to review the film and check it out.
Q. What do you say to DK to kind of pick him up after that turnover?
DK, he's had a really good season so far. He's battled. Plays happen. Like I said to Chris Carson, like I'll say it to myself, we're great players, you're going to make some mistakes every once in a while but looking forward to the next great play. So I think for a guy like DK, just let's move on to the next play, we still got to try to find a way to win, just unfortunate play, a little sloppy out there just in general. So we'll be an all right and he's been great all year, so no need to change.
Q. You and Earl exchange anything there at the end? What was that like?
Yeah it was, obviously, playing against Earl he's fun to play with. It's cool just seeing him on the side, just I know how much he loves the game. We battled back and forth throughout practice, and then today. So I have a lot of, I hold Earl in high regard, man, I really love him just how much he's meant to my family, his family and everything else and what that means and then also just to the Seahawks organization and what he's meant and so he played really good today, he played great, he was battling out there, back and forth, so like I said, Earl's one of the best to ever do it.
Q. When you slid down in the first quarter at his feet did you realize that was him?
When I what?
Q. Slid down near the goal line at his feet. Did you realize that was Thomas or were you thinking about maybe taking him on?
No, I knew it was Earl. We looked at each other, we knew, he knew it was me and I knew it was him. Like I said, I wish he was on our team just because he's such a great player, such a great friend, his family and everything else. But when I got out there I was like, okay, that's Earl, you know, so...
Q. Any thought of taking him on then?
Not really, no. Not really. I wasn't trying to do something crazy. A lot of season left, let's keep going. Go Hawks.
S MARQUISE BLAIR
On what Lamar Jackson did in the second half to gain control of the game:
Did what he does every game, run. He's good at scrambling, he's good at getting out of the pocket.
On what the game plan was to try and slow down Lamar Jackson:
Contain him. That's probably what every team tries to do. Contain him and slow him down.
On how to analyze and defend the Ravens' offensive attack:
We already knew what they were going to do going into the game. It's just the matter of containing him.
On getting stops in the red zone:
It feels good, but we've just got to get off the field.
RB CHRIS CARSON
On Lamar Jackson:
You've got to respect that man's game. He's one of a kind. You don't see a lot of quarterbacks like that. For the most part, I think our defense did a great job. A couple plays he got away from us. It's our job as an offense. They put up points, we got to put up points, too. We had the same kind of weapon in our offense. We got to just take care of the ball better. Something that we've been struggling with this whole season. All credit goes to that team over there. We hurt ourselves a lot in that game.
On where he thinks the offense could have done better today:
Everything. It's not just one thing that you could pick. Run the ball better. More receptions, more receiving yards. Stuff like that. It's everything.
On the biggest difference between the first and the second half:
I feel like they just made adjustments during the halftime and caught us off guard. We hurt ourselves a little bit. All credit goes to them in that.
On if it was odd to see an interception from Russell Wilson:
It was weird seeing it, especially how it happened. Every quarterback makes mistakes. He does a great job of bouncing back. He never doubts himself. He never doubts us. He's a true leader. Things like that happen, but we have to respond.
C JUSTIN BRITT
On if Baltimore did anything different up-front pressure wise than what they were expecting:
No. they did everything in the books which we thought they would. We were prepared. We just didn't quite execute the way we wanted to.
On how he thinks they managed their blitzing:
Obviously, Russ got hit quite a bit today. We were scrambling. I think we did okay. I don't think we did great. I'm obviously included in that. I didn't start the game that well in pass pro. Trying to just not be myself, trying to make something up. We'll just have another good week, stay into it. We're 5-2. Let's end up 14-2. We'll be alight. Just keep going to work.
On if there was anything he was specifically doing to facilitate the pressure to the edges:
Yeah, They got two really huge, wide center blocks in there. It's going to be hard to run right down the middle. At the same time, we know that we can run outside. For whatever reason, things just weren't clicking the way we wanted it too. They played a pretty good game. Whenever you're in a game like that, where you're playing pretty much yourself, you've got to be right in all areas. We weren't.
On if it was surprising to see Russell Wilson's interception:
It's kind of inevitable. That moment is kind of inevitable. It sucks that it went for six. He's going to be Russ and he's going to be alright. We're going to get back to it and do our job to protect and keep him cleaner. He'll be alright. He's still the best quarterback in the league. I really believe that he's our leader. He'll be alright. Get back to work. Just show up ready to work.
DE JADEVEON CLOWNEY
On if seeing Lamar Jackson's speed in real life was different than on film:
It is. I always wanted to play against Michael Vick, I guess I'm getting the new era with Lamar Jackson right there. I'm a fan of him though. He's still a great player, did his thing today and won the game.
On if he thinks Lamar is the best quarterback they will face this season:
Yeah, fast-wise. Speed, yes. Fastest I think we're ever going to see the rest of the season up to this point. I though Kyler Murray was fast. He's on a different level. He's on a whole different level. He's in a lane of his own. Fast guy. He can make anything happen for that team. They all own a bandwagon riding with them what they're supposed to do getting behind a quarterback. We got a great one here, too, though.
On if he was frustrated with Lamar the whole game:
Yeah, the whole game. I'm telling him, we can't rush how we want. Can't get out of the rushing lane because we're scared he's going to run with the ball like he did today. Even though we stayed in our rush lane, he still found a way and made a play and got through there. He made a lot of guys miss today. He had a good game.
On if there was a play he thought he had Lamar:
Yeah, that goal line play. I thought I was going to get him. Anybody else probably would've fell and took the sack, but him, he just shot right up and there you go. There he went.
On games like this if it was more about facing a tough quarterback or if it was more about playing better:
Eighty percent of it was facing that dude and stopping the run. We knew that he was going to come into the game and try to run. He's been having exploding run offs, explosive running all season. A lot of it was going to be on the quarterback. They got open. They got open for him when they made plays. He threw it to him. He ran with it the way he had been to get the job done.
WR TYLER LOCKETT
On how he thinks the offense did today:
It was a tough day. I think the first half we did good. We did exactly what we wanted to do. We put ourselves in really great positions early on. I just think that in the second half, Baltimore switched a lot of stuff up. They played different types of defenses that they didn't in the first half. I think they did a really good job adjusting, kind of putting us in an awkward position.
On his touchdown catch:
I don't really remember what the play was. I ran my route. I do remember what the play was. I ran my route and I saw that Russell was kind of scrambling. I just go back into the scrambling drills, like what do I need to do to get open. Like I said, it's backyard football at the end of the day. For me, I was kind of trying to position myself in a way to get open. Right before I was about to make a move, I saw that Russ threw the ball. I kind of turned my head around as fast as I could. I kind of saw the ball carrying a little bit towards me, so I knew I could try to make a play on it. I made a move on it and the DB didn't think that I was going to be able to get to the ball. I was able to secure the catch, get the ball under the hands to where it didn't hit the ground and got the touchdown.
On if Earl Thomas was talking a lot on the field:
Yeah, he was talking. Not talking trash or anything. He was just talking just getting the defense lined up. All that type of stuff. Just stuff he did in Seattle, making sure everybody knew what they were doing, knew the adjustments, all those different types of things based off of the plays they probably thought we were going to run. He was trying to put everybody in position to be able to stop what we were doing.
On his message to DK Metcalf after his fumble:
Just told him to keep playing. At the end of the day, things are going to happen. We don't have control over things that happen. You just have to be able to keep on playing. People are going to talk. People are going to point the finger. They're going to say whatever they're going to say. When you make a great play, guess what? They're the same people that screaming your name saying good job, good catch. Good touchdown. We needed you. All those different types of things. I think it's just being able to stay level headed, just to be able to stay grounded. Go back and do the work. It's the same thing that we talked about. Regardless of if they praise you. Just do the work. Regardless of if they criticize you, do the work. If you make every single play, do the work. If you don't make every single play, do the work. Regardless, just stay true to the work and the results are going to come. Sometimes, they might not look like what we want them to look like. If you just keep putting in the work, eventually, you're going to prevail.
WR DK METCALF
On if he was trying to do too much when he fumbled:
No I was just trying to switch the ball and it came out. I just have to do better on my end.
On if the fumble was caused by the weather:
No I'm not going to blame it on the weather. We practice with a wet ball all the time so I'm not going to blame it on the weather. It was my fault 100 percent.
On how the defense adjusted in the second half:
They started bringing more pressure. They're a good football team. They had a great plan to try and stop our offense. We just have to go back to work and be better next week.
On the Ravens not bringing as much pressure in the second half and dropping more players in coverage:
We have to be on our game plan and don't change what we're doing just because they're bringing something new. We just always have to be sound with what we're doing on offense.
On what he'll take from this game:
It's always a learning experience. Go back and watch film to see what I need to work on better.
On how the game got away from them in the second half:
We need to execute on offense better. The defense played great. On offense, we gave up two touchdowns so I believe that played a big role in it.
LB BOBBY WAGNER
On how difficult it is to stop Lamar Jackson:
A lot of it was really smart by him. I think he recognized that we were in man [coverage] and they ran some seams and got us going off our guy and took off. He's a really special and fast player.
On if they made adjustments in the second half to be able to rush more:
No, I think he just did a better job of calling his own number. I think he found a way to make plays and we didn't.
On the nine minute drive against them in the fourth quarter:
We need to do a better job of getting off the field. He made some good, key plays that were able to extend some drives. But we need to do better and make sure we get off the field in that situation.
On how frustrating it is to defend Lamar Jackson's scrambles:
It's a little frustrating because we felt like we had a really good game plan. They had all types of runs: two pullers, they had quarterback, they had running back and we felt like we did a good job on the running back runs that they had. But then we get them to third down and he scrambles and we need to do a better job chasing.
On what he saw from Marquise Blair:
He did a great job. I felt like he came out ready to play, he had a really big third down stop on one play. I was happy with the way he came out and performed. With us, we just try to tell him that it's just football. Once you get those games in, you don't have to be a rookie anymore if you don't want to be.
On why Lamar Jackson is hard to contain for four quarters:
A lot of people don't respect his ability to throw the ball and he's a really good thrower. Combine that with his ability to run the ball and that makes it really tough because you come up on him and he throws it over your head. And if you stay back, he takes off. It makes you be very disciplined and he did a good job calling his number today.
LB K.J. WRIGHT
On if there was a break down on defense during Lamar Jackson's 30 yard run in the fourth quarter:
There was no breakdown, we just blitzed them and he took off running. He does that on film consistently. We knew that's what they were going to come in and do, but that dude is fast. We just got outran.
On if they're concerned that two good teams have beat that at home this season:
Well the teams that we've lost to are really good and there's no concerns at all. We have plenty of home games, we've done really well on the road, we just need to figure out this home field out. We know that we have a tough opponent in Atlanta, their record doesn't say so but those dudes have plenty of talent and so we need to make sure we go out and get one on the road.
On what he saw from Marquise Blair:
I'm proud of him, really proud of him. We were together every play and talking every play. He had a good time, he had fun. He ran and hit like we knew he could. He did a good job of filling in for [Bradley McDougald].
TE LUKE WILLSON
On if they were surprised by how often Baltimore brought pressure:
No, we talked all week about how to expect a lot of pressure on a variety of different downs. They brought the heat kind of how we expected. We'll watch the film tomorrow and then I'll fix what I can fix and so will everyone else and we'll get moving. It's still a positive atmosphere in here. It's not the result that we wanted today, but I think everyone kind of feels the same way that if we run that one back, it might be a different story.
On how Tyler Lockett has progressed as a player:
[He] makes some spectacular plays. He had another crazy touchdown catch today. He's just such a great teammate and a great person to be around. I'm just very happy for him and it's exciting. Between the Rams touchdown and this one today, it's pretty special.
On if there was a shift offensively from the first half to the second half:
Not really to be honest with you. Especially with our team, it kind of feels like even if there are a few plays here and there that don't go our way, we usually get back in rhythm pretty quickly. Again I'm kind of at a loss for words. It's kind of a weird feeling. I feel like we're going to watch this thing tomorrow and be a little disappointed. Kind of a kick in the gut. There's probably some things that we all could have done better. With that being said, we're not in terrible shape here. We're on to Atlanta.
CB SHAQUILL GRIFFIN
On defending Lamar Jackson:
He was running all over the place. A guy like that, I feel like he was just playing backyard football. He didn't give us anything that we haven't seen. It was everything that we went over in practice, he just did well with it today. He executed well today. That's everything he did, he didn't give us anything new. He just had a heck of a game, you've got to give it up to him for that one.
On what he thought about Marquise Blair's first career start:
He did really good. When you've got someone out there like that, that you feel comfortable playing with, that goes a long way. I have full trust and respect for Marquise and I could play with him any day, any time, whenever, where ever, and whoever we're playing I feel comfortable playing with him. That's the type of things you want to feel when you're playing with a guy like that, and he showed that today.
On if it's mentally frustrating when Lamar Jackson can create a 30 yard play when the Ravens' offense is backed up:
It's a tad bit frustrating, but that's something we have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what happened and how to change it. We have to see Kyler Murray again, and there are things that people are going to see and try to game plan on. So, we have to go back to the drawing board and see what we can do differently to change it, fix it. Like I said, he did well today and you can't take that from him.
On if Kyler Murray and Lamar Jackson are similar kinds of runners:
In a way. I don't know how to explain how Kyler Murray and Lamar Jackson play. They're both fast, but when he [Lamar Jackson] has the ball in his hands he turns into a running back. As you can see, he showed that today.
DT JARRAN REED
On if his first game back was what he hoped and expected:
I wanted a team win but obviously it didn't go that way. But it's okay, we have another week to play some more football. We'll sleep on this for 24 hours and then move on to Atlanta.
On what is the biggest takeaway after this game:
Lamar Jackson is fast. No, we just need to execute our plays and get off the field. We need to get some turnovers and help the offense out.
On if they can quickly turn the page because they won't face another quarterback like Lamar Jackson:
I think we did a good job of containing the running backs. Like you said, you don't see too many quarterbacks in the league that can do that. All we can do is go back to the drawing board and get ready for the next game.
On if the Ravens would've had that nine minute drive in the fourth quarter if Lamar Jackson wasn't the quarterback:
I can't say because he was out there and we had to deal with him out there so that's a tough question to answer. They did a good job executing and we could do better.
On how hard it is to figure out what Lamar Jackson is going to do on every play:
It's very hard. You have to stay sound. You have to stay disciplined. You have to stay in your gap. You have to stay execute very well each play, each down throughout the whole game because the one time you don't, he's going to split it wide open. And that happened a couple times tonight.
DE BRANDEN JACKSON
On Lamar Jackson:
He's special. I don't even know how to explain it. He's a special talent. We knew he had the arm strength. He's a pretty accurate thrower when he gets outside that pocket. Once he turns that corner and puts it on, it's hard to stop him.
On if Lamar was better than what they had expected:
No. We planned for him. The way he played, we had a pretty even game after the half and everything. They outlasted us. That happened often. They outlasted us.
On what happened with the front line that allowed the sack:
We're still growing. That's simply it. You have guys like Zig [Ziggy Ansah] who couldn't play for the preseason and then JD [Jadeveon Clowney] comes over late. We're just now getting J [Jarran] Reed back. Our core group, everyone knows our pass rush group is going to be Ziggy, JD, Q [Quinton Jefferson], and J Reed. That group hasn't rushed together yet. At the end of the day, it's time to let them get that going.
C JUSTIN BRITT
On if Baltimore did anything different up-front pressure wise than what they were expecting:
No. they did everything in the books which we thought they would. We were prepared. We just didn't quite execute the way we wanted to.
On how he thinks they managed their blitzing:
Obviously, Russ got hit quite a bit today. We were scrambling. I think we did okay. I don't think we did great. I'm obviously included in that. I didn't start the game that well in pass pro. Trying to just not be myself, trying to make something up. We'll just have another good week, stay into it. We're 5-2. Let's end up 14-2. We'll be alight. Just keep going to work.
On if there was anything he was specifically doing to facilitate the pressure to the edges:
Yeah, They got two really huge, wide center blocks in there. It's going to be hard to run right down the middle. At the same time, we know that we can run outside. For whatever reason, things just weren't clicking the way we wanted it too. They played a pretty good game. Whenever you're in a game like that, where you're playing pretty much yourself, you've got to be right in all areas. We weren't.
On if it was surprising to see Russell Wilson's interception:
It's kind of inevitable. That moment is kind of inevitable. It sucks that it went for six. He's going to be Russ and he's going to be alright. We're going to get back to it and do our job to protect and keep him cleaner. He'll be alright. He's still the best quarterback in the league. I really believe that he's our leader. He'll be alright. Get back to work. Just show up ready to work.
DE QUINTON JEFFERSON
On if it's mentally frustrating when plays like Lamar Jackson's 30-yard run occur:
Not really, he was just making great plays. They only scored like one touchdown on us. It was just one of those games, it was weird. It was just weird, anytime we have those turnovers like that it just hurts. But, we've still got to do our job stopping them. We shouldn't have let them get that one touchdown, but hats off to them they played a great game.
