Russell Wilson says money, fame not affecting him “at all”

For many it’s all so linear.

Russell Wilson signs a team-record contract extension worth $87.6 million this summer with $61 million guaranteed. He and his singer-star-girlfriend Ciara share hugs and kisses on the field after Seahawks training camp practices. He posts pictures on social media of his weekly Tuesday visits to patients at Seattle Children’s Hospital, of Ciara and him as Batman and Batwoman in a Batmobile at a Halloween party. He gets pictured while in Mexico for a bye-week vacation.

And the Seahawks, after two consecutive Super Bowls, are 4-5.

The money, the fame, the woman — it must be affecting Seattle’s franchise quarterback. Right?

“No,” Wilson said flatly on Thursday, three days before he faces San Francisco (3-6) on Seattle’s long road back towards playoff contention. “I don’t think so at all.

“People want to make it something else. But for me, it’s just I love the game of football. … I love getting here early and leaving late. So that’s what it’s about.

“Nothing’s changed.”

It was four days after he completed just 14 of 32 passes, his worst game of the season, in a 39-32 loss to Arizona. He threw a bad interception in missing wide-open Doug Baldwin in the center of the field while having decent protection for one of the few times in months. He also missed Baldwin and Jimmy Graham on available two-point conversions late in a game Seattle had to have to win the NFC West.

“(We’ve got to) continue to find ways to capitalize on those opportunities when we have them,” Wilson said. “And we’ve had them. … We’ve been close in all the games we’ve lost.”

This latest loss leaves Seattle three games behind in the division Arizona is on its way to winning. The Seahawks are now playing for a wild-card way into the playoffs. They are two games behind Green Bay and Atlanta for one of those spots.

Since the NFL went to its current postseason format of six teams per conference in 1990, only nine teams that finished the regular season 10-6 failed to advance. So history says if the Seahawks can go 6-1 the rest of the way they will be in the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

Wilson says that’s not only possible, it’s believable.

“I think the precedent shows that we can turn it around for sure. But also at the same time, you don’t necessarily rely on the past,” he said. “Everybody is different. Every year is different. I think what you rely on is the preparation and the things that you’re doing to give yourself a great chance to win.

“We’re not that far off. So I’m not going to mentally go there at all. I think the biggest thing is we have to make those plays. It’s everyone across the board.”

For the third time following the last three games, Wilson said: “It starts with me.”

He set an NFL record for most victories and Super Bowl starts in the first three seasons of a quarterback’s career by taking care of the ball with the diligence coach Pete Carroll demands. He had just 26 interceptions in his first 1,252 passes.

Wilson has 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions through nine games this season. He had 11 TDs and five interceptions at this point last season, 15 and six by now in 2013 and 13 versus eight through nine starts in his rookie season of ’12.

“I think the biggest thing is trying to quit the turnovers a little bit,” Wilson said. “Sometimes you’ve got to take a chance and sometimes you’ve got to give a guy a shot… But I think also we need to score more touchdowns, in whatever way that is. Whether it’s me running it in, Marshawn (Lynch) running it in, the receivers catching it, tight ends, whatever it may be. I think that’s what it comes down to.

“I think that we’re so close.”

Last weekend he was not so close. Against Arizona he had rookie Tyler Lockett running alone down the seam and Baldwin breaking free past midfield on a deep post route in the third quarter, well inside safety Tyrann Mathieu. Wilson missed Lockett and threw the ball outside, behind and beyond Baldwin. Mathieu intercepted that, and Arizona turned the gift into a field goal for a 25-10 lead.

“We had a chance for Lockett. We had a chance for Doug,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said, “and basically Russell said he just missed it.”

On four lost points in the fourth quarter — the two conversion attempts — Wilson took one step and badly overthrew Baldwin. The ball skipped out of the back of the end zone while the receiver was barely inside the goal line.

“He had an opportunity to give Doug a chance and really didn’t give him a chance,” Bevell said. “Particularly on that type of situation, you want to make sure you give your guys an opportunity to make a play.”

On the second two-point play, a read-option pass when Seattle had taken an improbable 29-25 lead on two strip-sacks forced by its defense, Wilson simply missed his throw to Graham. The 6-foot-7 tight end had a half-foot height advantage in the end zone on his defender.

“Again,” Bevell said, “you’ve got to give a guy the opportunity to make a play.”

It’s as much of a critique as a coach will put publicly on his quarterback.

“I’ve just got to complete those passes,” Wilson said. “That’s what it comes down to.”

Yet despite being sacked a league-most 33 times in nine games, even after misfiring against Arizona, Wilson’s 2015 completion rate of 65.8 percent would be his career high over a full season.

So Ciara, social media and the money haven’t adversely affected that.

“My private life is my private life. But I think at the same time, there’s no fear in anything or anything like that. I’m grateful for the people that I have in my life,” Wilson said. “Just the surroundings — from the team, to everybody and my friends and all that too, as well. I’m sure you’re referring to Ciara, too. ... she’s an unbelievable person.

“But I think ultimately when it comes down to football, the focus is on football. That’s just how it has to be and how it always is. I love playing this game. I’m passionate about it.”

Wilson says with a smile that, no, Seahawks fans are not booing him or egging his car on his outings around a city that’s gotten used to him rallying its team to titles. He led Seattle to eight straight wins into the Super Bowl just 9  1/2 months ago.

“A lot of fans are pumped up to see what we can do,” he said.

“We’ve had adversity before. This isn’t something new. … So we’re looking forward to it. … Like I keep saying, adversity is temporary.

“There’s no doubt in us. … There’s no sense of loss of faith in us at all. We believe in one another. We believe in our system and our coaches and the guys that we have. And we believe that we’re going to turn it around.”

EXTRA POINTS

RB Marshawn Lynch (abdomen) did not practice for the second consecutive day. Carroll said on Wednesday he expects his lead running back to play Sunday. New additions to this week’s practice-participation list: CB Cary Williams with a hip injury and defensive end Demarcus Dobbs with an injured shoulder. … WR Doug Baldwin was limited by the toe injury that caused him to miss Wednesday’s practice. … WR Paul Richardson was due to test the hamstring he injured last weekend; he did not practice again.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Russell Wilson says money, fame not affecting him “at all”."