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Geno Smith: "We're Right In The Thick Of The Playoff Hunt" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Good after new Yeah, we're doing.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Can you already tell the bye week for the team?
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 0:08
  Speaker 3: I think it just gave us a chance to really
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: recollect ourselves, you know, get our bodies right, get our
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: get our minds right.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: Obviously a bunch of guys got a chance to you know,
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: spend some time with their families. You know, just just
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: a chance for everything to reset and really get ready
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: for this. Uh, you know eight game stretch, this big
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: push that we got coming up.
• 0:29
  Speaker 4: You have your most big throws against the Rams, we outside,
• 0:32
  Speaker 4: your most interceptions to talk about, like how you prioritize
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: making plays versus protecting the ball as a quarterback.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean interceptions and interceptions. Uh, you never want
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: to throw them, and they're all a little different. I
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: mean it's, you know, not an excuse for them.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: It is what it is.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: You gotta make sure that it don't happen. When you're
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: talking about being aggressive. I think it just comes down
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: to trusting yourself, you know, trusting your your instincts, trusting
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: your reads, your footwork, Uh, trusting in the play calls
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: the guys around you. But I mean, you know that
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: there's a big emphasis put on like the the interceptions.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: But the main thing is that, you know, the best
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: quarterbacks find ways to win.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Best teams find ways to win.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: You know, we watched Uh Russell, you know in the
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: NFC Championship game, found a way to win.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: You know, we watched Jared Goff last week five interceptions,
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: They found a way to win. And UH, that's just
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: the r reality of this game. It's a team game.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: We understand as quarterbacks we're gonna be heavily scrutinized and
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: we welcome that. But when you really break it down, man,
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: you gotta you know, look at the process.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: And I believe in my process.
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: Do you know on that next play mentality?
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Does that evolve over time? You know, after with a turnover?
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: As you play longer in the league, how does that
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: evolve in your mind?
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just what you gotta do.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: Whether you're a rookie or second year player or you know,
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: twelve year vet like myself. You play quarterback long enough,
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: those things are gonna happen. But the main thing is,
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: like I said, you gotta find ways to win. And
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: the only play that matters is the next play. Is
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: it's the moment that you're in that's the only moment
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: that matters. H if you if you focus too much
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: on the past or the future, Uh, it won't help
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: you either way. So you know, for me as a quarterback,
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: as a leader, you know everyone's watching, and you know,
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: like I said, you hate for bad things to happen.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: I hate to sit up here and even talk about it.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: But that's a part of the game. Adversity is a
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: part of the game, and it really shapes you as
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: a man, as a player.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: And so when you can move on.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: And get to the next play, it's a lot like life,
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: you know, just get to get to the next day
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: and keep pushing.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: With my family, with my son, and you know, watching
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: a lot of tape, getting my body right.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: What did you see when you watched the tape?
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, just self evaluation, evaluating the offense, you know, seeing
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: a lot of really great things. I've seen us being explosive,
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: you know really uh, you know two minute, I think
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: we're one of the best teams in the game when
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: when we're up in our tempo. Uh, but also seeing
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: some things that we shot ourselves in the foot, a
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: lot of things that we can correct and so you know,
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: really just diving into that and seeing like how can
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: we get better and how can I get better? Also,
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: watch a lot of football around the league. You know,
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: watch a lot of different teams, watch a lot of
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: different quarterbacks that I like watching, and you know, just
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: try to, you know, steal some things from their game
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: teams around the.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: League, not just this week, just in general.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: What do you see maybe about your guys's chances that
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: being where you.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Want to be by the end of the year.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we can beat anybody.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: I think we got the guys in this locker room,
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: we got the coaches, we got the right mindset, we
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: got the right work ethic. I think we have to
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: be a little bit smarter, uh, and definitely be smarter
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: in the situational area. And then also I think we
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: gotta stop shooting ourselves in the foot, stop putting ourselves
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: in backed up situations early on. It's gonna be tough
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: in this league playing in third and longs. I mean,
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: you're you know, the percentage rate it's not high. So
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: the more we can put ourselves in those manageable situations,
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: the better we are. And we've been great you know,
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: in the in the medium third medium game, So you know,
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: just thinking about first and second down. Those are those
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: are the big things. Being better on first and second
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: down which will help us out on third.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Down fer percentage wise.
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: You've been in a shotgun an awful lot, and that's
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: the FIRSTLF part of the year as well. What are
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: kind of the differences I guess you see when you're
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: in a shotgunning under center, and you know, would it
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: help you more to be under center more?
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: You think, yeah, I mean it's always shotgun under center,
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  Speaker 3: and it's football. You know, a lot of teams executed
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: very well from shotgun and a lot of teams have
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: executed very well from under center. You can look at
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: it both ways. I think you have to be balanced
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: in all aspects. Obviously your shotgun, you know, it's higher
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: tendency for past, but you can run well out of
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: those sets as well, So you know, I wouldn't put
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: too much emphasis on that. I think that's just how
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: our offense is run. But I think we do a
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: great job at having you know, the gun runs and
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: all that stuff to you know, really counter that, do.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: You need play fakes are any less effective at a
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: shotgun than they are when you're under center, and like
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: your back is to the defense.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: That'd be a question for a defender.
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: But shoot, man, I think it's effective if you if
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: you do it at the right time.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: You gotta affect the right guys.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: You got to know what you're trying to get accomplished
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: and who you're trying to influence.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: That's really what it's all about.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: If you get the right coverage and you know that
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: guy has a run fit, and you show him run
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: and he steps in there, then it works. If he
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: doesn't step in there, if the fake's not good enough,
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: if you know, if the linemen don't sell it with
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: their hat placement, it wouldn't work.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: So I think it's all circumstantial. How important is it
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: to you personally? Do you know up beat the forty
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: nine ers.
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's very personal, man. I think when you when
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: you think about division, you know, opponents, Uh, these games
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: matter the most, especially with you know, the forty nine ers.
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: They've been at the top of our division, one of
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: the best teams in the league for a while. And Uh,
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: if we want to be that type of team that
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: we say we are, you know, we gotta go through
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: teams like this, and uh, you know, I have no
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: doubt in my mind, the type of guys that we have,
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: the type of preparation we're gonna put in, and really
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: the way that we're gonna step on that field. You know,
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: I know that I'm gonna step on it with with
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: that chip on my shoulder, that edge that I always have,
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: and I know my guys are as well.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: How much on that for that on your resume that
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: you haven't beaten them yet?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: How much is that something you.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Need to fick? I mean there's teams that haven't been
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: us yet.
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah, for the most yards against the forty nine ers
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: many quarterback this year. More than the homes or the stafford.
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: Talk about what worked for you guys in that first game.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Man, we lost. That's all that matters, you know.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: Yards and stats and all the things that people love
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: to talk about don't really matter to me.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: I just want to win generally.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: How do you how do you view uh accountability and
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: and why does it matter so much to you?
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
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  Speaker 3: To me, accountability is UH all about integrity, you know,
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: and that's that's not just when people are watching, that's
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: when no one's watching. You know, how accountable are you
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: truly to yourself as a man? I take that very personal. Uh,
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: that's something I teach my son. You know, nor no
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: right from wrong, and when you're wrong, you're wrong. When
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: you're right, you're right. And Uh, being accountable to my teammates,
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: being accountable to the organization, that's something I stand on.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: That's something I believe in. Uh. But we all have
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: to do the same things.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: How long it was like, why did you feel like
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: you s you needed to say what you said? Uh? Postgame?
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Uh against the Rams.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's just how it felt. It's truly how it
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: feels how I feel about the game. Like I told
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: you guys, I you know, I I thrive when the
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: balls in my hand, and you know when I when
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: I don't do the things that I'm accustomed to doing.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: When we have those mistakes and they turn the game,
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: you know, i'm'a i'm'a be the first to stand up
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: and you know, put it on my shoulders and I'll
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: do that every time. But uh, again, I'm not living
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: in the past.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Man.
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  Speaker 3: That stuff happened and we gotta learn from it. But ultimately, man,
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: I'm always gonna be accountable.
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: You've always trusted you, But in that last game, what
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: area did you learn you could trust him even more, or.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Lean on him even more.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: In man, I've always had that trust in Jackson even
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: before I met him. You know, I was texting Peak
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: you know, we gotta draft this guy, and uh, you know,
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: I knew the type of player he was from just
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: watching film, you know, talking to the people at Ohio State.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: Just how much he loved the game, how much you know,
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: he thrives in those big moments. You think about the
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: fourth down catch he made, You think about the touchdown
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: he made to you know, tie the game up, and
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: just all the plays that he made throughout that game.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: A couple of them got called back. He would have
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: had almost you know, two hundred some yards without those callbacks.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: So I think he's a gamer, he's a special talent.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: He's a guy who works hard. And uh, I think
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: you know it's still you know, the best is still
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: ahead from him.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: So he's just got to keep pushing.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: What kind of the throw was really fast to start
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: the year, and it's kind of progressively gotten a little
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: bit longer, and some big plays come with that as well.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Can you talk about like why you think that might
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: be happening?
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean we're in some third and lungs. I mean,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: that's the main thing.
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: We're in thirdy long and you're trying to get to
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: the sticks, you're gonna hold the ball a little bit
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: longer to try and try and covert those.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we have had some big plays and we have
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: been you know, calling some shots and obviously you're gonna
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: you know, take a deeper drop and hold the ball
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: a little longer there. But for the most part, I
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: think it's just you know what it is. I mean,
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: I can't really say there's a reason for it. That's
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: just kind of how the games have gone, and uh,
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: you know, we're doing whatever we can to win games,
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: and so that's probably why.
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: What kind of spark can get DK back after a
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: couple of weeks, and what can I do for the offense?
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: Uh, tremendous for the offense man just having DK back,
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: and you know what he brings the leadership standpoint, just
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: his physicality in the run game and then obviously one
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: of the best receivers in the game. When he's out there,
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: he makes the defense. You know, think about where he
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: where he's at at all times, and it allows other
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: guys to you know, get open and you know, kind
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: of have those one on ones and have those favorable matchups,
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: and so anytime DK is out there, man, he's a threat.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: He's always a big play, home run threat. And uh,
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: he's a guy that we count on. And you know,
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: if he's out there, man, we know he's gonna give
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: it his all and he's gonna do great.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Similar to get back to stick for you guys.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, just a just to be back in practice, man,
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: just you know, seeing the way that he's battled back
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: and he's fought through the rehab and gotten himself, you know,
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: in a position to be able to play. You know,
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: he's my locker mad I talk to him almost every day,
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: and you know, I know how bad he wants to
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: be out there, and you know, he's.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Getting hisself right.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: He's you know, in practice and he's looking good and
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: so you know, we'll see how it goes.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: But man, just having him back is gonna be big
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: for offense.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: What does it say to you guys?
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: I guess you know, they've made some pretty big moves
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: on the defensive side with the trade with.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Ernest and the move with Torrell and stuff like that.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Just kind of the message that sense to.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: The locker room and experiences kind of honestly, I'm you know,
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: we we don't partaking that, we don't, you know, we
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: we we love the guys that are in our locker room.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: We appreciate all those guys from Bake Too, you know,
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: to Real Dowson to you know, even having Earnest here.
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: I think he's done a tremendous job is stepping in
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: and really helping our defense. So whoever's in the locker room, man,
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: we don't get to make those decisions. We love those
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: guys and we appreciate them for all their hard work.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: What do you value or appreciate most about being a
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: quarterback of experiential.
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: I just value the opportunity. That's the biggest thing. The
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: opportunity to go out there and to win with my teammates,
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: to go to practice every day, to engage with these
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: guys in the locker room, you know, to be a
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: part a part of this team, to where that you
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: know that Seahawks decal.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: Uh, just every single part of it. Man, it means
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: a lot.
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: How much have you thought about where you wanna end
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: your career and whether you do.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Wanna stay or forever?
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: I'm thinking about winning on Sunday, all the all the
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: rest of that stuff will figure yourself out.
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: And all the changes on defense. Have you noticed uh
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: in practice? Uh anything about the defense? It's been different
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: over the last few weeks that you were practicing.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: I just think those guys are you know, everyone's a
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: a everyone around here is working extremely hard to uh
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: get this thing turned in the right direction. You know,
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: we're we're right in the thick of the playoff hunt.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: You know, we got eight games to go and you know,
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: determine what our season is gonna be. And I see
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: those guys working hard. I see the communication as the
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: more they get you know, reps in this scheme and
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: the more they you know, are able to uh you know,
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: go to meetings and go to practice and walk through
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: so uh, they're just getting faster and faster with the communication.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: And you can see those guys they're.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: Starting to click for him, and I think it's only
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: gonna get better. And just the way that Spoon goes
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: out there and he communicates with the guys, and you know,
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: if there's a motion or a shift, you know he's
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: right on it. So all those guys, I think are
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: doing a great job and are only gonna get better.
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: How have you seen Jalen Sendel progress from you know,
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: kind of overlooked guy who came in I think he
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: got here later than like well after the draft and.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Then you know, make the team as an undrafted rookie.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean since day one.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: You know, Jalen's been a guy who doesn't say much,
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: but it's all about work. And uh, I think that
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: speaks a lot. That speaks volumes to the to his
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: character and the type of player he is. He's not
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: he's not a big talker, but he you know, you
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: can feel him out there on the field.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: And uh, you know, I think.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: Jalen, you know, when he gets his opportunity, he's gonna
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: do great things. I think he's a young player, but
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: he's got a professional mindset. He works, he works, he
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: does things the right way, he prepares the right way,
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: and uh, I think that all the payoff for him.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I think you said something earlier like, ye, you you
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: like the process so far? Uh, without going through all
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: the interceptions, do you feel like generally the process has
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: been good on most of those else?
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you guys,