RENTON — Seattle's 20-10 win over Arizona on Sunday was followed by a weekly ritual of late: Quarterback Geno Smith meeting the media afterward and saying he knows he can play better.
Smith's angst was essentially the result of two turnovers — an interception on a pass to Jake Bobo at the Arizona 1-yard line in the third quarter, and a fumbled snap at Seattle's own 34 in the fourth.
"I had situations where I felt like I could've done better on certain plays, and those are the ones I really look at," Smith said Thursday.
And indeed, as the week has gone on, coaches have made clear that for all the understandable focus on the turnovers against Arizona, Smith otherwise played well.
"If you take the couple turnovers away from the game, he's playing at a high level right now," offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said Thursday. "So [it's] just continuing to keep focusing on the positives and learning from the negatives that happened in the game and keep doing what he's doing."
Coaches said that the fumbled exchange with rookie center Olu Oluwatimi wasn't entirely Smith's fault. The Seahawks were going up-tempo on the snap, and the timing was a little off all around.
"We were going quick and just didn't hit it right," coach Pete Carroll said this week. "There was a precision to that, that we failed on. We need to practice it more, and we didn't get it done right. It happened in a game, and it should never, ever happen. Both guys take it. Geno and Olu would both tell you it's their fault."
The interception was a different story.
On a third-and-four play at the Arizona 16 with Seattle ahead 17-10 late in the third quarter, Smith rolled to his left to try to hit Bobo at the goal line. Bobo wasn't really open. Smith tried to thread it to him anyway and was hit as he threw. The off-target pass was an easy interception for Arizona's Garrett Williams.
Waldron said the teaching point there was obvious: When three points are almost a certainty, the smarter choice is to play it safe.
"If it gets a little blurry there, it's all right to end in a kick over an interception any day of the week," Waldron said. "So trusting every now and then to throw it away. I think that will make those kind of blurry plays end in a positive and not in a negative right there."
Not that Smith doesn't know that; he admitted after the game he made a mistake on that throw.
But Carroll voiced his confidence in Smith this week, saying, "I thought Geno played a great game. He completed 75% of his passes [18 of 24], terrific rating [113.0, his second best of the season], threw a couple of great touchdowns. Had some big plays in the game, a couple of scramble shots that he had, the great throw that he had to Noah [Fant, for a 25-yard gain], ran for a first down, which was great."
And Thursday, Smith turned philosophical when talking about his habit of self-critiquing.
"It's a down-to-down, play-to-play league," he said. "No quarterback is perfect on every single down. You can watch all 32 quarterbacks in the league. Everyone is going to make a mistake. But I think the thing that you have to do, and that I try to do, is internalize those mistakes and then figure out ways that I can improve from it. Even the things that I've done well, I still try to look at those and say, 'What could I have done better?' It's just an ongoing process of never-ending self-improvement and just trying to figure out ways to be better and better each day and each week."
Wagner misses second straight practice
Seattle's injury report for Thursday was quite a bit smaller than on Wednesday, when 15 players were either out or limited.
On Thursday, that number had been whittled to six — four who were out and two who were limited.
But middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (ankle) was among the four who were out.
Wagner played every snap of the Arizona game and has played every snap this season, other than in garbage time in the win over the Giants. And he held his usual Wednesday news conference, giving no indication of an injury at that time. So, sitting out may be precautionary.
But whether it's a real issue should become clear Friday when the Seahawks have to declare players' health status for Sunday's game against Cleveland. Carroll does not talk to the media on Thursdays during the season.
Receiver Tyler Lockett (hamstring), guard Phil Haynes (calf) and running back Kenneth Walker III (calf) also sat out. Lockett was limited in practice last week and played, and Walker could also just be resting after getting 26 carries Sunday.
Haynes may be in danger of sitting out again after missing the Arizona game. Rookie Anthony Bradford filled in for Haynes against the Cardinals, but the Seahawks could use veteran Jason Peters, who has been on the practice squad since the second week of the season without playing. Carroll and Waldron said this week he is now ready to play.
Left guard Damien Lewis (ankle) and safety Jamal Adams (resting veteran) were limited. Lewis was a full participant Wednesday, and the team might have just been being cautious.
Peters could be an option if Lewis has any issues.
Among the full participants were three players who returned to practice this week: receiver Dee Eskridge, running back Kenny McIntosh and nose tackle Austin Faoliu.
Receiver DK Metcalf was a full participant for the second straight day, and running back Zach Charbonnet (hamstring), who missed the Arizona game, was upgraded from limited on Wednesday to full.
Throwbacks to reappear against Dallas
The Seahawks made it official Thursday that they will also wear their throwback uniforms for their Nov. 30 game at Dallas.
The Cowboys wear white at home, allowing Seattle to wear its home blues.
The Dallas game is Seattle's one contest this year on Amazon Prime's Thursday Night package of games.
