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RENTON, Wash. -- Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has adjusted the team's usual schedule in small ways this week in an attempt to give his players -- particularly those on the defensive side of the ball -- a greater chance to recover after a grueling game Sunday at Arizona. "He gave us a couple more hours (on Monday)," safety Kelcie McCray said. "We didn't have to come in until 1:30, so he definitely gave us a few more hours to sleep."
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Seattle's defense had to play 95 snaps against the Cardinals on Sunday night and were on the field for over 46 minutes of game time. Six players played over 90 snaps for Seattle's defense. Three of those players (McCray and linebackers Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright) played over 100 snaps when factoring in special teams.
"It was definitely a challenge mentally, but I feel like everybody in this locker room, everybody that was out there playing, was feeling the same thing I was feeling," McCray said. "Any time you play that many snaps, it's definitely a challenge. But that's a part of being mentally strong and we had to fight through it."
Cornerback Richard Sherman was one of several players who had to get IVs after the game to replenish a significant loss of fluids throughout the game.
"They said I had a fever, but I had the shivers. It was bad stuff," said Sherman, adding he started feeling his body slowly shut down beginning in the third quarter.
On a completion to J.J. Nelson in overtime, Sherman read the route and went to jump the pass, but his body didn't respond. After the game, Sherman needed two IVs and additional fluids to help him feel better. Sherman said he heard the term "heat exhaustion" used to describe what was happening to him.
"They didn't let me lose consciousness, but I definitely wasn't focused," Sherman said. "... They just kept saying I wasn't right and I was clammy and stuff like that."
"Honestly, it was just a blur. I don't remember being too concerned. I remember them saying something about a stretcher and paramedics and I was like, 'Yeah, that's not how we're going to end this today,'" Sherman said.
Sherman continued to experience shivers and said it took until late Tuesday before he started to feel back to normal.
"Right from the beginning, leaving the locker room, we were making sure that throughout the next couple days that rest is really important, eating properly and getting everything all balanced back again," Carroll said. "We've been all over that. That kicks us really back to today: We're in pretty normal mode, but we're still accounting for those guys that had the big workloads and we're going to take that into account as we measure the reps during the course of the week."
