QB battle continues into final preseason game for Seahawks
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 19: Head coach Pete Carroll and Geno Smith #7 of the Seattle Seahawks look on during the fourth quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Lumen Field on September 19, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers
RENTON, Wash. - Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday that the competition between Geno Smith and Drew Lock for the starting quarterback job remains on ahead of Friday's preseason finale against the Dallas Cowboys.
"I'm wide open for whatever happens," Carroll said prior to Tuesday's practice. "Geno has been the guy in the lead position the whole time and protected that thought throughout and he's done a really nice job. He's been very consistent. So we'll just see what happens. And, you know, there's two more weeks of practice too after this. I had a set thought on what we would do with the timeline, but that got disrupted. And so we're going to use all the time we need."
The timeline was disrupted as Lock was unable to play in last week's game against the Chicago Bears due to a bout with COVID-19 that forced him to miss multiple practices and the game. Now Lock is getting one last major evaluation in the competition in the outing against Dallas this week.
"We got it worked out where we're figuring out play time right now," Carroll said. "Drew needs to play a lot of football, you know, because he missed a game. So that's the main thing that I got to get done on this weekend."
Carroll hasn't said whether Lock will start against Dallas or not. Lock was set to start in the game against Chicago with multiple days of work with the first-team offense leading into the game.
Lock is getting work with the first group in practice this week in the lead up to Friday's contest. Carroll said Lock was able to do everything in practice on Monday, though the effects of COVID were still felt.
"He did fine yesterday," Carroll said. "He didn't let anybody know but he was working to get through it. So we'll see how much better he is today. But he's gonna get all the work that we can give him and we're not holding anything back."
Smith has received the vast majority of first-team reps in practice through the last month. Smith started each of the first two preseason games for Seattle with the opener against Pittsburgh being planned while the second game against Chicago was not.
Carroll has maintained throughout that Smith has remained in the lead of the competition but said Lock is right in the mix still for the job. That being said, Carroll said there isn't a thought of playing both quarterbacks once the season begins.
"These guys are so even right now that we have a lot of respect for both their play and so I'm not thinking that way right now. I'm thinking of getting going and getting the starter ready to roll and all of that," Carroll said.
Due to the COVID disruption for Lock, Carroll could just call an end to the competition to give Smith the job and the extra time to prepare for the season opener against the Denver Broncos with the first-team offense. Instead, Carroll said it's important to him for Lock to get the chance.
"I could just call it. But I want to let the guys battle and let them show where they are and let us get as much information as possible," he said.