Seahawks DE Carlos Dunlap apologizes for ‘foolish’ shoe-throwing penalty in loss to Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. — How the left shoe of Green Bay offensive lineman Billy Turner ended up in Carlos Dunlap’s right hand remains a bit of a mystery.

But everyone saw what happened next and how costly that became for the Seahawks.

Dunlap, Seattle’s veteran defensive end, picked up the shoe near midfield and tossed it some 15 yards in the other direction, right in front of two game officials.

In a close game early in the fourth quarter, Dunlap was assessed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty, giving the Packers a first down at the Seattle 27-yard line.

Six plays later, AJ Dillon plowed into the end zone to score the game’s first touchdown, giving Green Bay a 10-0 lead en route to a 17-0 victory Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Dunlap apologized to the team after the game.

“It was a foolish mistake,” he told reporters outside the Seahawks locker room. “I take full accountability for it. It won’t happen again.”

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll called the shoe toss “a terrible mistake.” It soiled what was otherwise the Seahawks’ best defensive performance of the season, all things considered.

“He knows it. He owned up to the team and apologized and said it would never happened again,” Carroll added. “That’s a big play right there, obviously, when we had a chance to stop them right there at midfield. In a game this tight, stuff is amplified — a play here, a play there — and that’s what happened.”

WR Dee Eskridge limited in return

Rookie receiver Dee Eskridge, the Seahawks’ top draft pick this year, played just five snaps Sunday in his long-awaited return from a concussion.

It was his first appearance since Week 1, when he suffered the concussion in his NFL debut against the Colts.

Against the Packers, Eskridge had only one touch, and that came on a toss sweep that resulted in a loss of 4 yards.