8:10pm ET
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Brady Henderson ESPN
Renton, WA — Seattle Seahawks at Gino Smith The quarterback battle with Drew Rock may not be
Coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday that the Seahawks will spend “all the time we need” to settle on a starter players, noting that they have two and a half weeks between their preseason finale against the Dallas Cowboys on Friday and the Sept. 12 opener against Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos.
Carroll said Smith was still ahead, but he was “open” to the possibility that Locke could pass him.
Carroll did not specify when he originally planned to make a decision, but said that changed last Tuesday when Locke was sidelined with COVID-19, two days before him Will start the Chicago Bears for the first time in their second preseason game in Seattle. Rock returned on Sunday, played in all three training sessions this week, and shared first-team representation with Smith on Tuesday.
Carroll didn’t say who will start Friday, but again said Locke will play “a lot.”
“I’m open to anything that happens,” Carroll said. “Gino has been leading the pack and I’ve been protecting the idea. He’s done really well. He’s been very consistent. So we’ll see what happens. There’s two weeks of practice, and after that. I’m not sure how we’re going to handle it The timeline has a fixed idea, but it’s disrupted so we’ll use all the time we need.”
Smith has had most of the first-team representation. He started the Seahawks mock game before a week later in the preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The plan is to start Rock against Chicago and go from there. Locke took all the first-team representatives last Tuesday but struggled when feeling unwell and tested positive later in the day.
” Carroll said before practice. “A guy came back from COVID. He came back two days ago and did a great job, finished all the drills yesterday and did a great job. Let’s see how he plays today and see where we’ll see it fit. But I don’t end the book about anyone competing for their place. We have two huge weeks coming up: the end of this one, [then] next week is a big one for us, and then we’re back with a full week, one more day. So we have a lot of time to work on that. “
Lock, acquired from Denver in the Wilson trade, beat Smith at Lumen Field in the Aug. Had a great night with two touchdown passes until late gaffe. He lost a turnover when he failed to account for an unblocked rusher.
“He played really well,” Carroll said. “He had a good rhythm. I also went back to the Lumen game because that was another game we used to evaluate. His football is very fast. I hope to continue to see this happen. When it came down to it, we ended up missing something and giving up the ball. I just want to see him finish the game and finish what he’s capable of. He showed a lot of really good stuff. I think he made two of his threes against [Pittsburgh]. But because of last week’s game, we’re in a different state now. “
The Seahawks were scoreless against Chicago last week when he trailed Smith seven times in the first half. He finished 10 for 18 for 112 yards, but He missed the ball at least 3 times.
When asked if the Seahawks could play two quarterbacks in the regular season, Carroll said it was a Possibilities, but not plans.
“I could go on and on about it, but I want these guys to fight, let them show where they are, let’s get as much information as possible Possibly,” he said. “Gino did a really good job in that position. His voice was solid. He was always on point. He’s very consistent with his work in all of these areas, and Drew is really sharp. I know it shouldn’t be a good situation with two quarterbacks. It means you don’t have one, it’s an old saying. I have no idea. We might have two quarterbacks. We’ll see what happens. “
Carroll initially said he expected rookie running back Kenneth Walker III to return in the opener after hernia surgery, but he dropped the idea. Seattle’s No. 1 A second-round pick in a big role with Rashaad Penny.
Yes,” Carroll said. “He’s really tough, he’s making a lot of progress every day. He just feels more comfortable. I think he sneezed the other day and got through. So he’s doing well. But how many weeks does it take? ? I don’t know that. The docs don’t tell us either, so I think a lot of things have to do with him.
“If you’re going to count on him, he’ll be back soon . He is really hard. He is very demanding of himself. So we’ll see how it goes, but we hope it happens. “
