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Sam Darnold: "We Did A Great Job Of Operating As An Offense" · Seahawks Press Pass

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  Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah, overall, man, just a better performance from us,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: just overall. Really, you know, just good football. You know, offense, defense,
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  Speaker 1: special teams, really defense, man. The way that they played
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  Speaker 1: all night, it was awesome to watch. And the way
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  Speaker 1: that we were able to stay on the field, too,
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  Speaker 1: as an offense was huge. So, yeah, I'll leave it
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  Speaker 1: at that. You mentioned staying on the field. Third down,
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  Speaker 1: it was a really good game, including a lot of
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  Speaker 1: third and long. What was going on for you in
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  Speaker 1: those situations? Yeah, I think, well, we got to stay
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  Speaker 1: out of the third and longs. I think, you know,
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  Speaker 1: that's another thing, too, is like there's so much to
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  Speaker 1: get better at, you know, even with the win. So,
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  Speaker 1: you know, we're going to take a look at that
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  Speaker 1: and see how we can better and stay out of
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  Speaker 1: those third and long situations. But again, our guys did
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  Speaker 1: a really good job of executing. And again, our coaches
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  Speaker 1: did a really good job throughout the week of, you know,
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  Speaker 1: putting the plan together and putting us in a good
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  Speaker 1: position out there.
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  Speaker 2: Seemed like you guys, especially early on, were getting to
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  Speaker 2: the live scrimmage really quick. Did you feel like that
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  Speaker 2: kind of got you guys rolling a little bit in
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  Speaker 2: terms of being able to get up there, read the defense,
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  Speaker 2: and make the adjustments that you needed to?
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yeah, that was a huge point of emphasis this week,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and it's going to be moving forward is just,
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  Speaker 1: you know, how clean can the operation go and just
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  Speaker 1: being able to get in and out of the huddle,
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  Speaker 1: you know, change, change cadences, go on different counts and
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  Speaker 1: stuff like that. Like it just keeps the defense, you know,
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  Speaker 1: on their heels a little bit. And we want to
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  Speaker 1: do that as much as we can, especially with a
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  Speaker 1: good defense like Kansas City and a good coordinator. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I thought we did a great job of operating as
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  Speaker 1: an offense that way. That first third down, was that
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  Speaker 1: the longest eight-yard run in your.
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  Speaker 2: Career, you think?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, probably. It felt like it. I don't know. But
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  Speaker 1: it was, you know, again, it's just being able to
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  Speaker 1: go out there and just play ball, you know, at
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  Speaker 1: the end of the day. And, you know, when I'm
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  Speaker 1: out there in that, you know, kind of state where
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  Speaker 1: I'm just out there playing, you know, playing the game
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  Speaker 1: that I grew up loving as a kid, that's when
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  Speaker 1: I'm at my best.
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  Speaker 2: You saw the film. You know Spagnuolo.
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  Speaker 1: You know they go man and press a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Were you surprised they did it as much against
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  Speaker 2: Smith and Jigman in particular?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, that's kind of what they do, right? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the way that they, you know, play certain coverages. Obviously,
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  Speaker 1: they play very matchy in man, but, you know, for
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  Speaker 1: the most part, they had somebody over the top of
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  Speaker 1: Jax as well, if not even doubling him. So, you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's just Jax is a tough cover. He always will be, and, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: he's just– He's a fun receiver to be able to
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  Speaker 1: throw the ball to.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of times in those third downs, it looked
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  Speaker 2: like he was your only look, especially the touchdown. You
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  Speaker 2: said you changed it to that call with that look.
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  Speaker 1: Did he say that?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Sounds like you appreciate that. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: But how big of an asset for a quarterback is that,
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  Speaker 1: having a receiver that good against that kind of coverage? Yeah, he's... Again,
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  Speaker 1: he's so good at so many things as a receiver,
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  Speaker 1: but the ability for him, I think just his mind,
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  Speaker 1: his football IQ, and being able to adjust on the
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  Speaker 1: fly and go out there and just, like I said,
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  Speaker 1: for myself as well, just play ball. And when we're
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  Speaker 1: out there doing that, I feel like we're at our best,
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  Speaker 1: like I said.
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  Speaker 2: With all the main coverage that they play, how big
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  Speaker 2: was it to have a number of those opportunities? Whether
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  Speaker 2: it was Jason, that 33-yard catch, where he had a
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  Speaker 2: ton of yak on it, George Helani's catch on that
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  Speaker 2: third and 10 swing. How pivotal was that for you
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  Speaker 2: guys today to be able to manufacture that yardage?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think for me, you know, learning from the
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  Speaker 1: last few weeks and just putting the ball in play
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  Speaker 1: and letting our great athletes go out there and try
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  Speaker 1: to make guys miss and maybe run for a first
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  Speaker 1: down or, you know, even if it's a third and nine,
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  Speaker 1: like a, you know, like the one to coop that
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  Speaker 1: we converted early in the game, like obviously that it's
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  Speaker 1: third and nine or something like that, maybe even longer and,
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  Speaker 1: you know, throw it to him for, you know, for
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  Speaker 1: four or five yards and then he's able to go
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  Speaker 1: get the rest, you know, and I think just You know,
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  Speaker 1: my mindset being that way throughout the week really helped
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  Speaker 1: me in the game. He also took the blame for
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  Speaker 1: the interception. Who did? Jackson did. Yeah, I say he
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: kind of ran the ball that way. Is that what
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  Speaker 1: happened there? Yeah, it's a great teammate right there. But, no,
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  Speaker 1: it was definitely my fault. You know, we practiced that
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  Speaker 1: situation all the time, and it was just a bad decision.
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  Speaker 1: The way Manuel Wilson and the.
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  Speaker 2: Rest of the run game, I think we can go
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  Speaker 2: in the second half. What did that do for you.
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  Speaker 1: Guys in offense to be able to run it out
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  Speaker 1: like that? Yeah, obviously E-man, but our offensive lineman. The
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  Speaker 1: way that they played the entire game, you know, it
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  Speaker 1: was outstanding. You know, obviously they got a really good front,
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  Speaker 1: and they mix and match their fronts a lot too.
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  Speaker 1: Like I said, with Spags and all the different things
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  Speaker 1: that they do as a defense, and great players right
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  Speaker 1: on that end that are able to move and shake
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  Speaker 1: the way that they do. Our offensive line did a
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  Speaker 1: great job of communicating all day and staying efficient with
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  Speaker 1: their calls. And, again, you know, it's a huge credit
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  Speaker 1: to our plan too throughout the week of– you know,
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  Speaker 1: knowing exactly what kind of looks we were getting and
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  Speaker 1: practicing those a ton.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know, as a QB, I don't know if
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  Speaker 2: you necessarily feel it when, like, a lineman comes back
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  Speaker 2: that's been out for a while, but it just seemed
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  Speaker 2: like AB was getting under their skin a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: There were several times where JSN had to kind of
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  Speaker 2: pull them off the side, like, okay, the whistle is done.
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  Speaker 2: Did you feel that presence out there today kind of
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  Speaker 2: having a ripple effect on the entire offense?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, AB's a great player. You know, I thought...
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  Speaker 1: I thought the other guys stepped in really well, too,
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  Speaker 1: when he was out. But, yeah, A.B. 's an incredible player.
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  Speaker 1: You know, he's big, he's athletic, and he moves people. Man,
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  Speaker 1: it's fun to have him out there.
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  Speaker 2: You guys have described R.A.J. as kind of the energizer
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  Speaker 2: of the offense. Obviously, we can't hear that from where
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  Speaker 2: we watch the game, but what does it sound like?
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  Speaker 1: What does it look like actually on the field? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: just a lot of screaming and yelling and trying to
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  Speaker 1: get us hyped up, you know, and the personalities that
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  Speaker 1: we have on offense. It's not I don't think anyone
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  Speaker 1: really reacts to it. It's just him kind of yelling.
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  Speaker 1: But it does it does fire us up. I think
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  Speaker 1: deep down you could ask the offensive line, though, because
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  Speaker 1: I know he's in the huddle saying a little bit
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  Speaker 1: more when I'm out of the huddle trying to get
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  Speaker 1: the play from Brian. So but yeah, AJ does a
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  Speaker 1: great job of just keeping the energy up at all times.
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  Speaker 1: You told us about the operation being more efficient. What
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  Speaker 1: has to get cut out or what has to happen
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  Speaker 1: for that to be more efficient? Yeah, I think for
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  Speaker 1: us just being able to, for me being able to
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  Speaker 1: get the call, get in the huddle and go. I
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  Speaker 1: think that's the biggest thing is just getting to the
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  Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, having different counts to go on, being
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  Speaker 1: able to use static formations, have quick counts, have plays
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  Speaker 1: where we're using cadence and sometimes we're up you know,
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  Speaker 1: up there for two seconds and we go, or sometimes
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  Speaker 1: we're up there for 20 seconds and we go. So
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  Speaker 1: it's like being able to mix up all those different things.
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  Speaker 1: It just puts the defense on a, in a bind.
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  Speaker 1: And those are things that we're going to continue to
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  Speaker 1: look at and hopefully continue to do. I appreciate you guys.