What Julian Love said about Seahawks’ secondary before Week 1

The Seattle Seahawks’ 2023 opener is just a few days away as they’ll host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Hawks Live is back every Thursday at 7 p.m.

There’s plenty of excitement and buzz around this year’s team after they went 9-8 and made the playoffs last year, and they’ve added a number of notable players to the mix for this season.

One of those new faces is safety Julian Love, who comes to Seattle after spending the last four years with the New York Giants.

Love was a guest during the first 2023 edition of The Huddle on Seattle Sports, which Stacy Rost, Michael Bumpus and Dave Wyman host every Thursday from 12 to 2 p.m. live from the Seahawks’ practice facility.

First off, Week 1 is just a few days away. How’s Love feeling?

“It’s not nerves. Maybe a little anxiety just to get going finally,” Love said. “It’s excitement more than anything.”

This week of practice has certainly felt different, too.

“The week’s been approached differently. You tell yourself in camp to approach every day the same and lock in, but you’re not going to replicate that,” Love said. “It hits a bit different Week 1. So yeah, we’re super excited.”

With Love in the fray, the Seahawks’ secondary appears to be a strength heading into the regular season.

While All-Pro strong safety Jamal Adams will not play as he works his way back from a quad injury, the Seahawks still have Love and Pro Bowl free safety Quandre Diggs, as well as a number of intriguing cornerbacks like Riq Woolen, Tre Brown, Mike Jackson and No. 5 overall pick Devon Witherspoon, too. Coby Bryant is also an intriguing player as he was the team’s go-to nickel cornerback last year, but he’s also spent a lot of time at safety this offseason.

Should we be prepared for a lot of different looks and personnel groupings from the Seahawks’ secondary this weekend and this season as a whole?

“Yes, you can expect a lot,” Love said. “We have a lot of names, and you can only have a certain amount of DBs on the field at any given point. So we’re gonna mix and match and do different things because right now we have really good depth. And I’m excited because it’s the first time in my career I really have had this (type of) depth. And so we have to give different levels week to week, series to series, game to game.”

Another member of the Seahawks’ secondary is Jerrick Reed II, the team’s sixth-round pick out of New Mexico.

Reed is a safety who, like many members of Seattle’s secondary, is very versatile. But with there being so many big names in that room, Reed may not see a ton of playing time on defense this year.

Love discussed what Reed and other young players can learn from himself and other members of the secondary.

“I think when you have such different backgrounds and experiences in the league, you get kind of all sorts of wisdom that’s well-rounded from guys. It might be just very holding themselves accountable to do better,” Love said ” … And some guys might say, ‘Hey, I was in your position. This is what you should be focusing on and what you should be doing.’ For J-Reed, I was in that position for years. And what I’m telling him is to take advantage of special teams and like earn your way. I think you have to gain trust. Things change. At the drop of a hat, things change. You can be thrown in the game, so you have to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.”

Rost asked Love to make a prediction for the season, and he stuck with the defense and secondary for his pick.

“I think we’re gonna be top five in turnovers in the league this year,” Love said. “That’s a mark tthat I think with the talent we have is attainable. I think that’s what I see ourselves doing.”

Last year, the Hawks finished tied for eighth in turnovers with 25. With Love and others in the mix, that number very well could increase this season.

Catch the first hour of The Huddle at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story.

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