Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson held his weekly press conference with the media Thursday afternoon. Wilson was candid and forthright about the Seahawks offense, the Arizona defense, and lessons and learned from his rookie year.
After four games Wilson has completed 57 of 95 passes for 726 yards with seven touchdowns three interceptions and 14 sacks.
(On staying on schedule)
“Well, I think we did a great job last week of staying on schedule. It’s just like in basketball, you guys know me and my basketball analogies and I think it’s the simplest way to define it, but when you can get rebounds and stay on schedule and own the time of possession and everything else, that it’s a big deal in any offense – basketball or football, and I think that for us, we were able to do that. We got first downs on third down early in the first half and everything else. We converted. I think that it comes down to making plays, it comes down to executing the offense, I think it comes down to managing down and distances. The biggest thing to that is really penalties, usually, when the distances get long typically. We didn’t really have that at all last week and I think that’s the best thing that we can do, is just give ourselves the best chance possible to be successful and I think that’s staying on schedule.”
(On studying Carolina Panthers film due to former Panthers DC and current Cardinals HC Steve Wilks)
“Yeah, it looks very similar to Carolina. I think that Coach Wilks is a tremendous football coach and he has a great understanding of what he wants to do and his defense to do. Those guys are playing really fast. Unfortunately for them, the record doesn’t show what they’re showing on film all the way, I don’t think. They’re a really talented football team with a lot of great players. Obviously, Patrick Peterson, he’s one of my favorite players to watch in the National Football League, just a great football player and a great human too. Obviously, they’ve got Chandler Jones coming off the edge (as) one of the most talented pass rushers in the game. Budda Baker is playing great, just to see what he’s doing (as a) University of Washington guy, right down the street just making a lot of plays and causing a lot of havoc. They’ve got a lot of great players and so I think the biggest thing is that they mix it up. They do a good job of mixing it up. They bring pressure quite often obviously. That’s always the case with Arizona, just in general. We’ve got to be able to block it up and if you do, there’s a lot of green grass behind it in first downs and everything else but they’re definitely trying to get to the quarterback first. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
(On how much Carolina Panthers film he’s watching)
“Well, I feel like I’ve played the Panthers more than I’ve played any divisional opponent. I have a good understanding of what they do, obviously. Definitely have watched a lot of film going back, watching a lot of Carolina stuff, watched tons of film on Arizona and even the preseason games and everything else and just all the things that they do. I have a good understanding of what they like to do, but I’ve definitely studied a bunch of Carolina stuff and when we’ve played them and when they’ve played other teams as well, so I’ve watched a good amount.”
On Doug Baldwin returning to practice)
Baldwin returned to practice this week after injuring his knee in the season opener at Denver on September 9th.
“Well, Doug looks great. He’s a star receiver in the National Football League and can do a lot of things for us. To see Doug out there – I don’t know if he’s going to play this week. That’s Coach (Pete Carroll) and Doug and everybody on the trainers and everything else, but he’s really, really getting there. That’s for sure.”
(On Tyler Lockett) “
(Lockett leads all Seahawks receivers with 12 receptions 196 yards and three touchdowns.)
Tyler Lockett has been phenomenal. I think that he’s really developing into the receiver that he’s always fully really wanted to be and he’s always been great. I think that now, just to see his progression as any player – quarterback, receiver, running back, doesn’t matter – we progress over time. You either progress or you degress so I think that for him, he’s progressed in a positive way. I think even last year, he was overcoming his injuries and stuff like that and still did great. This year, he’s fully healthy and really flying around making a lot of plays. He’s done a tremendous job of understanding what we’re trying to do on offense and Coach (Brian) Schottenheimer and how he wants to use him and utilize him and everything else. He’s stepped into a positive role, for sure.”
(On Tyler Lockett improving)
“I can tell, and I’ve always had a great chemistry (with Lockett). I think that he’s just continuing to evolve as a receiver. He’s several years into it now. He’s playing more and more and just getting more opportunities and he just has done a great job of it. I think that when you have other guys to be around – him being around Doug (Baldwin) for a couple of years and becoming more of a leader, he really understands what he’s trying to do and when Tyler gets the football in his hands, don’t blink because you never know what he may do. I think that’s the thing that’s exciting with Tyler. He works extremely hard at his craft and at the end of the day, like I said earlier, you can’t replace the hard work. There’s no magic trick or anything like that, it’s just the work that he puts in. I think that’s the thing that he does best.”
(On managing tempo better) “I think we’ve done a great job all preseason, Coach (Brian) Schottenheimer and I, just being on the same page of what we’re trying to do. First of all, it goes back to staying on schedule. Second of all, I think that as a season progresses, you want to keep getting better every game. That’s really always been my goal, is just play the next play, the next game, the next moment and just love that moment and not overthink it. I think that it was great to come back home, get a huge win against a really good Cowboys football team and hopefully we can transfer that into a great game this week and see what happens.”
