Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith has a fire in his belly. That’s good. But he knows that, at times, he needs to control it.

“I’m really not a great loser,” Smith told reporters on Thursday. “It sucks, I hate it. I need to, overall, when I watch myself, ‘Hey man, just continue to uplift the guys,’ and if I’m being honest, do a better job at times when we’re down. Those are things that I’m constantly improving. I’m not going to say I’m perfect at it. I’m very emotional when it comes to winning and when it comes to doing the right thing. At times, I let my emotions show. Whether that’s good or bad, I guess that’s a personal opinion, but I’m going to be myself at all times. I want to continue to bring that fire to our team, to our offense. I want to continue to be competitive and not in a bad way, but in a good way. It’s always a fine line that you’ve got to walk, but I’ve got to be careful with making too many mistakes in that area.”

He wants to be his authentic self, but he also doesn’t want to be his authentic self in a way that creates a problem for the team, in the form of a 15-yard penalty.

That happened on Sunday, in the loss to the Bills. Smith was called for taunting in the third quarter after throwing the ball at a Buffalo defender following a 10-yard run. The flag, enforced at the Seattle 20, wiped out the gain and set the stage for a punt.

“Those are things that I can’t have happen,” Smith said. “Obviously, everyone’s watching me. If I’m upset, they get a little antsy. I’ve just got to have a better poker face and just work on it.”

Still, it’s better for a quarterback to have a fire that needs to be controlled than to have no fire at all. It’s easier to throw a little water on an existing flame than to start a flame that isn’t there.