What DK Metcalf and Geno Smith learned from costly interception vs. 49ers

RENTON — The day before the Seahawks gathered Monday to begin the task of putting their 2024 season back together, DK Metcalf called Geno Smith.

Both players had been visibly frustrated during last Thursday’s 36-24 loss to the 49ers at several points, but specifically following the game’s key play — an interception of a Smith pass to Metcalf in the fourth quarter that extinguished Seattle’s last realistic chance to pull out a win.

While after the game it may have been uncertain what happened on the play, Metcalf later cleared it up, saying the fault was his by taking the route upfield instead of making a sharp cut. 

That meant Smith’s throw over the middle instead sailed straight into the hands of San Francisco’s Renardo Green, where he had thought Metcalf would be.

“Definitely my fault,’’ Metcalf said when he met the media Wednesday. “I was drifting upfield, saw open space (just) trying to do too much, and let the DB undercut the route when I should have been staying flat.”

That was the message he also gave to Smith in their phone call.

When he talked to the media Thursday, Smith said he appreciated the gesture but didn’t think it necessary.

“It just speaks volumes to the type of person he is, the amount of character he has,’’ Smith said. “Honestly, he didn’t have to say that. Obviously, I’m happy that he took accountability and said that, but it’s on me as well for throwing the ball. So it’s not just on him, it’s on both of us. It’s on all of us as an offense.’’

That comment was in keeping with what has been a theme all week of coaches and players accepting blame and pointing fingers only at themselves as the Seahawks try to halt their three-game losing streak Sunday at Atlanta.

Players have portrayed it as potentially making them even closer.

“When you have a guy like that on your side, I’m going to live and die with that guy no matter what happens out there,’’ Smith said. “I got his back, I know he’s got mine, and we’re going to go out there and make a bunch of great plays moving forward. And so sometimes there are tough moments like that and there are things that we all can improve on, but from my perspective, he’s been great, he’s been outstanding and he’s going to continue to get better and it’s my job to help him get there.”

Metcalf earlier in the game also vented some frustration at offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, caught on video grabbing a headset and telling Grubb, in so many words, that he wanted to get the ball downfield more.

Metcalf acknowledged the moment Wednesday.

“We were losing, we were getting three-and-outs,’’ Metcalf said of a game that also turned out to be a sixth straight defeat to the 49ers. “If anybody isn’t upset about that, then you’re playing the wrong sport. I’m a very competitive person and I like winning, and that just goes into it. Me telling Grubb, it was Grubb who I was talking to on the headset, just telling him what I see (that) we’ve got to run by defenders. That’s what I was telling him.”

One post on X featuring the Metcalf clip had 2.8 million views as of Thursday afternoon.

When he held his weekly meeting with the media after Thursday’s practice, Grubb poked some fun at the interaction, joking, “I know everybody loves the Twitter (X) picture of me and DK having a conversation on the headset. … The fact of the matter was DK was just pissed I beat him in a wrestling match the day before.’’

Grubb said such interactions are hardly uncommon.

“It is a passionate game and it’s full of guys that are very passionate about their jobs, and as DK said, ‘very competitive,’’’ Grubb said. “The last thing you want to do is squash the competitive spirit. As long as you can get them from point A to point B and move through the moment and get them back to room temperature, you’re fine. 

“I mean, it’s not the first time anybody’s lost their temper, myself included. It was honestly not a big thing at all. It was ‘boom, next play. Move on.’” 

The way both Smith and Metcalf have reacted since, Grubb said, is far more meaningful.

“Those guys are awesome, though,’’ he said. “They’re awesome. That’s what they’re like. That’s who they are. That’s how they’re wired. They’re not going to duck those punches. They know what happened and that’s the kind of ownership those guys have. I’m not surprised at all. Both those guys reached out the day after the game. But that’s what they are. Those guys will own it. They want to get better. They want to be elite. And that’s how you get better is you own it. You move on and you try to fix the mistakes.” 

Once any apologies were made, that became the focus — trying to assure such mistakes don’t happen again.

Receivers adjusting routes on the fly is common. 

As players noted this week, Smith and Metcalf reading a coverage and adjusting a route at the line of scrimmage led to a 71-yard touchdown against Miami in Week 3.

“We’re so great off script as well,’’ Smith said. “You’ve seen us make a ton of plays where I’ve broken the pocket and been able to scramble and hit big plays to Tyler (Lockett) or to Jaxon (Smith-Njigba) or DK. And so in those moments, you never question the guy’s decision making, what he saw. You just talk through it and use those as learning experiences. 

“That’s the best part is that although it sucked at the moment and I hated it and we all did, we were able to learn from it and gain from it so it doesn’t go in vain. Just want to stay on script at all times, but we are great at improv as well, and so there’s a fine line that you walk with that, and we just got to keep getting better at it.” 

That’s the lesson Grubb wanted everyone to take away from the sequence, as well.

“That’s what we encourage our guys to do — be aggressive, play aggressive, and play with confidence,’’ he said. “And I think you see that. And you can’t take one play into the next. That’s the only risk you have is if you’re wrong or the read is wrong, you can’t carry it into the next play. Don’t make one play into five bad ones. But I think overall the guys do a really good job of that.”