Seahawks’ Pete Carroll says Geno Smith ‘lucky’ to escape serious injury after ‘dangerous’ tackle

SEATTLE – Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith should be OK after suffering a knee injury in Monday night’s win over the New York Giants, coach Pete Carroll said during his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710.

“I think so,” Carroll said. “I think so. He went back in the game and was able to get back out there, so I think so.”

Carroll said even more strongly he felt a flag should have been thrown on the play as New York’s Isaiah Simmons tackled Smith out of bounds, and doing so from behind, in what Carroll characterized as a “horse collar tackle.”

“It just should have been recognized,” Carroll said. “… I don’t even care about the penalty. We’ve just got to get that out of ball. It’s so dangerous.”

Carroll said of Smith appearing to escape any significant injury that “we’re so lucky.” Smith declined to detail the specifics of the injury, saying, “It was some slight pain, but overall, I was just happy that I came out OK.

“He kind of twisted his knee a little bit, yeah. It really was knee and ankle at first, but I think it just came down to taping up the ankle and then his knee was a little bit – he might be sore (Tuesday.) He’ll need a break.”

The play happened early in the second quarter, and after the series it occurred, Smith retreated to the locker room to be further examined. He was replaced by Drew Lock, but Smith returned to play in the second half.

Smith was angry that no penalty was called and said in an interview on ESPN afterward that it was a “dirty play,” adding, “I just don’t respect that type of stuff. There’s no need for that type of stuff. It’s a hard-fought game out there. We’re all battling, but there’s no need to take shots at guys running out of bounds on the sideline.”

Smith was a bit more measured in his news conference to reporters a little later, saying when asked if a flag should have been thrown, “I don’t know. Honestly, I try not to think about those things but in the moment, I was kind of heated, but after the fact, I don’t know.”

Simmons defended the tackle to ESPN.

“I really don’t got much to say about it,” Simmons said. “We playing football. He’s mad he got hit? What do most quarterbacks do when they don’t want to get hit? They go down. I don’t really know what else to tell him about that.”

On Tuesday, Carroll noted that eliminating such plays in which a player’s body weight can fall on another player’s from behind is something the NFL has tried to emphasize.

Carroll called the tackle “nasty” and “a scary moment” and added, “That’s just something we’ve tried to get out of football, and it’s become a big deal and it was pretty clear cut that’s what that tackle ended up being.”

Smith remained heated throughout the second half and was later called for a taunting penalty as he continued jawing at some Giants defenders.

“Probably was going overboard,” Smith said. “Shouldn’t have been talking to their sideline, should’ve stayed in my place, so that was deserving.”

Carroll said he felt Smith simply wanted some acknowledgment that the play was illegal.

“I think if the flag would have been thrown it would have been different for him,” he said. “But the fact that it wasn’t is why he was so riled up.”

Seattle is helped now that the team has its bye which will allow Smith and other injured players an additional week to recover before Seattle plays again on Oct. 15 at Cincinnati.