After Unusual Training Camp, Seahawks 'Pumped' to Face Falcons in Opener

Following an unpredictable offseason, the Seahawks were able to enjoy a successful training camp over the last few weeks amid unusual circumstances and are full speed ahead preparing for their first game of the season against the Falcons.

Considering the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the preseason, Seattle wasn’t able to participate in any exhibition games this summer, forcing them to hold a trio of mock games instead. While it’s nearly impossible to recreate a traditional game setting, those scrimmages still served as a solid building block and helped ramp up competition at multiple positions on the roster.

With that said, nothing is more exciting than the first game of the regular season and the Seahawks couldn’t be happier to finally play against another team. Needing to find a way to stay composed on game day, coach Pete Carroll explained his coaching staff must watch over their players, especially the rookies, to make sure they don’t lose focus or become overly confident.

“It’s really fun, you can feel the energy and everybody in the building, the players for sure. For a lot of guys it’s their first NFL game ever, so they’re all pumped up about it,” Carroll described. “It’s really important for us to watch those guys and see that they don’t get too hyped or whatever, they need to stay in the kind of pocket that we need to stay in.”

Along with assessing rookies throughout training camp and usually during the preseason, Carroll admitted he has always reminded his staff to carefully observe the team’s younger players during the first game of the season. Without any preseason games this summer, paying attention to such a detail has become a lot more important and will be crucial in 2020.

Referencing rookie Damien Lewis in particular, Carroll revealed the team is planning to monitor the LSU standout’s body language through all four quarters in Atlanta. Even though this will be his first game in the league, they want to make sure he’ll be able to stay focused and composed on the field.

“At this time of year I’m always talking about this to the coaches, let’s watch them really carefully, really be observant to see if there’s any changes from how things have been,” Carroll detailed. “So we’re gonna try and read the body language and read his reactions and stuff. But also knowing that there’s just a natural hype about your first time out.

“You never get to do that twice, it’s one shot to be your first NFL game and so we want to make sure that they’re really clear thinking and take into account those factors and see if we can keep them really calm.”

Since Seattle nearly surrendered a 24-0 lead last season in Atlanta, Carroll is hopeful history won’t repeat itself and that an improved mindset will help his team perform more effectively for four quarters.

Despite this tough matchup, the Seahawks are just so excited for the regular season to begin and to start their quest for another championship. While they’ll need to adjust to playing in an empty stadium, which will be a different experience for every team, Carroll believes his squad is ready for the task and the lack of games over the summer should help increase their motivation.

“There’s a lot of excitement about it, I think even more anticipation in the sense because we’ve had so little football games over the course of the offseason,” Carroll explained. “There’s a big build up, looking forward to it and it’s gonna be a much different experience than we normally see on the road. It’s gonna be interesting.”