What is Russell Wilson thinking as he watches Seahawks struggle?
Oct 27, 2021, 12:05 PM
Russell Wilson leaves the field following the Seahawks' loss to the Saints on Monday. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
(Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
Mike Salk had one big question after the Seahawks lost to the Saints 13-10 on Monday night to fall to 2-5 on the season:
What is Russell Wilson thinking while he watches the team play without him?
Seahawks have ‘glaring weakness’ on offensive line
“He spent three hours in the rain watching that game (Monday) night, standing on the sideline, face neutral because he knows the camera is going to be on him and he certainly can’t have the same look of disgust that plenty of Seahawks fans had,” he said during Tuesday’s edition of The Mike Salk Show on 710 ESPN Seattle. “… I imagine him driving home, and I imagine him asking, ‘How did we get here?’ I imagine him like David Byrne of Talking Heads, ‘Once in a Lifetime’ – ‘How did I end up here? Why is the team around me so bad? It was just yesterday that I had the Legion of Boom. … That’s not the team that I recognize.'”
Now that Seattle is struggling to put points on the board with Wilson recovering from finger surgery and backup Geno Smith taking the snaps at quarterback, Salk wouldn’t be surprised if Wilson is getting a different view of the 2021 Seahawks.
“It seemed like everything, year after year, ‘We were making progress or just doing our thing and the next thing you know it just looks broken.’ I imagine him thinking (Monday’s loss) was a colossal failure by nearly everybody in his organization. That they were beaten in all three phases of the game plus coaching, and that’s been the norm so far this season. And that that’s expected without him in there to cover up the mistakes. I imagine that’s what he’s thinking.”
Salk continued to revisit that question throughout the show Tuesday with calls from listeners, and the conversation even spilled into the weekly Brock and Salk Podcast that was released Tuesday night.
Here are some excepts of what Salk, Brock Huard and producer James “Boy Howdy” Osborn said on the Brock and Salk Podcast.
Brock & Salk (and Boy Howdy) on Russell Wilson and the Seahawks
Brock Huard: The whole crux of it all (for Wilson) is, “Do I believe in Pete (Carroll’s) system still?” Not the offensive system with (first-year offensive coordinator) Shane Waldron and the baby steps that they’re going to take this year to install it. Just big picture – “Do I believe in Pete and (general manager John Schneider)?” In where this thing is built and is going to be built going forward, what the foundation is and what it isn’t with personnel the last four or five years. Or do I watch that game (Monday) night if I’m Russell and look at the Saints and go, ‘Man, those dudes got some talent.’ I mean, Alvin Kamara – remember two years ago what Russ wanted? ‘I want stars.’ One of (the Saints’) biggest stars didn’t play – Michael Thomas is an absolute star. Alvin Kamara is a star. That O-line is good. Demario Davis is a star. The corner (Marshon Lattimore) is a star.
Mike Salk: The one place the Seahawks do actually have some talent is on the outside in terms of weaponry at wide receiver (with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett).
Boy Howdy: It doesn’t matter if they’re not going to design an offense that features them. What’s the point? What’s the point of having all this stuff? And that’s what Russell’s really been clamoring for for the last six years. “If I’m going to be the centerpiece of this whole thing, build it around me,” and their philosophies are completely different. Pete Carroll believes they’re going to build this around you by “You do what I say, you play within my system,” and Russell Wilson’s saying, “I’m better than this, you need to build a team that highlights everything that I can do.”
Salk: Did that not happen this year? I mean, Russell got the coordinator that he wanted from the system that he wanted.
Howdy: And it looked that way for six quarters, and then it was just back to right where it was before. … When Russell Wilson was in there, it still didn’t look the way he projected it.
Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the player below.
