Seahawks coach Pete Carroll calls Quandre Diggs’ interception return ‘shameful’

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll loved it that Quandre Diggs leapt to catch a pass from New York’s Mike White on the Jets’ first series of what turned into a 23-6 Seattle win Sunday.

But he didn’t like what happened next as Diggs held the ball aloft as ran down the sideline.

“Shameful return by Quandre coming up the sideline,” Carroll said. “But he was having fun.”

Diggs ended up with a 27-yard return from the Seattle 10 to the 37, and the Seahawks drove for a field goal and a quick 10-0 lead.

The interception also was the third of the year for Diggs and made him the only player in the NFL with three or more interceptions in each of the last six seasons.

Diggs said the idea for the return came from watching a Deion Sanders clip on TikTok.

“Shoutout to Deion,” Diggs said. “No lie, I was on TikTok and I saw when Deion came back for his last year in Baltimore when he was wearing 37, and I saw him do it, it might have been on Tuesday. I was like, ‘If I get a pick this week, I’m going to do that.’ It was kind of a ‘in the moment’ deal.”

As for Carroll not liking it? Diggs said he figures Carroll will get over it.

“He’ll be all right,” Diggs said. “Pete will be all right. I’m the only one in the league with three-plus interceptions the last six years. He can deal with it.”

Metcalf held in check

DK Metcalf had just one reception for three yards, his fewest other than when he was held without a catch in a game at Arizona in the second-to-last contest of his rookie year in 2019.

But it wasn’t for lack of trying. Seattle quarterback Geno Smith targeted Metcalf five times.

But the only completion came on what was initially a 5-yarder at the Jets’ 11 in the third quarter before he lost two yards on the run.

As Carroll noted, the Seahawks compensated by getting the tight ends and running backs more involved — tight end Colby Parkinson led Seattle with five catches and running back DeeJay Dallas led the team with 55 receiving yards.

“We didn’t get it the ball to DK or Tyler (Lockett) much at all, but we had enough stuff going and the tight ends did a really good job,” Carroll said.

And the Seahawks knew it might be difficult to get a lot from their receivers with the Jets featuring one of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL in Sauce Gardner and former Seahawk D.J. Reed, and with Seattle dealing with injury issues that left Metcalf and Lockett as the only two proven receivers left.

Smith said the Jets appeared to make a pretty concerted effort to give a lot of attention to Metcalf and Lockett.

“I think that’s every week,” Smith said. “We’ve seen that every week. That’s just how good he is and how good Tyler is. Last week, they doubled (Metcalf) almost every single play. This week is the same thing. He can expect that pretty much his entire career because of how great he is. And so there are other ways to get him the ball. We got to find those ways and make sure he stays involved. Ultimately, it’s about winning. He knows that. And I appreciate having a teammate like him that is selfless and understands we got to do whatever it takes to win.”