Bruce Irvin admits Minnesota isn’t his ideal first-round destination
Jan 5, 2016, 3:50 PM
Bruce Irvin and the Seahawks will open the postseason against the Vikings in frigid Minneapolis. (AP)
The Seahawks, as you’d expect, have for the most part said that it doesn’t matter who they play in the postseason, that it’s “just another team.” But if linebacker Bruce Irvin is being honest, he’d rather be playing somewhere other than Minneapolis in the wild-card round.
“I kind of wanted to go to Washington,” Irving told “Danny, Dave and Moore” on Monday. “It’s gonna be hella cold up there next week.”
Irvin and the Seahawks (and probably plenty of fans) will need to brave the frigid Minneapolis winter, where Sunday’s forecast calls for a high of 0 degrees and a low of minus-10. Irvin said he prefers the chill to extreme heat, but acknowledged that it feels a little bit different to tackle someone when the temperatures are that low.
“I went to West Virginia so I’m used to that, but it hurts a little more when it’s cold,” he said.
Here are other highlights from the conversation:
On the defense’s consistent greatness: “We lose (defensive coordinators) to become head coaches and we lose players to other systems and we continue to be a top and premier defense in this league. That just says a lot about how (coach Pete Carroll) replaces guys and how he runs his program.”
On finishing strong: “We get hot at the right time. In this league you want to get it rolling around playoff team and it seems like we’ve been doing it the last three or four years.”
On Kelcie McCray filling in at strong safety: “Kam (Chancellor) is never replaceable but Kelcie has done a great job. Guys are just buying in. They buy in to what we all believe – and that’s playing for each other and going out there and imposing our will on people and showing the world that we’re the best. And we all believe that.”
On shaking the Cardinals’ confidence: “We hope we play them… People on Twitter are saying it was a meaningless game, but I don’t know how it could be meaningless with all your starters in. We can’t worry about that now. The only thing we’re focused on is Minnesota this week and trying to take care of them first.”
On Cardinals being overconfident: “They won nine straight so we felt that they were kind of riding on a high horse – kind of like we were when St. Louis brought us back to reality. So it is what it is. Hopefully we meet them again, but we’ve got to take care of Minnesota.”
On loving to play: “Me, Cliff (Avril), Mike Bennett: It was fourth quarter and it was fourth-and-5 when Kevin Smith got the first down. We were praying he didn’t get the first down so we could go back in and rush. I think it’s just different over here. We love playing with each other and every chance we get we try to make the best of it.”
On Playing the Vikings: “It’s just another team. We played them before and had really great success against them. But that was the past. I’m sure they remember that and are gonna try to come out and try to give us a better game, but we’re gonna prepare the same, we’re gonna work our tails off this week in practice and keep the process the same and hopefully the same results.”
On his previous smack talk against quarterback Teddy Bridgewater: “I’m sure they are hyping him about what I said last time … I ain’t tripping. I ain’t tripping. We gonna handle our business so they can do what they gotta do over there … He threw for 99 yards (Sunday) night. That might not cut it. Use the bulletin board, but we gonna be ready.”
