RENTON — Three days later, Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf marveled at the attention his cart ride to the bathroom in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win at Detroit received, even if he seemed to bemusedly understand it comes with the territory.
“I don’t know how everybody found out about it, that’s what I’m so curious about,” Metcalf said. “No, I’m not surprised about it (the attention it received).”
Asked if he really thought he could sneak away and not have a stadium of more than 63,000 people and numerous TV cameras noticing, Metcalf laughed.
“At the time I didn’t think about it,” he said. “I didn’t think there was going to be that much attention. After the game, I could tell that it had too much attention drawn to it. But yeah, I’ll be sneaking off again if I have to go do No. 2.”
Where Metcalf knows he will always attract a lot of attention is on the field itself.
And Sunday, he’ll come face-to-face with a cornerback who gave him all the attention he could ever have wanted a year ago in a 13-10 Saints win in Seattle — Marshon Lattimore.
Metcalf scored an early 84-yard TD in that game, beating Lattimore in man coverage.
But Lattimore then essentially shut Metcalf down the rest of the game as he had just one reception on four targets for 12 yards other than his long TD.
Lattimore, who has made the Pro Bowl each of the last three seasons, was credited by NFL Next Gen Stats of covering Metcalf in man coverage on 18 of 23 routes, holding him to just three targets and two receptions.
Along the way, the two had a few noticeable tussles, with Lattimore called twice for unnecessary roughness as a result. However, the NFL later seemed to indicate it deemed Metcalf as being at fault, as well, even though he wasn’t penalized in the game, as each was later fined — Lattimore $10,815 and Metcalf $6,949.
But if hard feelings linger, Metcalf didn’t seem to indicate it on Wednesday when asked about Lattimore and last year’s game.
“I think it’s going to be an exciting matchup,” Metcalf said. “He’s a good corner. They got a good defense. Their defensive structure is pretty much the same as we’ve seen last week so looking to see some similar coverages. But it’s going to be an exciting game.”
And asked if he thought Lattimore tried to get in his head last year, Metcalf said, “No, I don’t think so.”
The diplomatic answers appear to fit with Metcalf’s admission last season that “I have to grow up,” which he stated after he was kicked out of a November game against Green Bay a few weeks after the game against the Saints, noting at the time that he’d had “three outbursts” during the season and knew he needed to curtail them — one of those presumably a reference to his tussles with Lattimore.
Lattimore is off to a rough start for the 1-3 Saints, with a Pro Football Focus grade of 51.3 that is the lowest of his career, and coming off a game against Minnesota in London in which he was flagged for a pass interference penalty in the final moments that led to the winning field goal for the Vikings. He was also ejected from a game in September against Tampa Bay after a fight with Bucs receiver Mike Evans.
And with the Saints having lost three in a row, Lattimore and the Saints defense may be more on edge than ever.
Metcalf, meanwhile, pretty much had his way with Detroit cornerback Jeffrey Okudah on Sunday in what was another highly-anticipated matchup, crediting with beating him three times in man coverage for 101 yards.
“Now that teams want to stop the run or pressure (quarterback) Geno (Smith), I guess it gives us more opportunity on the outside to defeat man,” Metcalf said.
Collier practice window opens
Defensive lineman L.J. Collier, Seattle’s first round pick in 2019, returned to practice Wednesday after being on the injured reserve list the first four games of the season with an elbow injury suffered in the preseason finale at Dallas.
That means the team now has a 21-day window in which Collier can practice before he either has to be activated to the 53-man roster or returned to IR for the rest of the season.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll said it’s possible Collier could return in time for Sunday’s game.
“Yes, it’s realistic,” Carroll said. “He’s got to put together a great week. Generally, we’d like to go a couple weeks getting the guy back. He’s been working very hard and it’s an elbow injury. It’s not his legs and all that. He’s in really good shape right now. So, we got to see what happens though. We’ll see how the week goes.”
And Seattle might need the depth as Darryl Johnson is out with an ankle injury suffered against the Lions, with Carroll indicating he could miss some time, and Quinton Jefferson also listed as out on Wednesday with an elbow injury.
“Added depth, fresh legs right now,” defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said of what Collier could add. “That’s something we kind of need with some juice and with those big guys in the interior right now just to be able to keep those guys fresh throughout the duration of the game.”
Notes
— Running back Rashaad Penny also sat out Wednesday, listed with a shoulder injury. He met the media following Sunday’s game with his shoulders wrapped in ice bags. Penny, though, talked to the media at length before practice at the podium, something injured players typically don’t do, and he might also have been due for a rest day, as well.
— Also sitting out was center Austin Blythe with a personal day — Carroll mentioned his wife had just given birth — and guard Gabe Jackson (knee/resting veteran). Listed as limited were cornerback Justin Coleman (calf), guard Damien Lewis (calf) and receiver Dareke Young (quadricep).
— Seattle signed center Joey Hunt to the practice squad. Hunt played for the Seahawks from 2016-19 starting 11 regular season games and two in the playoffs following the 2019 season. He spent much of the last two seasons with the Colts but was not on a roster in camp this year and a free agent when the Seahawks called him in for a tryout last week, which led to his signing this week.
— New Orleans quarterback Jameis Winston, who didn’t play against the Vikings due to injury after starting the first three games, did not practice Wednesday with what were listed as back and ankle injuries. That could mean another start for veteran Andy Dalton. Carroll said he didn’t think New Orleans offense changed last week with Dalton at QB instead of Winston saying “it’s the same stuff.”