Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll appeared for an interview on NFL Network’s NFL Total Access tonight. Here is a transcript of Carroll’s interview with NFL Network’s Lindsay Rhodes:
On where the Seahawks stand right now with their quarterback situation:
“We don’t know yet. We’re going to stay with Tarvaris [Jackson] as number one; he maintained that through the OTAs. But Matt [Flynn] is really ready to go, and so is Russell [Wilson]. They performed very well in our camps, their numbers were really close. They just deserve the chance to keep battling. We’ll figure it out in time. I keep telling our people up there that I’m going to be patient so you better be patient or it’s going to be hard on you.”
On if the Seahawks need to make the decision on who their starting quarterback is if either Matt Flynn or Russell Wilson win the job to give the offense time to gel:
“It would help us to make it sooner just to get things together, but I have to wait until we can figure it out. We’re doing everything we can to even out the reps and we’re going to have to get into the preseason to know anything about some games. We’ll try to go from there. We’ll do it when we can.”
On if Russell Wilson’s height is a situation:
“We’ll find out if it is. Everybody assumes that it is. We haven’t seen any evidence of that so far in the camps that we’ve had. He’s got extraordinary film from his college days, he can do everything that you need a guy to do. He’s a very exciting young man, a very exciting young player and he’s going to get a heck of a shot here.”
On what it was like to give Brian Banks a call:
“First of all, I called him to talk to him. I wanted to see what he was like and where he was coming from after all of this. I was so impressed with him that he just made me feel like he deserved a second chance to do this…It was really exciting the day to see him on our practice field when he was working out. What was really cool is when he took the field for the first time in our minicamp and he jumped out there and called the huddle as a middle linebacker and he broke the huddle, he was playing in the NFL. He had his name on his jersey and it was just really exciting. I know he appreciates the heck out of it. Where it goes, we don’t know yet but he’s done everything he can up to this point.”
On extending running back Marshawn Lynch’s contract:
“He’s an extraordinary part of our whole team and he’s a big part of the club. We felt like the leadership that he brings, the toughness that he brings was so emblematic of what we stand for that we wanted to recognize that. He’s still a young guy; he’s not old, he still has plenty of years left and he’s physically very fit and does a great job taking care of himself. All of that adds up and we just think the world of him. We wanted to reward him as we did and hopefully he’s going to have a great year in response to that.”
On what a successful season would be for the Seahawks:
“We’re going after this division. That’s the only way we know. We’re trying to own this NFC West. It was great to get it the first year, we fell off this next year; the Niners did a great job but we’re going right back after it again. Our young guys are not as young this time around and they’re growing up and they’re growing up fast. We’ll still be one of the youngest teams in the NFL, but we like that, particularly now that they’ve gained a lot of experience and a lot of playing time. I really do like this team. I’ve been telling them the whole time we’re counting on them to come through and make things happen. We’re going to make a little bit of noise up there.”
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