Seahawks HC Pete Carroll appears to take subtle shot at Russ Wilson as he praises QB Geno Smith

Now with four straight wins, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll gave heavy praise to quarterback Geno Smith earlier this week. He may have thrown some shade at former Seahawks signal-caller Russell Wilson in the process too.

"If you notice, Geno’s going off the wristband, and that’s a big help," Carroll told Seattle Sports 710 AM, referring to the offensive play calling. "It’s smoothed things out, sped things up, cleaned things up. And that’s part of it, too. We never did that before. There was resistance to that, so we didn't do that before."

The longtime coach explained that that the wristband makes it easier for offensive coordinator Shane Waldron to quickly send a play over the speakers in Smith's helmet. From there, the West Virigina product can call the corresponding play from the wristband to his teammates.

"When Shane says something to Geno, he’s not doubting it. He’s just going with it, so there’s a real immediate flow and that accelerates all the process," Carroll said.

Entering Week 10, Smith leads the NFL in completion percentage (73.1%), has thrown for 2,199 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions and has added 41 carries for 196 yards and one touchdown over nine games. Smith also ranks third in the league in passer rating at 107.2, trailing only Tua Tagovailoa (115.9) and Jalen Hurts (107.8).

In his first season with the Denver Broncos meanwhile, Wilson has posted a career-low 58.8% completion percentage for 1,694 passing yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions through eight contests. The nine-time Pro Bowler has added 25 rushing attempts for 113 yards and one score.

While the 32-year-old Smith has Seattle surprisingly at the top of the NFC West with a 6-3 record, the soon-to-be 34-year-old Wilson and the Broncos have been one of the league's biggest disappointments thus far. Denver comes off of their Week 9 bye in third place in the AFC West at 3-5.