Smith says the injury sustained in the Rams’ 17-16 victory on November 19 may not go away completely.
However, he reaffirmed that he wasn’t holding it accountable for any of the events against the 49ers.
He remarked, “As you can see, I felt pretty good about taking a few deep shots, especially early on.” “I wouldn’t say that I was impacted by it. It’s evident that I’m struggling with it. However, I don’t believe it had an impact on my throwing or playing.”
And what Smith promises will also soon get healthier is the Seahawks offense.
Seattle has gone 20 possessions since its last offensive touchdown and has scored just three offensive touchdowns in its last four games.
But just as he did following the 49ers game, Smith expressed complete faith in his own abilities, as well as those of his coaches and teammates, to turn things around when he met with the media on Monday for his weekly news conference.
“I would just say tons of film that we can go back and watch and see a number of times where we’ve been really successful and been really explosive,” he said, when asked why he still has faith in the team’s offensive schemes, coaches and players. “We still have those same players and coaches. I trust in our process, I believe in the players around me, I believe in the coaches, I believe in myself.
“For us, it just gets back to doing what we do, which is playing good football, playing sound football and knowing that we can execute. That’s the reality, being confident in that. I’ll always remain confident in myself, but I’m going to continue to preach that I’m even more confident in the guys around me, and I know that we all collectively can get it done. That’s where it lies.”
Not that the task will be any easier Thursday at Dallas than it was Thanksgiving night against the 49ers.
The stats for the Dallas defense — whose coordinator is Dan Quinn, who was Seattle’s defensive coordinator in the two Super Bowl seasons of 2013 and 2014 — rival those of San Francisco.
This week, the 49ers rank first in fewest points allowed and fifth in yards, while Dallas is third in fewest points allowed and fourth in yards.
Smith and coach Pete Carroll have been candid this week in saying one adjustment the Seahawks need to make is for Smith to get rid of the ball quicker.
Smith was sacked a season-high six times by the 49ers for a loss of 48 yards. Some came as Smith waited for some longer-developing routes to break open as the Seahawks went into the game thinking they might be able to exploit the cornerbacks for some big plays.
The Seahawks, however, assert that they will have to alter their strategy in order to defeat Dallas this week. The Cowboys are fourth in the NFL in terms of sacks, allow the second-fewest passing yards, have the third-highest number of interceptions (12, including five that cornerback DaRon Bland has returned for touchdowns), and allow the fourth-fewest yards per pass attempt (5.1).
“Of all of the things in particular like this week, we need to get the ball out,” Carroll said Sunday. “The ball has got to get out of his hands so that we don’t give the rusher a chance. If there’s anything in particular, that’s what I’m hoping Geno can find his keys, his reads, and get the ball out ahead of the rush. That’s easier said than done.”
On Monday, Smith agreed.
“Coach is right,” Smith said. “I probably have been holding the ball a little bit too long to try to see guys open, instead of what I normally do, [which] is to throw them open. Just trusting the guys, trusting myself, believing in what we’re doing and just getting the ball and making sure that I’m throwing it pretty accurately so the guys can make catches and make great plays, because they’re great players.”
Carroll stated that although Smith was hesitant to acknowledge it, his injury—which kept him from throwing during practice on Monday and Tuesday and also limited his pregame warm-up on Thursday—had to be taken into account. Smith was limited to 180 yards and his third-lowest passer rating of the season (70.0).
“First off, let’s get him well,” Carroll said Sunday when asked to assess Smith’s play. “Let’s get him really healthy. A whole week of practice, that’ll be good. It was only a couple of weeks ago he had one of the better games he’s ever had [throwing for a career-high 396 yards in a 29-26 win over Washington].
“We just need to be in sync. We need to be connected, and we need to be making the right choices. There’s a couple in every game, there’s always choices for the quarterback. Does he go here? Does he go there? Just try to maximize them and not miss opportunities that might show up. His accuracy is pretty much on. He throws the ball where he wants the ball to go for the most part. We have to get open; we have to use the concepts right. There are always things he can do better. It’s just reading more quickly and get the ball out more readily so we can avoid the rush.”
And what, Smith was asked, does he need to do to make sure he gets the ball out more quickly?
“I think the thing is to continue to rep it, continue to practice, continue to believe in it,” he said. “And trust it and throw it and let the guys make plays.”
