Here’s what Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had to say about the team’s decision to waive WR Chris Matthews on Tuesday and sign former University of Washington WR Kevin Smith from the practice squad:
“[Smith] is very versatile. He knows all the positions, which is really important, especially when we’re down on numbers, having flexibility is really more important than maybe a guy that could do one position well. So his value jumped up there. He’s tough, he’s got a great catching range, he’s very competitive, and the fact that he adds the special teams, too, in some ways that can help us right now are all part of it.”
“[Matthews] is gone now. He’s out. He busted his tail, he was a hard worker and all of that. We just wanted to make this move to get Kevin the shot to move up and see how he would do.”
“[The type of plays Matthews made in the Super Bowl] didn’t happen. But he certainly had a great Super Bowl, he really did. He had a fantastic game.”
“I think [giving practice squad players a chance] has always been important. If the central theme is competition then you have to do what you say. We’ve always tried to stand for that and give guys opportunities to show what they could do, sense when that hunger is really right for them to take advantage of the opportunity and let them excel. That’s always been some of it. But if you say that, you need to act on it.”
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