Seattle Seahawks kicker Blair Walsh gestures toward ex-Minnesota Vikings teammates

Seattle Seahawks kicker Blair Walsh said his gestures toward the Minnesota Vikings' sideline in a preseason game Friday night were in response to his ex-teammates taunting him.

Walsh was spotted gesturing each time after nailing a pair of 52-yard field goals in the Seahawks' 20-13 win at at CenturyLink Field. He pointed at the sideline after his first make and walked toward the bench and appeared to say something after the second.

"I felt like it was nothing that was serious or meant to be hurtful, but I wanted to let them know that it just wasn't going to roll off," Walsh said, via ESPN.com. "I didn't say anything though. Just looked at them."

Walsh was asked by reporters after the game what the Vikings were saying to him.

"Nothing I can repeat here. That's for sure," said Walsh, who played five seasons in Minnesota before the team released him in November after nine games.

Following the second kick, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman ran onto the field to express his approval.

"I simply was just responding to getting taunted," Walsh said. "I didn't say anything. When you've got guys who were your teammates for five years yelling at you when you're trying to kick, it's just odd. And I hope they were in jest. And I hope they didn't mean it because I didn't mean anything with mine, but it was definitely not out of nowhere."

Walsh signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks as a free agent in February.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll defended his 27-year-old kicker, who went 2-for-2 on field goals in the first preseason game and 6-for-6 on extra points. He also missed a field goal in the first half Friday night as a 53-yard attempt hit the crossbar.

"I'm fired up for Blair. ...They were giving him a hard time," Carroll said. "They were razzing him a little bit and all that. He was just having a little fun with it. He's a really good competitor. I like his mentality, and I think we are very fortunate to have him."

Walsh was 12 of 16 on field goals and 15 of 19 on extra points last season before being released by the Vikings. He missed a 27-yard field-goal attempt in the closing seconds of a 2015 NFC wild-card game against Seattle that could have given Minnesota the victory.

During his five seasons with the Vikings, Walsh converted 133 of his 158 field goals (84.2 percent) with a career-long of 56 yards.