Seahawks’ Russell Wilson dishes on ‘Let Russ cook!’ And he agrees with a lot of it
Russell Wilson smiled when he called DK Metcalf “like a little brother to me.”
The quarterback grinned again describing how, while he and Metcalf spent days into weeks working out this offseason in Mexico, he taught Metcalf how to swim.
The Seahawks’ $140 million franchise cornerstone was laughing and jovial throughout his latest online Zoom call with the media Thursday, before Seattle’s second practice of training camp.
He especially got a kick out of being asked about the phenomenon on Seattle Twitter that constantly declares “Let Russ cook!”
It’s the social-media movement, complete with hashtags and downright venom, that play-calling and schematic decisions of coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to base their offense on the run, particularly early in games, comes at the expense of letting Seattle’s best and most important player play the most.
The Seahawks were third in the NFL in total rushing attempts last season, after leading the NFL in total rushes in 2018. Seattle was behind only Baltimore, with MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson often taking off on designed and improvisational runs, and San Francisco in total runs in 2019.
Meanwhile, Wilson threw for 4,000 yards for the third time in the last five seasons. He is second all-time in the NFL in passer rating (101.2). His 227 career touchdown passes are third-most in the NFL over a quarterback’s first eight seasons, behind Peyton Manning (244) and Dan Marino (241).
That’s some cookin’!
So, Wilson, global social-media mainstay, owner of 5.5 million followers on Twitter, have you ever in support of this movement retweeted a post declaring “Let Russ cook!”?
“Have I ever retweeted it? No,” Wilson said.
Then he laughed. Heartily.
“No, I haven’t retweeted it,” he repeated.
“Listen, the reality is: I want to win. That’s all I really care about, is going out there and finding ways to win, you know, and just constantly making plays. …
“At the end of the day, I want the ball in my hands, you know? I want to be able to make plays and give us a chance to win. That doesn’t always mean me just chuckin’ it around. But it does mean, you know, the more times … I feel like the more times I have the ball in my hands, the more things I think can happen. I think the defense worries about that, too.”
A corollary criticism of Carroll’s establish-the-run approach and Schottenheimer’s play calls from the “Let Russ Cook” crowd is that Seattle running too much early in games, taking the ball out of Wilson’s hands in the first three quarters, leads to the quarterback and offense having to rally frantically in the fourth quarter.
Per ESPN research, Wilson is 12th in the NFL over the last four seasons in combined passing attempts in the first through third quarters of games. He’s third in combined passing attempts in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Does Wilson believe he needs to be more involved sooner in games?
“Yeah, I definitely think so,” said Wilson, referring to a stat that shows Seattle goes on to win often when leading at halftime.
Seattle is 57-0 when leading by four or more points at halftime, since 2012. That includes postseason games, and Super Bowl 48’s rout of Denver.
“Getting ahead is a key thing,” Wilson said.
Thing is, Wilson has 32 fourth-quarter or overtime comeback victories in his 143 career regular-season and postseason games. That’s the most such comeback wins in the NFL since the beginning of the 2012 season, Wilson’s rookie year.
Detroit’s Matthew Stafford is second with 28.
“I do believe, I definitely believe, in finishing strong,” Wilson said. “I think we’ve won a lot of games in the fourth quarter and been able to do some fun things in the fourth quarter and the end of games.
“But let’s treat every quarter like the fourth.”
Carroll has said, as he does just about every year at this time, that the 31-year-old Wilson had a phenomenal offseason of training amid his wife, Ciara, having their third child. Carroll says (again) Wilson is in peak physical shape and looks the best he ever has looked entering a season.
The owner of 20 Seahawks team records agrees and says he is only going to get better.
“I wake up every day thinking about being great. It never leaves my mind,” he said, entering year nine of his otherworldly career since Seattle drafted him in the third round out of Wisconsin.
“My best years are ahead of me. … I feel the best I’ve ever been.”
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 12:57 PM.
