DK Metcalf‘s 2023 season has included a couple of touchdowns, an average of 15.3 yards per reception, and enough frustration to land atop coach Pete Carroll’s board of penalized Seahawks.
Metcalf has received five penalties in five games this season, including one that was offsetting. However, when questioned about his tendency for penalties on Wednesday, Metcalf didn’t respond with the typical promise of increased discipline. Instead, he adopted a resistant attitude.
“That’s just a board to me. I’m not gonna change the way I play,” Metcalf said, via The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar. “If you look at the penalties, there’s a taunting, unnecessary roughness, facemask, holding and, I think, one more in there [illegal blindside block]. I’m doing pretty good if I look at it and judge myself on how I play and just try to be consistent and have clean hands or whatever the case may be. I’m not gonna change who I am as a player or a person.”
For what it’s worth, Metcalf’s unnecessary roughness penalty drawn in Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati didn’t exactly hurt the Seahawks. It wiped out a 4-yard gain earned by rookie running back Zach Charbonnet, but quarterback Geno Smith made up for Metcalf’s mistake on the next play when he connected with Tyler Lockett for a gain of 32.
Yet, the flag was just another part of an emerging pattern for Metcalf. It wasn’t surprising when the referee declared the unnecessary roughness penalty and assigned it to No. 14. Known for his passion and unafraid to express his emotions on the field, Metcalf was the likely suspect for such an infraction.
“When pressed on his tendency to get carried away, Metcalf questioned a reporter, ‘Do you sometimes have a bad day at work?’ The reporter naturally affirmed this.”
“So, that’s the crux of it,” Metcalf carried on. “No one’s perfect. As I just mentioned, I am my own person. I am competitive. I won’t back down just because (Carroll) displayed a penalty board. I’ll simply continue being myself.”
Metcalf being Metcalf has largely been a positive experience for Seattle since he arrived via the 64th overall pick of the 2019 draft. He entered 2023 with 306 receptions for 4,218 yards and 35 touchdowns in his first four seasons, including a trip to the Pro Bowl in 2020, and he’s served as a big-bodied target who complements Lockett (and rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba) quite well.
Until the penalties cost the Seahawks (3-2) a game, they won’t pose a real issue. As of now, this hasn’t occurred.
“We put all the penalties on the board in Monday’s meetings and the guys who had the most were on the top, and he was up there with another guy,” Carroll said, via ESPN. “We all have to acknowledge it and recognize what our issues are, whatever they are. It happens to be in this case he’s getting called.
He is aware of the necessity to clean it up. It’s crucial for us to understand how they’re calling things. His aggressive and physical style of play stands out, drawing attention. Therefore, we need to be more careful. He understands this and must take action.
It sounds as if Metcalf and Carroll are currently on different pages on the matter. Perhaps Metcalf will end up falling in line, starting this week against the Cardinals (1-5). The hope, though, is it doesn’t take an egregious error to convince him of it.
Carroll spoke about Metcalf’s unique competitiveness, stating, “This competitiveness is special in guys but needs to be properly channeled, which often comes with experience, and sometimes, with the pain of it.” He stressed the importance of addressing this issue, adding, “The main point is that we’re dealing with it. Metcalf is aware of it and wants to improve. He doesn’t wish to harm our team by causing penalties.” However, he pointed out that Metcalf was not the only one to blame. “Our entire team needs to significantly improve in minimizing penalties,” he concluded.
