The Seahawks’ defensive players held a meeting this week, after a game on Sunday that included too many penalties. Linebacker Ernest Jones IV made it clear that they won’t need to do it again this year.
“Just once,” Jones told reporters when asked how often such meetings occur per season. “You address that and you address other things in the same situation, so you don’t have to get to it later. Just once.”
He said that some of the players addressed the penalty issue, but that penalties weren’t the only topic.
“I had other things that I wanted to focus on,” Jones said. “We got through to each other. We talked, we had man-to-man conversations in that room. We have an understanding of what we have to do and what we need to do.”
So why could it mean more to have that message coming from players and not coaches?
“We’re the ones going out there doing it,” Jones said. “Putting our bodies on the line so we don’t want to be doing it and costing the team. I don’t think it means more coming from one person, but having your brothers speak to you and come to you, it may do a little difference.”
Despite the penalties, the Seahawks won the game. Still, absent a correction, it could cost them against a more capable opponent.
This weekend, they’ll be facing one in the 49ers.