Gregg Bell | Seattle Seahawks Writer, Tacoma Times News

We're pleased to welcome our friend Greg Bell who covers the team for the Tacoma News Tribune. Greg, let's see three things that you'll take away from the Seahawks first preseason game and hello. Hello Amy, how you been? It's been a while. Good to talk to you again.

You too. The first is a Drew Locke, backup quarterback Denver Broncos fans might remember he used to be a starter in this league. Played for the first time in a year and played since the last preseason game of 2022. Geno Smith took every snap last year. First one to the Pro Bowl for the first time made his first playoff start and Locke said it's the first time since he played football that he never took a snap in a season.

Wow. But he played a 90 through two touchdown passes, two really sharp passes that basically won the game after they were down 10-0 in Minnesota. He did throw an interception where he just didn't see a safety over across the middle of the field but he said it just played this play again and that yeah he really wants to play but he understands the situation here and although he still really really wants to play. And the second thing is the Seahawks defense Amy really subverted everything Smith and the offense did last year and the Seahawks got to the playoffs despite their defense especially their run defense. The run fits for better than I with the reserves now Bobby Wagner and Chenin Wosu and Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams is still in the public none of them played it was only three starters on defense played only seven of the 22 starters in the offensive defense played for Seattle.

But the run fits for better they were in the right places they didn't always tackle and they had a bad time tackling especially early in the game but it looked to me like the run fits for better and after the game the players said they were in the right positions more than they were last year so that's an improvement for them. And the third thing Amy is now that I'm a father of two grown 20 year olds I really love these type of stories that after the game Esau Winston he's a fourth year player bounced around practice squads in the league for a couple years. He caught his first touchdown pass in the NFL tonight that was preseason game and after the game he was carrying the ball around the locker room into the press conference and out of the press conference and into the left into the parking lot and I said who you're gonna give that to and he said his mom and he said you know Renee Winston his mother sacrificed so much for me to get to this moment this is a really big deal for me I think it's only right to give it to mom and I said well hopefully you told her that already call her whatever he was I don't know I haven't told her told her yet I'm gonna call her right now. Uh just in a preseason game a 24-24 five-year-old guy yeah that's real stuff and that's pretty cool. Oh congratulations to Esau Winston welcome to the NFL that's amazing. Uh so Greg we saw as you say Drew Locke which is cool we sometimes forget about the plight of backup quarterbacks and very often and I would say usually I keep track of this two-thirds of the NFL has to use multiple quarterbacks because of injuries or ineptitude so it's rare that you get one QB who takes every snap over an entire season but Geno needed that the Seahawks needed that as they were making him the starter how have you seen him grow from the point at which he took over to start last season to where they are now? Geno Smith? Yes. Oh he he is so much more subtle this time last year Amy it was he was trying to throw every pass perfectly he was looking sideways at what Drew Locke was doing next to him in training camp practices everything was a competition every throw every drill at practice now he's the guy we gave him a three-year 105 million dollar contract and he is settled and people ask me what's the one difference and what what how would you describe Smith now and I'd say settled and after 10 years in the league and seven years of sitting on benches for four different teams he's finally got a team he's finally made a pro bowl he's finally played in the playoffs started a playoff game and he knows now not only is this his team but he's done it for this team now he's done it in the playoffs to get him to the playoffs so much more comfortable much more in command and the players believe in him I mean they liked him last year and they liked him for three years as Russell Wilson's backup but they didn't believe in him because they never saw him have to play and now they believe in him because he's done it as I said he did it despite a defense that really almost subverted the whole season and so if the defense can improve the Seahawks think they by adding Jackson Smith and Jigba Zach Charbonnet a second round pick of running back from UCLA they've got the weapons on offense they think to win if their defense can just hold up its bargain more than it did last year Pete Carroll has the same enthusiasm for preseason games yeah he cracks me up I mean it's amazing because and I know we've talked about this in the past he really is able to communicate with guys who are obviously a lot younger than him he still has incredible energy even as one of the oldest coaches in the NFL and he genuinely finds joy in it I mean it blows me away this guy never seems to run out of energy if he finishes his contract he'll be the oldest coach in NFL history past 75 past he's 71 now Amy tonight they were down 10 nothing early and then they came back and scored 24 the next 27 points and in the fourth quarter he was jumping up and down screaming yelling running on the field running down the sidelines on the last defensive stop he ran about 50 yards down the sidelines in their last defensive stop with a minute and a half left of a preseason game on August 10th and he said it warms my heart man to see young guys that we give a chance to and featured and said this is the game tonight to compete like that and come from behind and have the energy and the grit and all of that any one thing that I always think about Pete Carroll is when the Seahawks practice and I'm talking practice in August and October November December January every practice they start with kickoffs and kickoff return the special teams of the very first period and while the rest of the guys are stretching or doing individual line drills and Pete Carroll every day lines up at the goal line and when they kick off he runs from one goal line to the other 100 yards oh my gosh then he waits maybe they'll let him kick it back the other way and he'll skip a turn and then he'll run 100 yards back and then running he does about 10 100 yards 71 years old oh my god and the players see it and he eats really well and I don't even know what his latest diet is seaweed I don't know what it is but he his usefulness and enthusiasm really does infect the team and it rubs off the new guys who come in the rookies they can't believe it they're like we heard stories about this guy we can't believe he's even more than we heard he's it's crazy how enthusiastic he is but yeah I definitely noticed tonight you know pre-see I mean how many preseason games he's coached in from the Patriots to the Jets to the Seahawks that he's still doing that run down sidelines jumping on the backs of defensive players I have never heard that story before he actually does gassers at the beginning of practice not not not 50 yards not 40 yards not going to kick 100 yards going to go in and I see it I watch it every day and I just shake my head and I laugh at him he kind of smiles and wipes his brown and goes in air monarchs and in khakis so he's actually running fast well he's 71 I mean I might be able to take him to 53 and I'm not very fast but I didn't say he ran fast I said he runs as fast as he can go though oh my gosh that is fantastic I have never heard that before thank you for sharing that story Greg Bell is with us from Seattle after the Seahawks open the preseason covers the team for the Tacoma News Tribune it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio all right you mentioned the defense uh what specifically about the D right they were porous uh where have they improved on that side of the ball well they at least have some guys now they think in the front seven in particular that they think can stop the run they spent a hunt up to the contracts maxed out 124 and a half million dollars on defensive front seven players they went 51 million on draymont jones in the first day of free agency the Seahawks never pay in the first day of free agency and they have never from the outside signed someone for 51 million dollars in the whole carol snyder regime they did that for 26 year old draymont jones to be a defensive end not just to rush the quarterback as he did in denver but to be a 3-4 run stopper they brought jaren reed back they had drafted and had for five six years he had a year in green bay a year in kansas city they just signed him back and they're going to make him a nose tackle which he's never been before he's been a 4-3 defensive tackle out by the garden tackle they're going to put him over the center they drafted mike morris from michigan an edge rusher for the wolverines that they're trying to make a big stout run stopping defensive end they're going to make boe mafei who was a pass rusher at minnesota a run stopping outside linebacker they asked chenan whoa students get bigger and stronger and the leading sack guy at nine and a half sacks last year at outside linebacker they're asking him to play the run more it's all one of the defenses talking about oh by the way some guy named bobby wagner plays for this team now and he's one of the best inside run fit guys that the league has ever seen yeah he's 33 but he still knows where to go between the ap and c gaps when he has to stop the run and get other guys there too so jaren reed's a big part of this they needed nose tackle they they chat they tried out woods for the last couple years as a big 360 plus pound nose tackle reads only about 307 they want him to be quicker to beat the center off the snap they're also going to have any more head up on the center than shading into a gap and asking him to just control the middle the center and and disrupt from there we'll see how it works and amy they're not going to know really truly if they're better at the line of scrimmage on defense until they play san francisco we just steamrolled them three times last year including in the playoffs they don't play the 49ers until thanksgiving night here in seattle and then 16 days later down in santa clara so we may not know until thanksgiving night and into december if this team got better we're really has to be better against san francisco at the line of scrimmage is that a positive or a negative greg is it is it better that they don't have that benchmark against the best team in their division until that late in the season i think so barring injury uh this system to play new players in it the guys i just mentioned in the comeback bobby wagner's never played in a three forwards in carol scheme he was in a four three for his of last year's decade in seattle before he had that one year off with the rams last year so this is new a lot of guys up front and it's not going to work right away devin witherspoon the fifth pick in the draft the cornerback they've moved inside the nickel because it's attacking tackling ability here in the camp he's got a hamstring injury and they don't know when he's going to be coming back freak woman is yet to practice since january because he had arthroscopic knee surgery and the pro bowl cornerback from last year hasn't practiced in camp yet either so they may not be whole by the first game september 10th against the rams defensively and even if they are whole they don't have everybody playing getting scheme and the run fitting and everything that carol wants them to do they haven't done it yet for real so it's going to take them a while i think defensively and that's why smith and smith and jigba and kenneth locker and dk metcalf and tyler lockett are going to have to keep them afloat for i think the first part of the season it'll help they don't have to play the niners till later what has bobby wagner said about returning to seattle after his one year sabbatical with la uh he he said this was always home to him and he was always going to keep a home here anyway even if he hadn't come back he was surprised he came back because when he left he thought it was done he didn't leave on his own accord to see how to cut him to save 16 million dollars in sorry cap space they didn't even tell him he found out from a third party instead of directly from carol or john schneider the gm and that irked him so he thought he was never coming back and then the rams did what the rams did last year and completely imploded and didn't need a 33 year old with a big contract in the middle of defense and then when they let him go he wanted to come back seox wanted him back they knew they could get him back on their terms not a 16 million dollar cap hit of last year so they signed him for about five and a half million just one year but he's beloved in the community he still has all the ties here and the philanthropy and the civic things that he does and the players love it that means the young guys like devin bush they signed from the steelers this year the rookies coby brian they nickleback last year reek woolen they said they're playing with the hall of famer and i'm probably right about that and they revere him and he's a teacher and example setter and he still gets to the facility at 5 45 in the morning and all of that is still applying it's the same thing it was two or three years ago before he left greg bell is with us from seattle here after hours cbs sports radio you mentioned the name kenneth walker had a phenomenal rookie season even though he didn't play every game missed a couple but over a thousand yards how much balance do they want between the run game with kenneth and and then the passing game you mentioned a couple of the veterans that are still around gino well carol wants to run the ball as much or more than anybody in the league and that's why they drafted jack sarbano in the second round from ucla that's why they drafted kenny mackintosh in the seventh round from national champion georgia people are what are they drafting two running backs for when they have a thousand yard back coming back well running backs as we all know in the nfl get injured a lot of a lot of times and a lot of guys get hurt the seahawks run through them as much as anybody in the league i remember a few years ago in 2016 the seax had 18 different ball carriers in the game i mean that's how many times they want to run and that's how many times guys get hurt out here so kenneth walker's hurt he had a great injury on the very first day of training camp and hasn't been on the field since july 26th they don't know when he's coming back but they think he's going to be okay for the opener but it's a reminder of hey we don't need kenneth walker to touch it 20 times he shouldn't have 300 carries it's not a derek henry situation which is why they drafted sarbano it's why they had dj dallas coming back they are going to use a host of running backs and sarbaning is going to get a lot of touches dj dallas will get his on third down because he's a good pass blocker mackintosh has looked really good in training camp and they're going to give him runs it won't be a 25 carry guy with kenneth walker he may not get a 1200 1400 yard season just because they need to spread him out and and use him for the longer at all when you think about what's happened in the off season the various moves made in the nfc west what are your impressions in august of the division well that's full sometimes we're fully sharing right i mean because of the injuries and how things change as soon as the quarterback gets hurt right but brock purty is as healthy as it looks like he is already back in san francisco the 49ers are the favorites and until i see the seahawks absolutely transform on the offensive and defensive lines against san francisco they aren't beating the niners and if they're not being the niners they're not winning the division that means they're not going to have home playoff games that means they're not going to the super bowl so until i see seattle against san francisco and if i see them improved under the honest scrimmage it's still san francisco's division the rams are pretty much starting over albeit with still matthew stafford a quarterback and then arizona's completely starting over from regime to punch to everybody but kylo murray pretty much so it is no longer obviously the most competitive division in the league and i could see just two teams with a winning record again this year and that means seattle's in the running but seattle's going to have to be better again at the line of scrimmage and specifically stopping the run because kyle shanahan and christian mccaffrey and debo samuel with george kittel are coming right at them until they prove they can stop them and their schedule is no joke greg not even we're just talking about the nfc west and the fact that those teams are so competitive but they play the afc north this year uh which which has got three teams maybe four we'll see that have playoff aspirations they also have a game at new york and the giants were a playoff team last year uh in addition to that they've got the eagles and the cowboys on their schedule i mean this is a tough schedule for the seahawks it is and it's always the travel when we're out here in southeast southeast alaska and it's 500 000 miles everywhere they go and all of that plays into it they don't have back-to-back east coast games that they sometimes have had in the past they don't have as many 10 a.m starts as one of detroit early in the season and that's about it so the schedule does have soft breaks there they're home for later in the season uh their buy comes at a little bit earlier than they'd like but still not super early the schedule's opponents yeah they're gonna have to play it over they line up and have to play against but um it it really is going to come down to san francisco games because if the division goes as it looks like it's going to seattle has to beat the niners to win the division and maybe splitting would help but they can't get boat race like they did last year that's the biggest challenge and and that's been the theme of this entire camp the way not to not get both raced by san francisco's be better at stopping the run and running the ball specifically stopping the run and that's been the whole theme of the seox off season and preseason i was just saying on the show that as much as i do enjoy summer and a little slower pace and the kind of cool outdoor activities man there's just a different energy around the nfl and even just hearing it in the preseason gets my juices flowing so what about you are you ready for the long haul my wife asked me that i've been doing this long enough that preseason games are like okay but yeah i'm back i'm ready to go get back at it uh it does get to be a grind not just for outside but on the players of course in 18 games or 18 weeks 17 games and and uh in deep into january but uh yeah let's do it it is it's an amazing 2000 covering the nfl and the raiders and to see how the interest that everyone's always interested in the nfl but just the insatiable appetite for information about the nfl it grows almost by the week and the month so it's that's still kind of amazing yeah and it doesn't go away it really doesn't take a break i mean we were talking about it throughout the course of this off season but it's like the nfl has specifically planned league meetings or some type of event every single month so we can't ever forget yeah exactly made up yeah it's made up it really is the free agency and the combine and league meetings and then ota's and minicamps drafts and the draft run oh yeah exactly tell me about it how seasons have changed in the last 10 years definitely have brilliant marketing strategy though because the as you say the nfl really never goes away all right well we're off and running you can find greg on twitter at g bell theattle covers the seahawks for the dacoma news tribune uh he's got lots of various chapters to his past too which i always enjoy uh seeing on your twitter and looking at some of the photos so we appreciate having you especially after this first game thank you so much for a couple of minutes thanks amy appreciate it good talk to you again take care