Pete Carroll, like most coaches, wants to minimize turnovers on his offensive line. Carroll’s emphasis on old-school defense and the running game means he’s more focused on protecting the ball than most.
Not so with the Seahawks these days.
“We’ve got to fix it,” quarterback Geno Smith told reporters Thursday. “We’ve got to fix it. It starts with me, I’ve got to fix it, we can’t have any more turnovers, plays that put our defense in difficult positions. I can’t do any more. I’m looking forward to it. I know I can fix it, so I think I can fix it. These are the only opportunities for me to continue to grow and continue to learn. I’m looking forward to it because I know I can fix it. I look forward to the next opportunity to represent you.”
The solution may come from calming your mind.
“I think [I’m] We just try too hard, press too hard and sometimes try to make plays when they’re not there,” Smith said. “I’ve always been competitive and always think every play should go well. I hate giving up on plays, but sometimes you have to. Throwing the ball is a big deal. It’s not that we’re bad at punting the ball, we’re just getting smarter about it, but overall we’re making adjustments as needed.”
Smith said Carroll is focused on minimizing weekly turnover.
“What we talk about every week is the ball-centric themes of our program,” Smith said. “That’s a big factor in winning or losing, and we focus on that week in and week out. It’s going to be huge for us, especially this week and throughout the rest of the season. On the offensive side of the ball. We want to fix those. Our defense does a great job of creating turnovers, so if we can play complementary football without giving the ball away, I think things will be a lot better.”
Smith’s comments came a day after Carroll cautioned against blaming his quarterback or anyone else for the issue.
“There were contributing factors,” Carroll told reporters Wednesday. “I’m not the type to try to nail someone about anything. There are a number of factors, and it depends on the situation. We misread something, or we’re fooled by a disguise and don’t understand clearly. We didn’t see things well or we didn’t react well when communicating. Our poor play led to turnovers for them. A lot of things have to contribute to make that happen. But that’s what it is. You just have to follow it. There are other circumstances that factor into these things, and it’s not just one guy.”
Smith has seven interceptions and three fumbles in eight games. Obviously, it needs to be improved. It would be fair to wonder if, at some point, Carroll would consider giving Drew Lock a chance to do a better job of protecting the ball.