Quotes of Notes: Seahawks Talk Matchup With Titans

In recent days, Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and more talked about dealing with Derrick Henry, why this feels like a playoff game and more.

There will be times Sunday when it will be difficult for Tennessee Titans players and coaches to hear one another or to carry on any kind of conversation.

That is typical for all visiting teams when they face the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field, which is widely regarded as the NFL’s loudest stadium and the most decisive homefield advantage for any of the league’s 32 franchises.

In the days leading up to the contest, however, players and coaches on both sides of the matchup had plenty to say.

Here is a roundup of what Seahawks players and coaches said when asked about the Titans:

• Quarterback Russell Wilson, on the matchup: “They do such a good job on the offensive end of running the ball, extending out the clock, and doing those kinds of things. They have playmakers at the running back position, (Ryan) Tannehill is a great quarterback, and then you have the receivers that they have. You have to play great football. This is a playoff game. This is what this is in that sense. It’s two great teams going after it and we have a lot of respect for how tough they are and how they play.”

• Coach Pete Carroll, on the Titans: “This is a really good team that we are playing. The Titans were division champs last year, had a lot of wins, and had huge numbers by their players in terms of stats. All of the buildup and the high-profile guys, this is a really exciting matchup for us.”

• Carroll, on Tennessee’s Week 1 performance: “I was really attracted by Arizona’s play. They were spectacular. On offense, they were all over the place and did a million different things. Defensively, they created so many big plays right from the beginning. … Just overall, they got out ahead, stayed ahead, and just kept going. There was no fluke to that one. They played really great football and made the plays that they needed to. It was a hard day for Tennessee to get going.”

• Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, on Tennessee’s defense: “They have done a great job in the past season of having a tough, hard-nosed defense that knows how to set the edge. They are multiple, they can attack in you in a lot of different ways. … We are ready for a tough defense that will throw a lot of things at us.”

• Wilson, on Tennessee’s defense: “They (pose) a lot of challenges and we have to really be on our stuff. We have to understand what they are trying to do, the different personnel that they bring in, the different fronts, and all of that. We have to be efficient and effective, but the biggest thing is that it will come down to making plays. You have to win your matchups. When they do go man or zone, we have to be able to strike them, make plays, and make conversions.”

• Safety Bobby Wagner, on the Titans offense: “The concepts are maybe a little bit different, the formations a little bit different, but at the end of the day they’re going to give (Derrick Henry) the ball and get out of his way. I think they just try to find different ways to get him the ball.”

• Wide receiver DK Metcalf, on drawing inspiration from Julio Jones: ““Of course it motivated me, but I’m trying to pave my own way in this league as well. Him, Calvin Johnson, and a couple other bigger receivers definitely paved the way for me.”

• Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr., on the Titans’ wide receivers: “It’s a real challenge. I think that the talent that Tennessee has at the receiver position is certainly a challenge and those guys really understand what’s out there for them.”

• Carroll, on A.J. Brown and Julio Jones: “A.J. is really tough, makes all of the plays, makes spectacular plays on the catch and run. Julio is like as good as you can get. That’s a fantastic one-two punch, I don’t who is one and who is two but it doesn’t matter.”

• Linebacker Jordyn Brooks, on Derrick Henry: “He’s a big guy. I’m excited for the match up. I think it’s a good opportunity to see where we are as a defense, as far as run defense. That team likes to run the ball a lot, they’ve got a good running game.”

• Carroll, on Henry: “He’s really unique. There have not been very many guys like him over the years because he’s really fast, a big strider, and runs through things. It’s not like he’s an impact runner that’s blasting off of guys, he keeps going, you can’t get him off stride because he’s such a powerful back. He has great instincts – his instincts of how to hit the line of scrimmage and how to use the opportunity of the blocking schemes is impeccable.”

• Norton, on Henry: “We’ve all seen the film. He’s a big, strong, tough running back. It’s important that everyone plays sound gap control, but everybody’s involved in tackling and getting him down. You want to see more than one person at a time get around him. You want to see a gang of Seahawk bodies just jumping on him and pulling him down.”