BROCK AND SALK
K.J. Wright sees plenty of ‘hungry’ players on new-look Seahawks
The Seahawks kicked off their first day of training camp Thursday with what felt like more new faces than old. A few core veterans remain – including quarterback Russell Wilson, wide receiver Doug Baldwin, and linebackers K.J. Wright and Bobby Wagner – but plenty of once-secure starting positions are now host to open battles among younger players.
Takeaways from the first day of Seahawks training camp
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. During an interview with 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk on Thursday morning, Wright lamented the departures of past teammates but shared an otherwise encouraging outlook about the newest version of Seattle’s defense.
“I was talking to Sherm (Richard Sherman) this summer,” Wright said of the Seahawks’ offseason moves involving longtime veterans. Cornerback Sherman was among those released – a move Wright said was the hardest for him, personally.
“I was like, ‘Yeah man, what I envisioned was we were all playing together and we were going to ride off into the sunset together. Me, you, all the guys would just go play 10 years and just go from there.’ But it did happen really fast… and it just comes with (the business).”
Still, Wright said one benefit of having so many young players is their drive to prove themselves and compete for time – something that was lacking from a defense full of established, Pro Bowl-caliber players last year.
“If you go back to when we were getting (more turnovers) it was different, it felt different,” Wright said. “Guys were real hungry, guys played together; more together as a unit. And as we got older things shifted a little bit. And I think that, revamping this defense, I believe you’ll see that (again). You’ll see a bunch of hungry guys just going after it.”
As for who some of those players may be, Wright named running back Chris Carson and free safety Tedric Thompson – who took over Earl Thomas’ place Thursday – as candidates.
“I love T-2,” Wright said of Thompson. “I love how he asks questions. He asks a lot of questions, he comes up to me a lot. He asks questions, he’s a ball player, he can make plays. Those two guys, I expect big things from this year.”
