Seahawks QB Russell Wilson studying retired great to improve his own game

Aug 6, 2019, 12:36 PM | Updated: 12:36 pm

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson said his goal is to be one of the NFL's most clutch players. (AP)

(AP)

Seattle Sports

Everybody knows Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is as serious as serious gets when it comes to football. As he revealed Tuesday morning on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk, that includes looking for things to add to his game ahead of his eighth NFL season from players that have since retired.

Watch full Russell Wilson interview with Brock Huard and Jake Heaps

“There’s nothing I can’t learn, so I want to be able to take on that challenge and continue to grow. I study Peyton, even though he’s not playing anymore,” Wilson told Brock Huard and guest co-host Jake Heaps, referring to future Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning. “I study his language and things he’s done, what he’s trying to do, the body language and everything else. We’re continuing to evolve in that sense. … I do think sometimes you can overthink things so I want to be instinctual but I also want to be very intelligent too at the same time.”

Wilson may have found a kindred spirit when it comes to his obsession with the game in second-year Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, too.

“Me and Schotty have always been close since pretty much Day 1 because we really we connected because he’s a ball coach,” Wilson said. “He loves ball. At the end of the day I love playing ball. I love learning ball. … He’s got a brilliant mind, he’s a great football coach and he understands the game really well.”

Schottenheimer talks evolution of Seahawks’ offense

Here are a few more notable quotes from Wilson’s interview, which you can watch in its entirety here.

‘Slow down’

“The biggest focus I’ve tried to have in the offseason is to be able to slow down a little bit, even though I’ve been moving fast. To be able to slow down and really just enjoy the moments that I get to have – with my kids in particular. … I kinda had a few goals of sending my kids a video every morning, no matter where I am in the world or if they’re with us or not, because I usually wake up super early, they’re not up quite yet. … Really show my kids, hey, this is my thought for the day, this is whatever, just kind of talk to them that way.”

Mr. Clutch

“I want to be able to really be one of the most clutch players in the game, hands-down. That’s always one of my focuses. I want to be great in two-minute situations. I want to be able to get us into any situation that’s going to be a positive situation for us at the line of scrimmage and really be able to manipulate the defense in that sense.”

Are Seahawks an offense-first team now?

“Somebody asked me the other day, how do we see our team just in general. ‘The Seahawks, this is an offensive team now it seems like.’ I said, to be honest with you, we want to be the most complete team. We want our offense to be the most efficient, we want to be able to do all the things we wanna do. We want to be explosive, we want to play fast, we want to be physical, all those things. But also on defense, we want to have a shut-down defense. We want to have a spectacular special teams.”