Seahawks Put Multiple Key Players on Notice After Blowout Loss

Pete Carroll

Getty Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has some tough decisions to make.

Pete Carroll is typically the captain of positivity, but the longtime Seattle Seahawks head coach could not hide his displeasure following the team’s 16-point preseason loss to the Chicago Bears. The actual contest was not as close as even the 27-11 final score may indicate as the Bears led 24-3 at one point during the third quarter.

After the game, Carroll provided a laundry list of players, position groups and areas where the Seahawks need to improve. Carroll criticized rookie tackle Charles Cross, who the Seahawks selected with the No. 9 pick in the 2022 NFL draft, for accumulating four penalties.

“So, there’s big lessons, and I have to really zero in on the guys that are having the problems,” Carroll explained during his August 19, 2022 press conference. “Like Charles had problems on the line of scrimmage in this game.

“He had four penalties on procedure penalties and stuff that you obviously can clean up in all little different situations. So, we have to get that out of your football. You can’t play football like that, it’s bad and so we’ll learn a lot here.”

Carroll later added that Cross had multiple penalty issues, and it was not related to just one type of mistake. For those looking for a silver lining, Cross and the offensive line spent the majority of the prep week practicing with Drew Lock at quarterback before he tested positive for COVID-19.

ALL the latest Seahawks news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Seahawks newsletter here!

Join Heavy on Seahawks!


Carroll on Smith: ‘Our Receivers Got to Make the Plays for Him’

Carroll also criticized the wide receivers who played noting that the playmakers did not do Geno Smith any favors with a number of drops in the game. To be fair, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett played only a few snaps, meaning the majority of receivers who lined up will likely be reserves during the regular season.

“He’s [Smith] running the show well,” Carroll said of Smith. “He’s doing okay, got out of the pocket when he needed to and threw a couple really good balls that could have been converted. We got to come through for him. Our receivers got to make the plays for him, and we need to see DK and [Lockett] and the fellas out there. We’re going to count on DK and Lock and Marquise [Goodwin] has got a chance to help us.”


Carroll: ‘If They Don’t Get It Right Then They Won’t Be Able to Be Here’

The Seahawks coach was also critical of the team’s missed tackles to start the preseason. Without mentioning names, Carroll bluntly emphasized that the players who “don’t get it right, then they won’t be able to be here.”

“I’m gonna check on the tacklers, the guys that are missing them,” Carroll remarked. “I think that’s the most important thing to me right now. I want to see who’s missing tackles and fix that problem.

“I don’t think it’s like an epidemic kind of thing. It looked like that last week a little bit [against Pittsburgh]. But we got to clean some stuff up with some guys, and if they don’t get it right then they won’t be able to be here. We’ll get guys that can.”