Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll spoke with Bay Area media via a conference call on Wednesday and was asked who the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback would be on Sunday.
"I thought you guys were going to tell me in this interview right here," Carroll jokingly told reporters.
Carroll and his Seahawks will face either C.J. Beathard or Jimmy Garoppolo. Beathard, who is a rookie, has started the last four games for the 49ers while Garoppolo has two career starts, both of which came in 2016. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is expected to decide on the starting quarterback by the end of the week.
"We can't do anything about that," Carroll said. "We have no play in that one at all so whoever plays, plays."
Is Carroll losing any sleep over not knowing who the starting quarterback will be?
"We can't afford to do that," Carroll answered. "We lose enough sleep as it is just with regular routine."
Carroll insists the Seahawks are not preparing for either Beathard or Garoppolo but merely preparing to face the 49ers offense. Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area asked the Seahawks coach how he prepares for someone like Garoppolo, who has just two NFL career starts.
"Guys, it really isn't a factor," Carroll said with an aggravated tone. "How would we go about preparing? We're just preparing for the 49ers, and they've got a style of offense, they've got really good players that do what they do, and then whoever is triggering it from the quarterback spot, we're going to go play football. And we've seen Jimmy play and we've seen how he's mobile, the kind of athlete and competitor that he is. But other than that, we just go play ball."
Carroll went on to discuss Beathard, who he feels has been mobile and is good while carrying the football.
"He's averaging five yards a carry and stuff," Carroll said. "They're incorporating him in the run game some that we have to be concerned about ... He's just getting more settled."
The Seahawks last faced the 49ers on September 17, which was a game that they narrowly won 12-9. What has Carroll seen from the 49ers since then?
"You can see the offense growing," Carroll said. "You can see Kyle [Shanahan] able to expand and do more stuff. He's an incredible offensive coordinator and playcaller that we've respected for a long time, and I think they've just grown and they're getting more proficient at what they're doing."