QB wristbands a big topic after Carroll’s comments
Whether Pete Carroll meant it as a barb for Russell Wilson or a bouquet for Geno Smith, the Seattle Seahawks coach made play-calling wristbands a hot topic in the NFL during a topsy-turvy season that has rattled the longstanding quarterback order.
Carroll was talking about the Seahawks’ surprising success in 2022 after moving on from Wilson when he mentioned Smith’s willingness to wear a wristband to help facilitate Seattle’s play-calling.
“If you notice, Geno’s going off the wristband, and that’s a big help,” Carroll told Seattle Sports 710 AM earlier this month. “It’s smoothed things out, sped 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.”
Wilson retorted with his own subtle dig, reminding that he “won a lot of games there without one on the wrist. And I didn’t know winning or losing mattered if you wore the wristband or not.”
Coincidentally, Wilson wore a wristband for the first time with the Broncos in a win over the Jaguars in London two days before Carroll’s comments, and he’s been using it at games and practices ever since as the Broncos try to jumpstart a sputtering offense.
He even wore it at the podium on Wednesday.
“Yeah, I guess I’m rocking this wristband here,” Wilson said with a chuckle.
On any weekend, roughly two-thirds of NFL quarterbacks are rocking the wristbands. Tom Brady has used one his whole career. But some QBS and coaches prefer memorization skills for their more complex plays.
The bands that hug the quarterback’s non-throwing wrist and forearm contain dozens of plays with corresponding numbers or codes. They are often as much a benefit to the playcaller as to the QB because he can just call out a simple number rather than the entire play sequence with all its protections, checks and other nuances.
“As a play designer sometimes you want to get a little creative and those things can get a little bit verbose,” Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said.
Calling out a number and not the entire play sequence saves a few ticks before the quarterback’s earpiece shuts off with 15 seconds left on the play clock. The QB can then relay the play and break the huddle quicker, getting up to the line of scrimmage with a few extra seconds to survey the defense for any necessary adjustments.
Hackett said the wristbands especially come in handy on the road and are particularly helpful with the game’s ever more complex play calls.
“It’s just how offenses have advanced,” Hackett said. “... we’re getting more elaborate with our play designs.”
Not all plays on the coaches’ call sheets are listed on the quarterbacks’ wristbands. They’re often limited to those complex calls or to red-zone plays that are installed later in the week, which means players have had less time to practice them. Wristbands aren’t for everyone.
Some QBS, such as the Titans’ Ryan Tannehill, have tried them but don’t wear them all the time like Brady does.
“Last year when we went to Seattle I wore one” because of the din at Lumen Field, Tannehill said. “Not too many times. I like to be able to hear the call and visualize it in my head as it comes in. It just helps me build the picture of what’s going on. When I hear it and I have to build the picture of the play in my head, it helps me communicate with my guys as opposed to reading a line on a wristband.”
Vikings QB Kirk Cousins doesn’t usually wear a wristband, and that has something to do with Rams coach Sean Mcvay, who was Cousins’ offensive coordinator in Washington from 2014-16.
Cousins recalled telling Mcvay, “These plays are long, and I could use a wristband.”
“Sean would say, ‘I don’t look down at the call sheet to call the play to see what the wristband number is. I just call the game from my head,’” Cousins recounted. “So, he said, ‘We can’t do that because I’d have to go find the play and then give you the number.’ I learned with Sean that I’m just going to have to memorize these plays and I don’t have the luxury of a wristband.”