One Probable Reason Russell Wilson Is Struggling: Tyler Lockett Says Russ Uses The Same Hand Signals As He Did In Seattle
As I continue to bask in the glory of all that is Tariq Woolen, I was conducting a Twitter search of the Seattle Seahawks starting rookie cornerback late this afternoon. Therein, I stumbled upon this gem of a mic'd up wide receiver Tyler Lockett telling Woolen and anyone who'd listen on the sidelines what Russell Wilson was going to do before it happened.
This is from Week 1 when Wilson, who demanded out of Seattle, returned to the Emerald City as a member of the Denver Broncos, only to lose 17-16 with some of the stupidest late-game management you'll ever see. Now I'm starting to question new head caoch Nathaniel Hackett and Wilson EVEN MORE, because holy shit, how the hell do you have the same hand signals when you're playing against your former team!??!
I know Hackett and Wilson both have stated they want to be collaborative in their approach to building the Broncos' offense. That is to say, Hackett will take some of the stuff Wilson is most comfortable with from his Seahawks heyday but still implement a system heavily inspired by the one he oversaw in Green Bay the previous few years. Feels like both of them are compromising too much to the team's detriment.
We can only speculate how much impact the hand gestures could've had in either of Denver's first two games. Nevertheless, the only reaction is still, "WTF?" How hard can it be to come up with alternative gestures? More alarming is the oversight by Hackett and Wilson not to even think to change this.
Through two weeks, Hackett has proven to be a moron on more than one occasion when it comes to situational awareness, and Russ is apparently too dense to come up with new hand signals to check into different routes with his new teammates. The results: A loss to a heavy underdog in Seattle, and an ugly 16-9 win over Houston in the Broncos' home opener. Wilson has a 58.9% completion rate and an 86.5 passer rating. And here's the worst part:
Maybe Russ is too preoccupied rehearsing moments that will never, ever turn out precisely the way he expects them to, or is holed up in his hyperbaric sleeping chamber, drifting in and out of consciousness whilst practicing boilerplate press conference answers thanks to pre-taped ASMR recordings from his PR team.
Look, I think it's wonderful that Russ goes to the children's hospitals and does philanthropic work, but is it too much to ask for him to just carry himself like a real fucking human being, like, ever? Easier said than done being in the spotlight to the degree that he is, but Russ comes across as particularly inaccessible and inauthentic. It's not much of a mystery as to why ex-teammates revel in his shortcomings on the gridiron.
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Whether it's Richard Sherman or now Lockett, you can see a certain giddiness from guys Russ used to share a locker room with when he doesn't play well — or more specifically in this instance, when he seems incapable of adjusting when it's obvious that he should. I'm not sure how much longer his prime can be if he can't run like he used to and the Broncos don't tighten up their scheme amid a brutal AFC West division.
Weird vibes always coming from Russell Wilson. And I say this as someone who took a heavy interest in Seattle's DangeRuss Era and really enjoyed watching him play once upon a time. Let's see if Denver digs its way out of one of the NFL's most disappointing and inauspicious starts of 2022.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok