Through the first three plays on Monday against the Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson had carried the ball three times and gained 13 yards.

The offensive line was subduing defensive end Khalil Mack, and Ethan Pocic had already pancaked another Bears defender. It was beginning to look like the Seattle offense had finally started to embrace the run-first mentality that has been preached since the NFL Draft.

However, Carson only received three more carries Monday night and was not on the field for the vast majority of the second half. After a third quarter that featured zero running plays, rookie Rashaad Penny received eight touches in the fourth, going for 28 yards.

After the game, coach Pete Carroll stated Carson was “gassed” after playing on special teams, which is why they went to Penny late. However, Carson only played two snaps on special teams and appeared to be ready to return to the game on the sideline in the fourth quarter.

Carroll clarified some of those comments on Tuesday morning with 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk” during his weekly radio interview.

“I need to do better,” Carroll said. “I make mistakes you know. I was off about that thing I said about Chris. He was on special teams a couple plays but I thought that was what happened. I just misread him on the sidelines a little bit and didn’t clearly understand. I just wanted to give Rashaad a chance to go play and when he did Chris never really gets back in the game.

“‘Did you bench him or something?’ That didn’t happen. It just was the way that things turned and I missed it a little bit.”

Carroll also shared post-game he convinced offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to take some shots down the field in the third quarter, which lead to only six offensive plays, for a grand total of just 1 yard.

“We could have done more,” Carroll continued. “I wasn’t concerned about the running game not being there. I thought we had what we needed to mix it the way we wanted to.”

Carroll also clarified he was not disappointed in Carson’s performance, but rather that he wanted to mix in other players. He also reiterated he thought he was worn down, which was an issue in Denver for the second-year running back as well.

“I can screw up too,” Carroll conceded.

Seattle will get another chance to enter the win column in their home opener on Sunday. They’ll face the Dallas Cowboys, with kickoff slated for 1:25 p.m. PT.