Russell Wilson began Rams prep on jet home from 49ers. LA is his, Seahawks’ conqueror
No team has intercepted, sacked or defeated Russell Wilson more than the Los Angeles Rams.
So no wonder the Seahawks’ “the separation is in the preparation” quarterback started prep work for his quick-turnaround test Thursday night against L.A. while still on his last game day.
Wilson began studying the Rams on the team’s charter jet flight home Sunday evening after beating the San Francisco 49ers in the Bay Area.
“I starting watching film on the plane, and as soon as we got back home. Kind of getting ahead of schedule, really,” Wilson said Tuesday.
“It’s something that we’ve done very, very well, something I pride myself in.”
He should be proud.
Most players despise Thursday night games. They usually don’t feel physically recovered from a Sunday game until, well, Thursday. In November 2017, Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor got injuries while five other Seahawks got hurt in a Thursday win at Arizona following a Sunday game. Sherman’s injury ended his season. Chancellor’s ended his career.
“This sh** is not OK. You can quote me on that. It HAS to change,” receiver Doug Baldwin said after that game.
“Thursday night football should be illegal.”
Wilson may not completely agree.
He is 9-1 in his career on Thursday nights. That’s the best winning percentage on Thursdays by any quarterback in the last 21 years who has had at least five such starts.
He is 2-0 on Thursday nights against the Rams. He threw four touchdown passes to beat them 30-29 on a Thursday in October 2019, while wearing The Great Gazoo green the Seahawks will be wearing again this Thursday against L.A. He threw for three TDs in his 24-3 win over the Rams, also in Seattle, on a Thursday in December 2016.
Those are two of only four victories Wilson has in his last 13 starts against Los Angeles.
The Rams, lately with All-World defensive tackle Aaron Donald and a swarming front, have sacked him 79 times and intercepted him 12 times in the 19 games Wilson’s played them. That’s four more interceptions and 18 more sacks taken than Wilson has against any other NFL team.
So, yes, he knew he had to accelerate his preparation this short week.
“The recovery routine, honestly, is the most important thing,” Wilson said. “It’s super-important, obviously, to be able to get back after a physical game on Sunday from San Francisco, come back home, start to get treatment right away — from the moment you get on the plane all the way to the time you get home, to getting a little bit of rest. Then waking up to watch film — I got up pretty early (Monday) to watch film.
“And as I’m watching film getting treatment, as well.”
Getting his strokes in
The other key to Wilson being fully ready on three days’ rest to go from magically rallying Seattle (2-2) past San Francisco in the third quarter Sunday to facing the Rams (3-1) for a key NFC West test?
Swimming.
“I’m a big swimmer,” he said, “getting up in the morning, swimming a bunch. Getting in the water. Hydration.
“All those little things. Quality sleep is important. I may not get many hours, especially on a short week, but getting quality sleep is important, too, as well. And doing all my mobilization work with Amy and the strength staff here is really important.”
Amy Atmore is Wilson’s full-time physical therapist. She’s with him everywhere, including inside the Seahawks’ facility before and after practices.
Wilson has a full-time nutritionist that also travels everywhere with him. He estimated last fall he spends about $1 million per year on his personal training and preparation.
That investment is paying off this short week.
Wilson’s preparation spreads to his teammates. Because Wilson makes it so.
Each week, the QB writes detailed notes on the opponent and key defensive players from his late-Sunday-into-early-Monday film study. He shares his notes in packages, his own personal scouting reports, he gives to his offensive teammates early each week.
These notes are lengthy. To ensure his guys read through every line, Wilson occasionally throws in off-the-wall non sequiturs, just to see if they are paying attention.
Last week, among “54 Fred Warner, 97 Nick Bosa, 91 Arik Armstead,” Wilson wrote “49 Sourdough Sam” as a key Niners defensive player.
Sourdough Sam is the 49ers’ mascot.
“I tried to throw that in there, just to see if guys would recognize it,” Wilson said, chuckling.
“You put a long list of players. And sometimes guys just, you know, read through it.
“So I put number 49, Sourdough Sam. You know it’s a real, possible number for somebody. But, obviously, no one is wearing that (for San Francisco) right now.”
So who was the first teammate to notice?
“DK (Metcalf) caught it,” Wilson said. “He was like, ‘Sourdough SAM?!’”
Wilson imitated Metcalf’s raised voice and sideways glance at his quarterback and his trick.
“But the thing is, once they get the answer right doesn’t mean...I quiz them once they get the answer right,” Wilson said. “Just to make sure they are just reading through it. So I’ll quiz them on a few other things about the notes. Now, they have to read it.
“It’s one of those things: Oh, shoot, here are my three questions for you.”
The best he’s faced
Donald, not Sourdough Sam, is absolutely on Wilson’s opposing-player list this week.
The 10th-year quarterback reiterated that Donald, the six-time All-Pro, seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle and four-time NFL defensive player of the year, is the best player he’s ever faced.
Donald has 15 sacks in 15 career games against Wilson. That’s his most against any quarterback and against any team.
“He’s a three-technique (tackle) that can get to the quarterback. You don’t see that very often,” Wilson said.
“His consistency has been remarkable. ...
“He’s one of those guys I will definitely tell my kids about, when I’m old and I’m in my rocking chair,” Wilson said, laughing.
But it’s not just Donald that Wilson and his new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron — whom Pete Carroll hired away from the Rams in January to come to Seattle — have to figure out Thursday.
Jalen Ramsey is an issue in L.A.’s secondary.
The $105 million, two-time All-Pro cornerback took Metcalf mostly out of three meetings last season. Metcalf had just 44 yards on four catches and 11 targets (a 36.3% catch rate) with Ramsey shadowing him during the 2020 regular season and the Seahawks-Rams playoff game in January.
Los Angeles won two of those three meetings, including in an NFC wild-card playoff game in Seattle when the Rams dominated Wilson and the Seahawks’ offense in a 30-20 win that wasn’t that close.
“Jalen’s one of those guys who doesn’t have any weaknesses. He’s really special,” Wilson said.
“You have to know where he is and what he’s doing.”
Wilson and the Seahawks expect some more of Ramsey shadowing Metcalf Thursday. But Ramsey is moving around the field more this season under new Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who replaced Brandon Staley when the Chargers hired Staley to be their head coach this offseason.
“They’ve done a really good job of mixing Jalen around,” Wilson said. “Obviously, he’s a tremendous football player. He can do everything.”
Having Waldron on his side now gives Wilson added insight into the Rams’ systems and personnel.
“Having Shane around is just great because we really get to know their players,” Wilson said.
“He just has a great understanding of who they are...but I think on a short week you just have enough time to focus on what you are trying to do and what you are trying to install.
“We have a great understanding of what they try to do on defense. And, obviously, they are good at what they do.
“It will be a great challenge, in a good way.”
That Rams defense throttled Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl-champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers two weeks ago while giving them their first loss this season. But last weekend Kyler Murray had more than 300 total yards with three touchdown passes, escaping multiple would-be sacks as Wilson often does. The 4-0 Cardinals smacked the Rams 37-20 in a game that wasn’t that close.
While the Cardinals were whipping the Rams last weekend, Wilson rallied Seattle with 21 unanswered points to beat the 49ers. His spinning escape and touchdown throw to Freddie Swain that gave the Seahawks a two-score lead in the third quarter is one for his career highlight montage.
“Probably one of the more impressive plays I’ve ever seen in person,” Waldron said Tuesday.
Through four games, Wilson hasn’t thrown an interception. Seattle’s leads the league in fewest turnovers with one.
That — and third-down percentages — are the numbers that matter most to Carroll.
About third downs: Seattle is converting just 33% of the time, down from 38% last season. The Seahawks are tied with Detroit and Jacksonville for the league’s fourth-worst third-down conversion rate. The Lions and Jaguars have zero wins combined this season.
The reason the Seahawks have been so bad on third down is because they’ve created such bad odds for themselves on third downs. Because of penalties, sacks or an inconsistent running game, Seattle’s been in third and 7 or more 20 times in 39 total third downs; 51.3% of all third downs have been third and long. Nine of those 20 times, it’s been third and 10 or more for the Seahawks.
Waldron’s quick-, short-passing offense based upon running the ball isn’t designed to convert a ton of third and 10-pluses. None are.
The Seahawks are 9 for 19 (47.3%) on third down and 6 or less.
“We’ve got to stay out of third and 10s,” Carroll said.
That would make Wilson’s life easier, especially against Donald and the Rams.
“It was third and long...third and 8, 9, 10, 11s, 15-plus,” Wilson said. “Those are tricky in the NFL.
“We’ll make sure that we continue to work on that and make sure that we fix that.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 7:43 AM.
