Latest / Seahawks Press Pass / Geno Smith: "We Have A Tremendous Opportunity This Season"
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Good afternoon.
- 0:01Speaker 2: Yeah, and you grads something you need to captain?
- 0:05Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate that.
- 0:06Speaker 2: What does that mean to you?
- 0:08Speaker 3: Uh? It means a lot, you know, to uh be
- 0:09Speaker 3: selected as a captain, to be honored by my teammates.
- 0:13Speaker 1: Uh, you know, it means a lot. Uh.
- 0:14Speaker 3: It's something we all strive for. And you know, I
- 0:17Speaker 3: I appreciate you know, them voting me as captain.
- 0:19Speaker 4: When it comes to Sunday's game, what is the best
- 0:22Speaker 4: way to make sure that you start strong?
- 0:23Speaker 1: Cause Pete said week.
- 0:24Speaker 5: One's all is a challenge.
- 0:25Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 0:26Speaker 3: Uh, just coming out fast, you know, having a lot
- 0:28Speaker 3: of enthusiasm. Uh, enthusiasm, Uh, great energy, you know, coming
- 0:32Speaker 3: out fast and executing, you know, keeping things simple, not
- 0:35Speaker 3: not making it you know too much. Uh, just going
- 0:37Speaker 3: out there and doing your job and uh, you know,
- 0:39Speaker 3: getting the ball and play.
- 0:41Speaker 1: What are the foss having You were a tap captain?
- 0:43Speaker 3: Uh the last time shoot man? Uh college and college? Yeah, yup,
- 0:48Speaker 3: you us in college.
- 0:52Speaker 2: It we actually this last week, I guess when Jackson
- 0:54Speaker 2: came back, but kind of seeing him progress the th
- 0:56Speaker 2: w with another week and you know that he's gonna
- 0:57Speaker 2: play Sunday, just kind of guess what are your thoughts
- 0:59Speaker 2: on kind of having seen Jackson make this recovery.
- 1:01Speaker 3: Yeah, Jackson is extremely tough man. I think he's uh,
- 1:05Speaker 3: he's he's proven a lot, you know, to a lot
- 1:07Speaker 3: of people with just the way that he's coming back from,
- 1:10Speaker 3: you know, a significant injury and uh, he's looked, you know,
- 1:13Speaker 3: really good in practice. You know, I can't speculate on
- 1:16Speaker 3: what's gonna happen, but you know, from my vantage point,
- 1:19Speaker 3: I think he's done a phenomenal job and I think
- 1:20Speaker 3: he'll continue to progress and get better.
- 1:23Speaker 4: You first heard the Geno chant two years ago against
- 1:26Speaker 4: the Rams after you let that ninety eight yard touchdown drive.
- 1:28Speaker 4: What do you what was your reaction to that then,
- 1:30Speaker 4: and what do you think about it now? And when
- 1:33Speaker 4: you got against the Broncos last year and you're facing
- 1:35Speaker 4: Russell and and going forward as well.
- 1:37Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's very endearing to me, just uh,
- 1:41Speaker 3: you know, in that moment obviously, you know, it's kind
- 1:43Speaker 3: of funny when you're in the game. Uh, you know,
- 1:45Speaker 3: it sounds cliche, but you can't really hear the noise.
- 1:48Speaker 3: You know, you kind of just tune into the game
- 1:50Speaker 3: and you kind of block everything else out. But when
- 1:52Speaker 3: I got home, you know, I saw the videos and
- 1:55Speaker 3: uh it all it made me feel great, you know,
- 1:57Speaker 3: honestly it did. It was pretty cool, a special moment,
- 2:00Speaker 3: and I really appreciate the fans for that, you know,
- 2:03Speaker 3: looking back on it and to see where we are now,
- 2:07Speaker 3: you know, I think it's kind of like a storybook,
- 2:08Speaker 3: you know when you think about it. And that's why
- 2:11Speaker 3: I think this place is so special. That's why I
- 2:13Speaker 3: enjoy being amongst the fans, and uh, every game that
- 2:16Speaker 3: we play at Looming Field is U is just a
- 2:18Speaker 3: special moment. So we're looking forward to Sunday and uh
- 2:21Speaker 3: seeing the fans out there.
- 2:22Speaker 1: So you didn't realize it at the moment. You didn't
- 2:24Speaker 1: hear it.
- 2:25Speaker 3: I mean it's hard for me to, you know, think
- 2:27Speaker 3: about stuff like that, but I really didn't, you know,
- 2:28Speaker 3: I was I was like so zoned in in the
- 2:30Speaker 3: game that I really didn't hear it until I got home.
- 2:33Speaker 3: You know, you can hear a few chants, but it
- 2:34Speaker 3: didn't seem like it was like the entire stadium.
- 2:37Speaker 1: Uh.
- 2:37Speaker 3: When I got home and you saw all the videos
- 2:39Speaker 3: and stuff like that, it really made it, you know
- 2:41Speaker 3: what it was, man, it was like the entire fan
- 2:43Speaker 3: base was you know, you know, chanting my name and so,
- 2:46Speaker 3: uh that's cool and stuff. I mean I'm not, you know,
- 2:48Speaker 3: over egotistical about things like that, but it was a
- 2:51Speaker 3: special moment back then.
- 2:53Speaker 6: Is it a little challenging preparing for defense with the
- 2:55Speaker 6: turnover they've had they've had this week one, so you
- 2:58Speaker 6: don't really have tape of this group together.
- 3:01Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean there's always gonna be a challenge uh
- 3:03Speaker 3: week one. You know, you watch a bunch of table
- 3:05Speaker 3: what they do on film, and I mean they can
- 3:07Speaker 3: come out and do just about anything. And so uh,
- 3:10Speaker 3: you know, for us, we gotta stay on our fundamentals
- 3:12Speaker 3: and our rules and uh, you know, there is a
- 3:14Speaker 3: bunch of different players out there, but number ninety nine
- 3:17Speaker 3: is still gonna be out there. Uh And and they
- 3:19Speaker 3: have the same decordinator from last year, same head coach,
- 3:23Speaker 3: and so there'll be differences but a lot of similarities.
- 3:26Speaker 3: And so for us as a as an offense, you know,
- 3:28Speaker 3: we're gonna go out there expecting everything. Uh and and
- 3:31Speaker 3: just go out there and play our game. Uh, you know,
- 3:33Speaker 3: treat it just like training camp. You know, you gotta
- 3:35Speaker 3: go out there and read what the defense gives you.
- 3:36Speaker 3: And take what they give you. And so that's that's
- 3:38Speaker 3: really what my focus has been. You know, as we
- 3:40Speaker 3: prepare for the Rams.
- 3:41Speaker 5: They still have Aaron Donald as you mentioned, but Jalen
- 3:44Speaker 5: Ramsey is now not there, and they were using if
- 3:46Speaker 5: that star position playing all over the place. So how
- 3:49Speaker 5: much more difficult did that make that looking at their
- 3:51Speaker 5: secondary wondering what kind of schemes got their stuff they're
- 3:54Speaker 5: gonna do Without a chess piece like that, they could
- 3:57Speaker 5: do them.
- 3:58Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 3:59Speaker 3: You know when you when you look at it, when
- 4:00Speaker 3: you watch film, when you break down the defense and
- 4:02Speaker 3: a decordinator, uh, you just go back to what they've
- 4:05Speaker 3: always done. Uh, you got to prepare for what you've
- 4:07Speaker 3: seen on film. They have a bunch of different guys
- 4:10Speaker 3: who can can fill that role, and uh, you know,
- 4:12Speaker 3: we have an idea of who will, but they can always.
- 4:15Speaker 1: Put someone else out there.
- 4:16Speaker 3: And so when I'm looking at film, uh, you know,
- 4:19Speaker 3: obviously we got preseason tape on them and things from
- 4:21Speaker 3: last year. Uh, you kind of just prepare for for
- 4:24Speaker 3: what you've seen and then expect anything. You know, they
- 4:27Speaker 3: could call any defense they want, put anybody in any position,
- 4:30Speaker 3: and it's our job to you know, counter that, and
- 4:33Speaker 3: so I'm just preparing for everything and and if they
- 4:36Speaker 3: give us what we've seen on tape, then we'll be
- 4:38Speaker 3: ready for it. And if it's something different and we
- 4:40Speaker 3: have to adjust, and we will.
- 4:42Speaker 4: What's what's been the most encouraging part of training camp
- 4:44Speaker 4: that gives you confidence about the offense heading into the season.
- 4:47Speaker 3: I think the most important, I mean, the most you know,
- 4:51Speaker 3: great part of training camp that I've seen is all
- 4:52Speaker 3: the explosives. You know, we we have made a ton
- 4:56Speaker 3: of plays down the field, and we got a ton
- 4:58Speaker 3: of explosives on tape, and uh, who knows what what
- 5:01Speaker 3: it'll be like during the season, but we got so
- 5:03Speaker 3: many playmakers, so many dynamic players who can do a
- 5:06Speaker 3: bunch of different things, and so, uh, the key for
- 5:08Speaker 3: me is to get the ball into their hands, let
- 5:11Speaker 3: them make the plays.
- 5:12Speaker 1: Uh, you know, trust what I'm seeing.
- 5:13Speaker 3: But you know, from what I've seen in training camp, Uh,
- 5:16Speaker 3: you know, we we have a pretty good offense, but
- 5:18Speaker 3: we still got to go out there and prove it.
- 5:19Speaker 3: And uh, nothing we did in training camp is gonna
- 5:21Speaker 3: help us. So we got to go out there and
- 5:23Speaker 3: improve who we think we are once we get out
- 5:25Speaker 3: there on Sunday.
- 5:26Speaker 1: What are your expectations for you and your team for
- 5:29Speaker 1: this season? Uh? High expectations, very high expectations.
- 5:33Speaker 3: You know, I think I think the world of my teammates,
- 5:35Speaker 3: I think the world of my coaches. I believe we
- 5:38Speaker 3: have a tremendous opportunity this season, Uh, with the players
- 5:41Speaker 3: that we have and the coaches that we have, and
- 5:43Speaker 3: so I expect to go out there and play well.
- 5:46Speaker 3: And Uh, obviously, like I said, we gotta prove it.
- 5:49Speaker 3: It's not gonna be given to us. And that's what
- 5:52Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to, is the opportunity to prove myself again.
- 5:55Speaker 2: You know, if you've allowed yourself a moment, whether it
- 5:58Speaker 2: was during the offseason or maybe even when you had
- 6:00Speaker 2: a break, to think about sort of the questions that
- 6:03Speaker 2: were surrounding you last year at this time versus the
- 6:07Speaker 2: sort of confidence everyone has and you going into this
- 6:09Speaker 2: season to the point where you were named a team
- 6:11Speaker 2: captain this week.
- 6:13Speaker 1: I haven't really thought about it.
- 6:14Speaker 3: No, I'm so focused on the day to day stuff
- 6:17Speaker 3: and staying stuck in the moment. But you know, I
- 6:20Speaker 3: do believe that even last year, you know, the team
- 6:23Speaker 3: and the coaches and the guys around me had confidence
- 6:25Speaker 3: in me. I think they've all said that, and you know,
- 6:29Speaker 3: this year being voted to captain, I don't think it
- 6:31Speaker 3: changes that or enhances it, you know. I think things
- 6:34Speaker 3: are pretty much the same. And for us, man, it's
- 6:36Speaker 3: about the daily walk and how we can go to
- 6:39Speaker 3: work every day and get better.
- 6:40Speaker 1: And that's really all I focus on.
- 6:43Speaker 3: But I know the guys around me, they trust me,
- 6:45Speaker 3: and I got to earn that trust. You know, It's
- 6:47Speaker 3: something I gotta continue to earn every single day, and
- 6:49Speaker 3: that that's something I'm focused on.
- 6:51Speaker 2: You said statistical goals for yourself over the course of
- 6:54Speaker 2: the season.
- 6:55Speaker 1: I do not.
- 6:57Speaker 5: When you have chemistry with a pass catcher at any position, well,
- 7:00Speaker 5: in what ways does that manifest itself.
- 7:02Speaker 1: On the field.
- 7:03Speaker 3: Yeah, it just becomes like things are second nature. You
- 7:06Speaker 3: can tell you can read their body language. Some of
- 7:09Speaker 3: the best receivers have great body language. You can tell
- 7:11Speaker 3: if they're breaking in or out. You know, if you
- 7:13Speaker 3: talk over a bunch of things on seeing things on film.
- 7:17Speaker 3: Tyler and I we talk a bunch and share a
- 7:18Speaker 3: bunch of things that we see on film, and it
- 7:21Speaker 3: helps me understand his mindset when he's running a route
- 7:24Speaker 3: versus a certain defender or a certain coverage. And we
- 7:27Speaker 3: talk about anticipating as quarterbacks, right, getting the ball out fast,
- 7:30Speaker 3: it's gonna be important against a great pass for us, right,
- 7:33Speaker 3: So getting the ball out fast and knowing the spots
- 7:36Speaker 3: of where the guys are gonna be at timing and
- 7:38Speaker 3: rhythm is critical in the passing game. And so getting
- 7:40Speaker 3: the ball out on time with precision and accuracy to
- 7:44Speaker 3: the spots that they're gonna be at, me trusting they'll
- 7:46Speaker 3: be there, and then them trusting me to get the
- 7:48Speaker 3: ball there.
- 7:49Speaker 1: That's what all of that comes down to. Do you
- 7:52Speaker 1: realize you.
- 7:53Speaker 4: Had a really good chemistry with DK and talent?
- 7:56Speaker 3: I would say I think the Jaguars game where we
- 8:01Speaker 3: started out just you know, pretty pretty good.
- 8:03Speaker 1: I hit a bunch of.
- 8:03Speaker 3: Completions in the row, and uh, you can kind of
- 8:06Speaker 3: see those things kind of manifest itself. And so I
- 8:09Speaker 3: think about all the you know, conversations we had when
- 8:11Speaker 3: I was the backup and trying to help those guys
- 8:13Speaker 3: understand coverages and you know, see different things. And then
- 8:16Speaker 3: we get the tents to go out there and play,
- 8:17Speaker 3: and uh, you know, had a really good game and
- 8:19Speaker 3: I kind of saw it saw it back then.
- 8:22Speaker 5: It seems like you're able to build quick chemistry with
- 8:25Speaker 5: these receivers. You were, you know, Jake Bobo and Matt
- 8:27Speaker 5: Landers too this year. Just guys coming in and able
- 8:29Speaker 5: to hit the ground running. Looking back at retrospect, how
- 8:33Speaker 5: much was how much of a blessing was it those
- 8:35Speaker 5: practice practices the scout team quarterback, as you mentioned, being
- 8:38Speaker 5: able to work with so many different receivers. How that's
- 8:41Speaker 5: impacted your ability to hit it off with these receivers
- 8:44Speaker 5: so much.
- 8:45Speaker 3: I think you gotta, you know, really just give the
- 8:47Speaker 3: credit to them. Uh, those those two guys, all the
- 8:50Speaker 3: guys that have come in, the new guys, they've worked
- 8:52Speaker 3: extremely hard to get on the same page with the quarterbacks.
- 8:54Speaker 1: And uh, you know it's not just.
- 8:56Speaker 3: Me alone, you know, it's Drew, it's Holton and any
- 8:59Speaker 3: other quarterback right Like it's it's important for all of
- 9:02Speaker 3: us to see the same things, speak the same language.
- 9:04Speaker 3: And you know that's why practice we rep it so
- 9:06Speaker 3: many times so that we can you know, go out
- 9:08Speaker 3: there and execute.
- 9:09Speaker 1: And so it's a rep thing. It.
- 9:11Speaker 3: You know, it takes a number of reps to get
- 9:12Speaker 3: good at anything, and so we've just been wrapping our
- 9:15Speaker 3: butts off and just getting a bunch of reps in
- 9:17Speaker 3: after practice, you know, watching film together. So when we
- 9:20Speaker 3: hit the field, you know, we're not thinking about it.
- 9:22Speaker 3: We're just reacting. And you know, it's a it's a
- 9:24Speaker 3: testament to those guys work, work ethic, and I think
- 9:27Speaker 3: that's something that we got to continue to build on.
- 9:29Speaker 5: You have the playmakers kind of lock and ceiling player
- 9:33Speaker 5: in the NFL with eight ten receptions in the past
- 9:36Speaker 5: five seasons.
- 9:37Speaker 2: What is is it about him?
- 9:39Speaker 1: Consistency?
- 9:41Speaker 3: His consistency man, every day he comes to work, he's focused,
- 9:45Speaker 3: he's prepared. Obviously, he's a talented receiver, great route runner,
- 9:49Speaker 3: has great hands, clutch player.
- 9:51Speaker 1: You know, when the balls in in his vicinity, he
- 9:54Speaker 1: goes and gets it.
- 9:54Speaker 3: You know, not the tallest guy, but he plays big
- 9:57Speaker 3: and he loves ball. Man. It's fun to be out
- 10:00Speaker 3: there with him on game day just seeing the way
- 10:03Speaker 3: that he's so passionate about the game. You know, for
- 10:06Speaker 3: such a mild mannered person. You know, when he puts
- 10:08Speaker 3: on that uniform, he kind of changes us to a
- 10:10Speaker 3: different person. And you can see the consistency in that.
- 10:13Speaker 1: On game day, you.
- 10:14Speaker 6: Guys have six captains this year. It's the first time
- 10:17Speaker 6: since pete'sman here has been more than four. Does that
- 10:19Speaker 6: speak to maybe just sort of the way this locker
- 10:21Speaker 6: room is that you don't have one dominant voice on
- 10:24Speaker 6: offense one on defense.
- 10:25Speaker 1: It's a little more spread out. Yeah, I think so.
- 10:27Speaker 3: I think we have a you know, if I look
- 10:28Speaker 3: at it from what our seed, we got a locker
- 10:31Speaker 3: room full of alphas and anybody can be a leader
- 10:34Speaker 3: on this team. I don't see an ego with any
- 10:37Speaker 3: of the guys on this team. You know, it's about
- 10:39Speaker 3: team first. It's about a we mentality. And I think
- 10:42Speaker 3: that's why you see that there could have been a
- 10:44Speaker 3: number of guys who could have been voted captain, and
- 10:47Speaker 3: you know, it could have been ten, it could have
- 10:48Speaker 3: been fifteen, because we have so many guys who are
- 10:51Speaker 3: leaders amongst us, and so when you put a bunch
- 10:53Speaker 3: of alphas in one room, I think great things will happen.
- 10:56Speaker 3: But having you know, six captains is great, but anybody
- 10:59Speaker 3: can still up up and fill that role.
- 11:01Speaker 5: It's like you got to make a lot of strides
- 11:03Speaker 5: and some of the situational stuff offensively over off season.
- 11:06Speaker 1: Yeah, I do.
- 11:07Speaker 3: I think that was a major inmphasis for us, like
- 11:09Speaker 3: third downs, you know, red zone being better in those
- 11:12Speaker 3: specific areas, and so we got a bunch of reps
- 11:15Speaker 3: at that, you know, Pete put us in, you know,
- 11:18Speaker 3: competition over and over, you know, third down competition, red
- 11:21Speaker 3: zone competition, a lot of back and forth between you know,
- 11:24Speaker 3: the offense and the defense. And uh, you know we'll
- 11:27Speaker 3: we'll be able to see throughout the season if we
- 11:29Speaker 3: actually got better.
- 11:30Speaker 1: But I think we did theting in those situations on offense.
- 11:34Speaker 3: Uh, the key is getting you know, making the plays.
- 11:37Speaker 3: You know it's gonna be one on one somewhere. You know,
- 11:39Speaker 3: someone's got to make a play on the offensive defense.
- 11:41Speaker 3: Obviously in the red zone the field shortens and so
- 11:44Speaker 3: you gotta be quicker with your decision making as a quarterback,
- 11:47Speaker 3: got to be accurate, you know, kind of got to
- 11:49Speaker 3: nowhere to go with.
- 11:50Speaker 1: The ball and get it out on time and with precision.
- 11:53Speaker 3: And then on third down, you know, whatever it takes
- 11:55Speaker 3: to get the first down, obviously picking up you know,
- 11:58Speaker 3: whatever blitz they have, whatever package they have. And then
- 12:00Speaker 3: for me as a quarterback, reading the field and getting
- 12:03Speaker 3: the ball to the right guys and then making places.
- 12:06Speaker 5: Jackson's skill set, how much can he be a factor.
- 12:08Speaker 1: On third down? I think he'll be a tremendous factor.
- 12:11Speaker 1: You know.
- 12:11Speaker 3: I think he's another guy who can win one on ones.
- 12:13Speaker 3: He's got a great skill set. You know, we got
- 12:16Speaker 3: three dynamic receivers, a bunch of dynamic, three dynamic tight ends,
- 12:20Speaker 3: running backs who can you know, run the ball and.
- 12:22Speaker 1: Catch out of the backfield.
- 12:23Speaker 3: So a quarterback, you know, quarterbacks who can who are mobile,
- 12:27Speaker 3: who can throw in pass, and so we've got to
- 12:29Speaker 3: use all of those things in order to help us
- 12:31Speaker 3: succeed on third down. But Jackson brings so much to
- 12:34Speaker 3: the table and we just look forward to seeing what
- 12:36Speaker 3: he does out there.
- 12:37Speaker 4: You know, you've obviously put in a ton of work
- 12:39Speaker 4: over the last few years psychologically and confidence wise. How
- 12:42Speaker 4: instrumental has Coach Carroll and the staff been in terms
- 12:45Speaker 4: of your progression and the confidence that you have coming to.
- 12:49Speaker 1: Work every day? Yeah, you know, Coach Carrol is a
- 12:52Speaker 1: big part of that.
- 12:53Speaker 3: He obviously, like I said, when I first got here, man,
- 12:56Speaker 3: they took me in and embraced me. This entire organization,
- 12:59Speaker 3: the city, which is which I'm so grateful for and
- 13:02Speaker 3: that uplifted me.
- 13:03Speaker 1: You know that uplifted my spirits.
- 13:05Speaker 3: And uh, you know, coming off of you know, I
- 13:06Speaker 3: was on two teams where it didn't work out, and
- 13:09Speaker 3: so to come here and you know, even though I
- 13:11Speaker 3: was the backup for a few years, they allowed me
- 13:13Speaker 3: to grow to develop. They're big on development here and
- 13:17Speaker 3: it's positive around here. So that's something that I think
- 13:20Speaker 3: all the guys like, you know, not just myself, but
- 13:22Speaker 3: when you have that positivity just you know, exuding through
- 13:25Speaker 3: the locker room and just especially from a head coach, right,
- 13:29Speaker 3: it just makes you want to go out there and
- 13:30Speaker 3: play a lot harder. And uh it also helps you
- 13:33Speaker 3: with your own mentality. So uh, you know, Coach Carol's
- 13:35Speaker 3: done a great job and our staff does a great
- 13:37Speaker 3: job at developing guys.
- 13:39Speaker 1: Anything else. Thank you, Thank you, guys, Thank you,