Jamal Adams is the impression of Seahawks HC Pete Carroll so far in practice. (Getty)
The Seahawks are finally back and training later than many would have expected once the 2019 season ended, but head coach Pete Carroll is excited to have his team all together.
Clayton’s Observations: Pete Carroll really loves where his team is
‘It’s been a long journey today. Today for us is actually the first day of practice, because it’s the first day we can face each other, “he told John Clayton of 710 ESPN Seattle before Friday’s practice of the team.” The first two days out, the offense was on one field and the defense was on the other … It’s been mentally good and there are a lot of reps in the walkthroughs and all that, so we are ready to crank it up and everyone just wants to go out and running and football, so that’s what today’s all about. ”
Carroll, whose background is on the defensive side of the ball, is also ready to get his defense back to the best of the league after a very disappointing season in 2019. In addition to takeaways, Seattle’s defense struggles in almost every other aspects of the game. As a result, the team added a lot of talent to the defense through the concept, free agency and in trade. Here are a few takeaways from what Carroll had to say about his defense.
Full speed
Clayton asked Carroll about the speed of his football team. After talks about the receivers and running backs, Carroll quickly moved to the defense, pointing to three purchases for offseason in particular.
“With Bruce (Irvin) coming to us, he has great athleticism and speed and it shows up right away,” Carroll said. “Benson (Mayowa) also got good speed from the edge. And then you can not help but look 33 out. When Jamal (Adams) runs, he just blinks so often and he gives you a real feeling that we can fly to football and it’s fun to watch it out. ”
Speaking of Adams
Adams was the award-winning offseason addition for the Seahawks and cost quite a bit to get. Seattle issued two first-round picks, a pick in the third round and safety Bradley McDougald.
Adams, a 2019 All-Pro first-team team with the Jets, did a bit of everything on defense, such as man-to-man coverage, zone coverage, the pass raging and playing close to the line of scrimmage. Carroll said there are plenty of ways the Seahawks can use Adams.
‘He will be used as he can be used. That means he can do a little bit of everything, ”he said. ‘… He’s just very capable and he can cover boys in zone as a man, he’s a really good striker and a good defender on the edge, he’s a good defender in the box and he can really stand up if he also makes pressure. He brings you everything you could hope for and he has a great, tough attitude about him and our fans will just love the way he plays. “
Dunbar update
Before the Seahawks took over Adams, the big splash over the defense they made was cornerback Quinton Dunbar from Washington for a fifth-round pick. Dunbar was Pro Football Focus’ second rated cornerback in 2019 and he had four interceptions.
But Dunbar was accused of armed robbery in Florida, which resulted in him surrendering to police. He was later placed on the NFL Commissioner’s release list, and it was recently revealed that he would not be charged and he was removed from that list. Dunbar is set to practice soon.
“He’s going through the quarantine period and today he’s getting his physical and I think we have a shot tomorrow to get him out, so that’s going to be the first time,” Carroll said. ‘We go to him really easily and make sure we get him back and get him to battle, but we’m glad he has him. It will be fun to see him here in uniform and see what he looks like. ”
Competition in the slot
Carroll had one of the greatest secondary in NFL history with the Legion of Boom, who manned the Seahawks’ secondary for many years in the early and mid-2010s. With Adams and Dunbar joining Pro Bowl cornerback Shaquill Griffin and safety Quandre Diggs, there’s plenty of upheaval at the back end of the defense. But Carroll quickly pointed to another aspect of the continuation that he keeps a close eye on.
“I’m scared to see Ugo (Amadi) wrestle with Marquise Blair at the nickel spot and what we’re doing there,” he said. “We think (Blair) gives us a real physical player to mix in and he’s done well so far by getting the book down. It will be a very good group. I think we have to be very aggressive in our style of play due to the makeup and the nature of the guys we have and hopefully we will also be really physical. ‘
State of the linebackers
The Seahawks have one of the top linebacker duos in the NFL hand with Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright. The last two years now, Seattle has added tremendous depth to that room, lined up two linebackers in 2019 and using the team’s first pick of 2020 on Jordyn Brooks. Irvin also returned and has experience alongside Wagner and Wright.
“Bruce gives us a lot of flexibility because he can play the SAM linebacker spot and he’s the best SAM linebacker we’ve ever had here, so it’s great to have him back. But he can also play the LEO spot, which is more focused on passing the passer more so he can play on both sides, which he has already done, and that gives us a really good flexible format for how we play our boys, “Carroll said.” KJ can play around here… Jordyn Brooks has played a lot of different things in his day. He played a lot of football in college and we saw him play everything. We have a lot of flexibility . ”
And while Wagner, Wright, Brooks and Irvin get most of the attention, Carroll does not think anyone should sleep on last year’s pickup.
“Cody Barton also gives us great flexibility. He can do anything, ‘he said. “He played SAM, MIKE and WILL as a rookie last year and he’s at the top of the class as far as he knew his stuff and made the calls and contained the arrangements.”
Listen to the full interview with Carroll at this link as in the player below (28:33).
Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s John Clayton on Twitter.
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