Seahawks CB Tre Flowers on year 2 and being a dad at Christmastime

Seahawks starting cornerback Tre Flowers is now nearly finished with his second year as an NFL pro and has taken a good step forward in year two, recording three interceptions, a forced fumble all while breaking up a number of passes.

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Flowers and teammate Shaquill Griffin have emerged as one of the best young cornerback duos in football and will have more time to play together in 2019 as the Seahawks are playoff bound.

Flowers joined Dave Wyman and Jim Moore of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob, Dave and Moore and said that he is far more comfortable in his second NFL season than he was as a rookie, when he was playing cornerback for the first time (he was a safety in college at Oklahoma State).

“Way more comfortable. I don’t have a word to say it, but I feel better,” Flowers said. “I’m trusting my technique and just trying to get better every day and I think I am.”

Flowers said he learned a lot as a rookie from two veteran wide receivers – Doug Baldwin and Brandon Marshall.

“I talked to Doug a lot last year and you can’t come to the line (of scrimmage) saying ‘what if’ and seeing ghosts and thinking about everything else,” Flowers said. “You’ve just got to play and trust what you did all week (in practice). You can’t go to the line saying ‘what if’ at all. You’ll die out there. It’ll be bad out there.”

With Marshall, he learned that some of the best receivers don’t give any physical cues for when a ball is coming their way.

“The one that really taught me that was Brandon Marshall last year,” Flowers said. “I was covering him (in practice) and being a rookie and I never got my head around and I was just looking for him to try to do something so I know the ball is coming and he caught it and kept going. It happened so fast … nothing changed. Same speed, same eyes, he didn’t blink. It was just a catch.”

This week, he will have to go against veteran receiver Larry Fitzgerald at some point. But another problem is the man throwing Fitzgerald the ball, No. 1 pick Kyler Murray. Murray is listed at five-foot-10, which causes some problems for the defense.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m being mad or being evil or anything, but he is shorter as a quarterback, so I can’t really see him (behind the offensive line),” Flowers said. “I couldn’t see him a lot in the first game, so I don’t know where he’s looking, so it is kind of hard. But it is his advantage, too.”

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is also listed at five-foot-10, and Flowers said his quarterback is hard to defend because he’s shorter and harder to see.

“It’s definitely helped (Wilson). During camp I’ve lost him behind (6-foot-5 342-pound offensive guard D.J. Fluker) a couple times,” Flowers said. “I just can’t see where he’s looking, and the ball spits out and it’s on a thread. It’s coming for you hot.”

Flowers didn’t have any interceptions last season as a rookie, but he has three as a rookie. The toughest one, he said, was this one against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football.

Tre Flowers Interception 🔥#Seahawks @_Slimm7 pic.twitter.com/pO9x2zVEYm

— SeahawksUnited (@SeahawksUnited_) December 3, 2019

Head coach Pete Carroll, who is a former defensive backs coach, was crucial in Flowers recording that interception.

“Coach Pete was telling me all week and (the last) three weeks and since I got here to drive the man (I’m defending) out of my break and not turn and look for the ball immediately out of my break, so I finally did it his way and it worked out,” Flowers said.

Something that has gained traction in recent seasons is opposing players exchanging jerseys after games. Flowers isn’t a fan.

“I’ve exchanged jerseys with my former teammates, but other than that, why would you want it? I don’t see why,” he said.

He’s also one of the quieter players when the game is finished.

“To be honest, I only walk in the middle (of the field after the game) because it’s like sportsmanship and I don’t know who’s watching me, but I don’t say anything to anybody,” Flowers said. “I just walk in the middle and if they say ‘good game’ I say it back and then I just walk in (to the locker room). I’m playing football, I’m here to play ball … I feel like an eyeball because everybody knows somebody and I’m just like, ‘Alright then, see y’all later.’”

Flowers has a young daughter, and with Christmas right around the corner, he’s spent a lot of time with her watching Christmas movies.

“It’s different doing (Christmas time) as a parent,” he said. “We’ve had the hot chocolate nights and I try to watch a Christmas movie with her every night. She didn’t like ‘The Grinch,’ so I’m learning what she doesn’t like and what she likes, and I love it, honestly. Just making her happy and making her smile is so pure, it just makes me happy all in the inside.”

Flowers tried watching both the animated version and the live-action version starring Jim Carrey with his daughter, who wasn’t a fan of either.

“She wasn’t feeling it too much,” Flowers said, laughing. “That was the first one I put on and I was like ‘oh man, this is going to be kind of weird,’ but she ended up liking a couple (of Christmas movies).

“I tried both. She didn’t like either. I think it’s just green, she doesn’t like green people as of right now, so maybe she’ll grow (out of it). I don’t know, right now, The Grinch is just not on the list or it’s at the bottom.”

Flowers also talked about how much he talks during games, the toughest receivers he’s defended, advice for young teammates and more. Listen to Flowers’ interview at this link or in the player below.

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