Seahawks leftovers: Russell Wilson cites workout regimen as a key to his durability

RENTON – Russell Wilson was sacked four times and took nine additional hits Sunday against St. Louis, adding up to the most severe pounding that Seattle’s quarterback has taken all season. He was slow to pull himself off the CenturyLink Field turf at times, including once when he got up limping in obvious pain.

Yet there was Wilson on Wednesday, back at work as usual. He has never missed a practice or so much as a single play due to injury during his four seasons in the NFL.

How he has done that despite circumstances that shouldn’t be conducive to durability was a topic when Wilson met with the media on Wednesday. He credited a weekly workout regimen that, as it turns out, includes a good amount of time in the pool. Wilson said he swims a few times a week – early in the morning before practice – as part of his routine for recovering from the previous week’s game.

“Monday, Tuesday, and then I swam this morning and ran some on the treadmill,” he said. “But I love being in the water, in the pool. I think that helps a lot getting your body back. That’s a big thing for me.”

Wilson said he usually swims about 30 laps per session.

“I swim pretty good. I’m not a phenomenal swimmer or anything like that. I’m not Michael Phelps out there,” he joked.

Wilson’s weekly routine also includes 10 hours of massages as well as a weight-lifting session each Monday with Chris Carlisle, the Seahawks’ head strength and conditioning coach.

Wilson mentioned former teammate Leon Washington as well as former NFL quarterbacks Warren Moon and Vinny Testaverde as players from whom he gleaned some knowledge about taking care of his body. Wilson was training for the scouting combine in 2012 when he met Testaverde.

“He played in the league for 21 years or whatever it was, and I used to ask him what he used to do,” Wilson said of Testaverde. “He was a big believer in lifting, and moving, and making sure you ran after the game and stuff like that. So a guy who played 21 years, I believe in that.”

Here are a few more leftover Seahawks notes:

Lewis looks to bounce back

Seahawks center Patrick Lewis went undrafted in 2013 then bounced around between four teams, including Seattle, before he ended up back with the Seahawks midway through last season.

That career path, Lewis said, was part of the reason he took his performance against St. Louis so hard. Lewis botched a pair of shotgun snaps, costing Seattle 21 yards of field position, and was visibly emotional about it in the locker room afterward.

“I worked hard to get where I’m at today, and it’s been up and down, through a lot of adversity just to get here and put myself in a position to play in the NFL,” he said Wednesday, “and just to let myself down like that, let the team down, especially (since) we ended up losing the game, it just hurt deep. I just take it personal.

“But hey, I’m good. I’ll bounce back. I was a little sad about it right after the game. But we’ve still got football to play. No time to hold my head down. My teammates were very supportive and we’ll just keep on chugging. That’s it.”

Seahawks adjust travel schedule

The Seahawks typically travel on Saturdays for road games against the Cardinals or any of the other West Coast teams. Those flight times are shorter, for one thing. And with Arizona only being one hour ahead, there’s no need to leave a day earlier in order to acclimate to the time difference like there is with trips that are further east.

But the Seahawks left for Arizona on Friday. The reason, coach Pete Carroll explained, is that he wanted to “stay in the mode” of longer trips considering where the Seahawks have been and where they’ll be heading in the postseason. Seattle’s last three road trips have been to Dallas, Minneapolis and Baltimore. The Seahawks’ first playoff game will either be in Minnesota, Green Bay or Washington, D.C.

Coffman to make Seahawks debut

Chase Coffman has been inactive for the three games in which he’s been on Seattle’s roster, but he’ll play Sunday with Seattle short-handed at tight end. Anthony McCoy was placed on injured reserve last weekend and starter Luke Willson has been ruled out due to a concussion, leaving Coffman and Cooper Helfet as the only available tight ends.

“He’s ready to go,” Carroll said of Coffman. “He’s ready to play for us, and he’s practiced really well. He’s a very good catcher, a very good route runner. Anxious really to get him a chance to play. He’s done that well, and we’ve all recognized that. So he’s ready to jump in.”