D.K. Metcalf Has A Penalty Problem, But He Won’t Admit It
It’s undeniable that D.K. Metcalf has a passion for the game, but his team is being harmed by the numerous penalties he’s incurring.
In the past, when asked about his ongoing penalty problem, Metcalf expressed regret while vowing to be better. However, that all changed Wednesday when Metcalf changed his stance on the issue.
Metcalf, displaying defiance and defensiveness, confronted the criticism he faced following his most recent 15-yard penalty, including critiques from his own head coach, Pete Carroll.
The subject of his outlandish penalties came up after the Seahawks’ 17-13 loss against the Bengals on Sunday. Metcalf received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after shoving cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt for no reason in the second quarter.
It was his fifth penalty of the season, which is 15th most among all players and tops among receivers.
The Bengals’ defense blanketed the Ole Miss product all day, limiting him to just 4 catches for 69 yards. Taylor-Britt broke up a big pass downfield to Metcalf, ripping the ball from his arms at the last second to secure an incompletion.
To Metcalf’s credit, quarterback Geno Smith missed him or didn’t look his way on a lot of routes, which furthered Metcalf’s frustrations and ultimately led to his unsportsmanlike penalty.
“I’m not going to change the way I play,” Metcalf said.
This has been an ongoing issue for the fifth-year receiver. Metcalf previously had many altercations in his matchups against former Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
When asked about Metcalf’s penalties, head coach Pete Carroll told reporters that he brought up the issue in a team meeting on Monday to underscore the importance of fixing it.
“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. “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 knows. He’s got to clean it up. We have to make sure we’re aware of how they’re calling stuff. He’s a very aggressive player, very physical and it stands out and he draws attention because of that. So we’ve got to be cleaner. He knows it and he’s got to get it done.“
Asked about Carroll’s message in the team meeting, Metcalf downplayed the issue, saying, “It was just a board to me.”
“If you look at the penalties, it was a taunting, unnecessary roughness, face mask, holding and I think it was one more in there,” he added. “So I’m doing pretty good if I look at it and judge myself, how I play. I just try to be consistent and have clean hands or whatever the case may be, but I’m not going to change who I am as a player or a person.”
Metcalf has never had a season under 900 receiving yards and leads the team with 337 yards this season. He already ranks 7th on the Seahawks all-time receiving yards leaders list with 4,555 yards.
Speaking of history, Metcalf is off to one of the most prolific starts of any receiver in franchise history. But penalties have dogged him. He has been flagged 10 times for either taunting, unsportsmanlike conduct, unnecessary roughness, or disqualification, the most in the NFL since he made his debut in 2019.
In defense, Metcalf asked a media member who posed the question whether he has ever had a bad day at work.
“All right, so that’s all I’ll nail it down to,” he said. “Nobody’s perfect. I’m my own person like I just said. I am a competitive person, so I’m not going to shy away because he put a penalty board on the screen. I’m just going to continue to be me.”
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