Seahawks defensive coordinator Kris Richard said Thursday last week's performance against Houston simply wasn't good enough.
There were a few pretty relevant topics for Seahawks defensive coordinator Kris Richard to address when he met the media Thursday to review last week’s win over Houston and Sunday’s game against Washington.
Here are some highlights:
On how comfortable he feels with Bradley McDougald potentially starting this weekend in place of Earl Thomas who is dealing with a leg injury: “Extremely confident. He’s been a starter in this league, he has starter ability, he’s a multi-talented guy who can do plenty of things out there on the field, so we have extreme confidence.”
On CB Jeremy Lane being back following his failed physical with the Texans from the Duane Brown trade and what his attitude is at this point; “Well, first of all, we’re very fortunate to have him back, there’s no doubt about that. He has a great attitude. The main thing we want to do here that is a huge part of our culture is just staying focused on what you can control. This is a clear example; we couldn’t have a better example of it.”
Most Read Sports Stories
On if there is anything that he has to say to Jeremy Lane just to kind of deal with the situation of having him back from the failed physical with Houston: “No, no. I would say it’s a testament to kind of our relationship as a whole. He’s been with us the whole time, so we know him, he knows us, and again, it goes back to staying focused on what you can control. He has the heart of a champion, he’s a tenacious competitor, and I can’t think of anything better to say about the guy. He’s back and he’s ours, and he’s ready to rock.”
On what his general assessment was of the defense from last Sunday’s win against Houston: “Yeah, not satisfied. Not satisfied, but none of us are. It’s sort of rare that we were rewarded in that fashion of the victory at the end of the game. Again, it’s never, ever going to be about that; it’s always going to be about our level of execution and it wasn’t anywhere near where it should’ve been.”
On what he saw from new DE Dwight Freeney in his first game as a Seahawk last Sunday: “The guy doesn’t miss a beat, you know? You can tell football is what he does and he’s only going to get better and stronger the more in-shape and the more conditioned that he gets in. I would also say that the more reps that he’s able to get out there with his teammates, is going to raise the level of execution also.”
On how they and the Texans were trading blows back and forth in last weekend’s game and how impressed he was with the team to keep fighting back each time the Texans made big plays: “Well, if I had hair, I’d be going bald. That’s kind of what it comes down to it. Other than that, now I have greys in my beard, but yeah; the resiliency, yes. It’s the give-and-take of it, so the positives of it all, again, we got the quarterback on the ground, and the opportunity presented itself, and then we got the football when the opportunity presented itself.”
On what he has been able to see from Dion Jordan in his first week back to getting back on the practice field: “Well, he’s looked strong. I think his confidence is building each and every single day that he’s able to get out there. I mean, you’re looking at a guy who’s two years removed from football and now that he has pads on, I think you can see the physical ability, but it’s just going to come down to how soon will he trust his legs and just trust kind of getting back into the flow of things.”
On how Richard Sherman said this week that last weekend’s game was good for Shaquill Griffin what he saw from him and what made it a good learning experience for him: “He had a quality wide receiver that he had to go out there and cover down-in and down-out. They were looking to try to expose that matchup in a sense, and really, that’s kind of where we are created; in those competitive moments. He won some, he lost some, and then the ones that he won, we were able to celebrate and the ones that he lost, we were able to critique and correct. Now, pressing forward, he’s going to understand how teams are going to try and attack him. Now, he’s going to be able to fix his leverage, understand where his help is, and he’s just fixing those and fine-tuning those things. There’s only so much that you can tell a guy, then all of a sudden, here comes the experience; ‘Oh that’s why you were telling me that,’ yes, that’s why we’re telling you that.”