Earlier this week, the Seahawks were fined $100,000 by the NFL for violating the league's concussion protocol with a situation involving quarterback Russell Wilson. However, according to coach Pete Carroll, the fine was actually "a good thing."
"We accepted it," Carroll said Friday, per ESPN. “I think something positive came out of it because there’s been some changes that have been created to help what caused the issue last time."
Carroll did not go into specifics of what changes have been made, but he did feel confident that a similar violation will not happen again.
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"We never had any intention of trying to avoid that at all. It’s just the way that things came down," Carroll said. "I see why the league did what they did. The best thing about this is it shouldn’t happen like that again, and we’ve made some changes to help us. So in the long run, it’s a good thing.”
The Seahawks released a statement earlier this week that said the team "did not knowingly disregard the Concussion Protocol."
The fine came after the league and the players union conducted a joint review into how Seattle applied the protocol last month in the handling of their quarterback.
Wilson was tackled hard during the Seahawks-Cardinals game in Week 10, and was removed from the game by referee Walt Anderson. However, according to NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart, Wilson was turned over to Seahawks' coaches instead of the team's medical staff, making it a "clear violation" of the concussion protocol. Wilson then made a quick return to finish out Seattle's 22-16 victory.
After the fine was announced, Wilson said there was confusion as to why he even came out of the game.
"I thought that everything was done in the right way," Wilson said, via The News Tribune. "More than anything it was just playing ball. I felt completely clear, so there’s nothing really to change, quite honestly.”