RENTON — Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks’ usually upbeat and positive head coach, appears to be growing tired of the attention focused on what is happening with his team off the field.
Since the Seahawks traded Percy Harvin just before their game in St. Louis earlier this month, numerous reports have surfaced not just about the issues between Harvin and the team, but about other things going on in Seattle’s locker room.
A report from Bleacher Report said there was a divide in Seattle’s locker room between Harvin and quarterback Russell Wilson, while also noting that some players on the team resented Wilson for his relationship with the front office.
Then on Sunday, ESPN reported that the Seahawks have “grown tired” of Marshawn Lynch’s behavior, and that the running back wouldn’t be on the team in 2015. The latter part of that report has long been assumed by many given Lynch’s age, position and salary, and in fact the possibility that Lynch could be gone next year was a big reason why he held out this offseason seeking more money in 2014.
The NFL Network also reported that Lynch and his coaches no longer talk to each other.
A day later, Carroll said there was nothing wrong with the team’s relationship with Lynch.
“I have nothing to say about that, because there’s nothing to that,” he said. “I have no idea where that came from. We have nothing to say about that. At this point, I don’t think it behooves us to try to respond to all of these kind of things in the locker room. Our players have told you how they feel, our coaches have told you how we feel, and we’re in a really good place right now. It’s just not worth it. There’s nothing to that at all. I don’t know where that came from.”
The reports on Lynch, and the timing of when that information was leaked — the NFL’s trade deadline is Tuesday — of course led to speculation that the Seahawks might try to trade Lynch. Asked if it was safe to assume Lynch would still be a Seahawk after Tuesday, Carroll smiled and said, “Yeah, go ahead. You can go with that.”
As for the idea that Lynch no longer communicates with his coaches, Carroll said that too was false, and that he talks to Lynch, “Whenever I need to. Look, what do you want me to … You’re asking me about my personal relationship with my players now? We’re doing great. Everything’s going great.”
Everything, Carroll says, including Lynch’s behavior and performance.
“He’s doing fine,” he said. “He’s done such a great job. Since the day he got back here (from his holdout), he looked terrific, he returned in great shape, he’s busted his tail, he’s done everything we’ve asked of him. … He’s always ready to play and he’s played his tail off, so he’s doing great.”
While Carroll is tired of questions about team chemistry and disgruntled stars, he also understands it comes with the territory of being the defending champions, and also with making the surprising decision to trade away Harvin, one of the team’s most talented players. That’s why in the week-plus since the Harvin trade, Carroll has talked to his players, often on a one-on-one basis, to make sure everyone is OK.
“We did talk about it a bit,” Carroll said. “More than anything I’ve talked to a lot of guys individually and just worked the plane, and the locker room and the chow hall and stuff like that just to make sure everybody feels comfortable, and everybody has expressed if they have any concerns. I’m more concerned about the concern about them than them; they’re fine. Our locker room is solid, they’re together, they’re really determined. I don’t think you can get any other thought than that. They’re surprised as we are as coaches that you guys have these questions about us, but we understand, it’s part of it. We’re not going to get frustrated by it, we’re just going to keep working through our business.”
Trade coming?
While Carroll ruled out a Lynch trade, he did keep open the possibility of the Seahawks making some sort of move before Tuesday’s 1 p.m. PDT deadline: “(General manager John Schneider) is working on it. You never know. He’ll go all the way until the final hour. He’s looking at stuff and entertaining thoughts and things like that; that’s just the way we’ve always been, so he’s still doing it.”
Injury update
The Seahawks didn’t come out of Sunday’s game injury free, but they appear to have avoided any long-term injuries. Linebacker Malcolm Smith has what Carroll called a “mild groin strain” and his status is up in the air. Backup safety Jeron Johnson suffered a concussion, so he’ll have to go through the league’s concussion protocol before he can return to action. Guard James Carpenter had back spasms, which caused him to miss part of the game, but should be OK this week, Carroll said.
As for the players who are currently out with injuries, a few could make it back this week, but two are still out a while longer. Both tight end Zach Miller, who is recovering from ankle surgery, and linebacker Bobby Wagner, who has turf toe, saw specialists over the weekend, and neither has a clear timeline yet, Carroll said, but “are going to be a while.”
Center Max Unger, who has missed three games with a foot injury, “has a chance to get back” this week, Carroll said. Carroll gave a “we’ll see” on the status of cornerback Byron Maxwell (calf) and defensive tackle Jordan Hill (ankle) for this week. Carroll also noted that Jeremy Lane is still on track to return for Seattle’s Nov. 9 game against the New York Giants, the earliest the cornerback can come off of short-term injured reserve.
Carroll said there’s a good chance Bryan Walters makes it back this week from a concussion suffered in practice last week. If Walters does come back, the Seahawks will have a choice to make after rookie Paul Richardson looked good in his first game as Seattle’s kick returner.
“We’ll wait and see, but Paul had one to break it in, then No. 2 he hit it pretty good,” Carroll said. “He really tore it up in there. It was exciting to see, you can see the burst, he’s got extraordinary speed, and he went for it. … We were encouraged, we would not hesitate to have him back there.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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