Seahawks' Geno Smith wishes he had a better 'poker face' after losing control

RENTON, Wash. – After a scramble late in the third quarter of the Seattle Seahawks' 31-20 loss on Sunday, Geno Smith tossed the football to a Buffalo Bills defender, upset by what he thought was a late goal that went disallowed.

Smith received a taunting penalty, a low point for the Seahawks and their quarterback given their fourth loss in five games.

“These are things I can’t let happen,” Smith said Thursday. “Of course everyone is watching me and when I'm upset they get a bit nervous. So I just need to have a better poker face and work on it.”

A self-reflective Smith spent much of his weekly session with reporters talking about how he has to keep his emotions in check after he let them get the better of him during a mistake-filled loss that left Seattle 4-4.

Early in the third quarter, the Fox broadcast showed him struggling on the sideline after his screen pass was ruled an interception. Late in the fourth quarter, with Seattle trailing by 21 points, he gestured toward the sideline in apparent frustration following a delay-of-game penalty.

The Seahawks were flagged 11 times for 82 yards against Buffalo. They also scored just three points on two trips inside the Bills' 3-yard line in the first half, the first thwarted by a bad snap and the second when center Connor Williams stepped on Smith's foot on fourth down.

“I’m really not a big loser,” Smith said. “It sucks. I hate it. Overall, looking after myself, I just have to keep going to motivate the boys and if I'm honest, I have to do a better job at times when we're struggling. These are things that I am constantly improving. I am very emotional when it comes to doing the right thing. Whether that's good or bad is a personal opinion.

“But I will be myself at all times. That's why I want to continue to bring the fire to our team and to our offense, I want to continue to be competitive – not in a bad way, but in a good way. “It's always a fine line to walk, but I have to be careful that I don’t make too many mistakes in this area.”

Former coach Pete Carroll, who counted Smith among his favorite players, once called the quarterback a “hothead” in the heat of the moment. Smith, 34, has been described within the organization as someone who lives and dies every game, sometimes to his detriment.

As with Carroll's team, new coach Mike Macdonald and his assistants worked with Smith to keep a cool head. Macdonald said in the offseason that the Seahawks challenged the 12th-year veteran to take the next step as a leader, which meant being what the coach called “the voice of balance” in chaotic situations.

Macdonald wants Smith to find the right balance and says losing his competitiveness and fire would take away “one of his superpowers as a player”.

“Anytime someone gets upset, you want to keep it under control and stay balanced,” he said Wednesday. “But we understand the frustration. We have to get back on our feet and stay mentally balanced. Geno knows that. For the most part, I thought he did a phenomenal job.”

“We will follow the demonstration he provides for our offense and the rest of the team. Give him a chance to take a deep breath and go back and attack. That's the mentality I want as a football team. When we face adversity, we need to…come together and connect in those moments rather than letting the emotions or frustration overwhelm us.

Smith — who threw for a league-high 2,197 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions this season — said his passion is “a big part of who I am.”

“If it becomes something that you overdo, or it becomes a hindrance to your team, or you hurt the team, then that's a problem,” he said. “But other than that, just be yourself. The boys like it when I show my feelings. I just check myself and say, 'Hey, I can get better in this area,' so those are things I'm trying to improve on.”