The Seattle Seahawks are defying the odds with Geno Smith this season and Pete Carroll may have taken the opportunity to take a veiled shot at former quarterback Russell Wilson this week while paying his new quarterback a compliment.
Fresh off a four-game win streak, Carroll spoke highly of the working relationship between Smith and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and the trust the two have built on the field, especially during critical plays.
"He's getting everything he can get out of Shane," Carroll said on KIRO am-radio. "That's a really important part of it. Shane helps him all the way through to the 15-second point. They're just communicating to get it done and there's this conversation that goes on, so they work it out, and Geno’s taking advantage of all of that."
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Carroll went on to elaborate further, noting that Smith wears a wristband to help with play-calling decisions — something that was met with "resistance" in the past.
"If you notice, Geno's going off the wristband and that's a big help. It's smoothed things out, sped things up, cleaned things up. And that's part of it, too. We never did that before. There was resistance to that, so we didn't do that before."
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He continued: "When Shane says something to Geno, he's not doubting it. He's just going with it, so there's a real immediate flow and that accelerates all the process. … He's functioning really comfortably regardless of what the circumstances are."
It’s unclear if the "resistance" came from longtime quarterback Russell Wilson, but it wouldn’t be far-fetched considering the rumored tension that was reported in the months leading up to the massive trade with the Denver Broncos.
Wilson spoke publicly about his frustrations. In February 2021 he spoke openly about "getting hit too much," which the Seahawks were reportedly not pleased with.
The eventual breakup put both the organization and Wilson under the microscope this season, with the latter seemingly struggling in a new environment. The Broncos narrowly defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday to improve to 3-5.
But Carroll seems happy with Seattle’s current situation.
"Geno’s fully functioning – he’s fully functioning right now."
