Clint Hurtt looking for improved tackling in final Seahawks preseason game
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - AUGUST 18: Trestan Ebner #31 of the Chicago Bears stiff-arms Uchenna Nwosu #10 of the Seattle Seahawks in the first quarter at Lumen Field on August 18, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - Poor tackling has been a thread for the Seattle Seahawks through their first two preseason games. It’s the one area that defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt is most focused on correcting ahead of the team’s preseason finale with the Dallas Cowboys on Friday night.
"The biggest thing I want to see improvement on is tackling," Hurtt said. "Better versus the Chicago game compared to Pittsburgh but we still have a long way to go on that. For me that’s the big part that sticks out. And take the ball away."
Head coach Pete Carroll made a point of the poor tackling after each of the team’s first two preseason games. After the loss to the Bears last week, he insisted it would warrant further evaluation.
"I'm going to check on the tacklers. I'm going to check on the tacklers, the guys missing. That's the important thing. I'm going to see who is missing tackles and fix that problem," Carroll said. "I don't think it's like an epidemic kind of thing. It looked like that last week a little bit. But we’ve got to clean some stuff up with some guys. If they don't get it right, then they won't be able to be here. We'll get guys that can."
Since then, the Seahawks released veteran linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe, who was an offseason free agent signing for the team. When asked earlier this week about the move, Carroll said bluntly "other guys were doing better than he was."
Iyiegbuniwe wasn’t the only defender having issues, however. Safety Marquise Blair may have been the most notable in the loss to Chicago. He had multiple missed tackles in the game. Hurtt praised Blair’s skills while noting he has to get things a bit more under control.
"Fast, violent hitter. High energy when he’s out there," Hurtt said. "Continuing to get his body under control so he can finish plays better. Sometimes it happens with guys when you play with reckless abandon. Sometimes you can get yourself out of whack when it’s time to go and finish and close on plays and get guys down on the ground."
"But I’ll tell you this much, I’d rather coach that then have to coach a guy to go cut it loose and go play hard and go play with tenacity and be relentless. So he has a lot of the right stuff in his make-up.
Hurtt did attribute some of the woes to tackling being the most difficult aspect to practice as teams try to keep players healthy.
"That’s the one when you do get to training camp that you don’t get a chance to replicate is full speed live tackling," Hurtt said. "Obviously you want to take care of your players and the players safety and health is a priority. So it’s just taking the next step, lowering our pad level, wrapping up when we tackle, continuing to drive your feet on tackles, those types of things are the ones that you’ve got to continue to work your way through."
But Hurtt echoed Carroll’s comments that it’s something they have to get corrected.
"We rep it and practice it all the time. … We’ve even added other tackling drills into individual (work) as well cause we will fix that issue. If you’re gonna be a great defense, you’ve got to tackle. So it will stay a sticking point for us. We’ll continue to work on through the course of the year. But it’s normal training camp and preseason growing pains. That’s why I like preseason games," Hurtt said.