You just had to ask him: How did it go?

"I had a bad game today," Carpenter said. "I gave up two sacks. I'm just going to work at it and get better tomorrow."

That kind of accountability makes follow-up questions difficult. You can talk about the caliber of the opponent -- in this case it was Von Miller, the No. 2 overall selection in last April's draft -- who simply gave Carpenter fits.

But ultimately, this wasn't about anything other than Carpenter's need for improvement.

"I have no excuses," he said. "I've got to step my game up. I've got to continue to work at it and watch film and study."

Well, OK then.

Carpenter is already one of Seattle's better run blockers. His pass protection was given a 'C' by offensive line coach Tom Cable on Thursday when he was asked to evaluate the first-round pick so far.

Carpenter was left on an island against Miller, and that was by design. He was essentially tossed into the deep end of the pool.

"We have to give him every look at every guy he can see, and try to get him as much exposure as possible," coach Pete Carroll said. "That's a really fast group. (Elvis) Dumervil flies and Von is crazy fast coming off the edge, and those guys, they'll give everybody problems. It's all a learning process, but we have a lot of ground to make up quickly and in short order. We certainly want him to see as much as we can and that's why we've been throwing him out there and just making him have to do it. We haven't tried to take care of him. We've made him have to block the protections as they're called for, and he's learning at every turn."

• Robert Gallery's cut block on Brodrick Bunkley was a topic of discussion in Denver's locker room. While Bunkley didn't call the play dirty, his Bronco teammate -- and former Seahawk -- Kevin Vickerson said it was uncalled for according to the Associated Press.

"Look in the rule book, it was a completely legal block to me," Gallery said. "The ref even said it. That's football."

Bunkley left the game with an injured knee.

"I don't like that he got hurt," Gallery said, "but that was a completely legal block and I would do it 100 times again. Too bad he got hurt, but that's football."

• Receiver Golden Tate did not play in the first half as Ben Obomanu played for the first time this exhibition season, and served as Seattle's first-string slot receiver.

• Defensive end Chris Clemons intercepted a pass in the first half as he played for the first time this month. Clemons underwent three different surgeries this offseason relating to his ankle. He led the Seahawks with 11 sacks last season.