Russell Wilson and Darrell Bevell have taken a lot of heat this week for not getting Jimmy Graham involved in the offense, and inflammatory reports have erroneously described the tight end as upset that he was not getting the ball.
The three principals all agreed Graham is frustrated -- over the Seahawks' 0-2 start. They also said there were reasons the ball didn't go his way in Green Bay, they are still feeling out the connection and they will get him the ball more often.
But Bevell and Wilson also were quick to remind everyone that there are other players on offense and they aren't going to force it to Graham -- as they did with Percy Harvin at times last season.
In fact, Bevell brought up another sore subject with fans when he reminded everyone that Zach Miller used to have big games and then disappear. Not exactly what Graham probably wants to hear.
As for the frustration, Graham said, "I like to win and I hate to lose. Frustration comes because we’re 0-2 and we’re a lot better than that. There’s a lot of variables and I know that the most important thing isn’t about my role or what I’m doing out there; it’s about wins. That’s all we’re concerned about. What keeps me up on a Sunday night, Monday night isn’t if I got a pass; it’s if we won or lost.”
Graham said he was surprised to see reports depicting him as selfishly upset and avoiding media after the game in Green Bay.
"I’m not really sure where all these articles started, especially because I said nothing to (anybody)," he said. "I like to win and I hate to lose. Frustration comes because we’re 0-2 and we’re a lot better than that.”
Bevell said the same thing: “I think Jimmy’s frustrated. I think he’s frustrated that we’re 0-2, not frustrated that he’s not getting the ball.
"We talked about it today: He just wants to win. He’s an ultimate competitor. If you say 'frustrated,' he’s frustrated we’re 0-2, not that he only had one catch. Does he want to be involved in it? Sure he does. He wants to be involved; because, if he’s making plays, we’re being successful. The same can be said for a lot of other guys.”
As for the reason for his lack of involvement, Graham said, “Just certain coverages at certain times, which you really can’t anticipate. I remember last week I had a double move and it was one of the snaps in the whole game they played cover 2, and it’s not a cover 2 beater, so it just happened to be on that one play they played cover 2. Stuff like that happens. That’s the game.”
"In the second game," Wilson said, "it was one of those things that we had plays called looking for him, and we had a couple penalties on a couple plays, and then we had one deep one near the end of the game I think they double-teamed him or triple-teamed him and I ended up running for it."
Bevell said, “There are a lot of things that go into it. There are plays where he’s targeted. There are plays where he’s the primary target and the ball goes elsewhere. Guys do different things in coverage, the quarterback looks a different way, protection breaks down and can’t hang onto it long enough. So there’s so many things. I’m not just going to sit here and point out one thing."
That's OK. Others -- notably The Seattle Times and Field Gulls -- did it for Bevell.
"We want Jimmy involved in our offense. There’s no question about it," Bevell said. "We want him to make catches. We know that he’ll do great things for us. … But there (are) also other guys that do great things for us as well. … So, it’s not something that you're just going to go out there and force every ball to him.
"We have so many guys that are out here that are very capable for us. You saw in (Green Bay) he came out with one catch. Not what you want, but he had one catch. Doug (Baldwin) had a handful of catches as well, Luke (Willson) has a couple and we can spread it all around. I think we have playmakers all over the place.
"Again, I don’t want to diminish that we do want to get Jimmy the ball, but we do have guys that can make plays all over. If you just force feed it, I think it can hurt your offense.”
Bevell has very recent experience in that department. Last year, he focused the offense on Harvin and it blew up in his face as Harvin first pouted about how he was used, then refused to play and eventually was traded.
Bevell said the Seahawks do not have to build the offense around Graham.
"We were trying to do things obviously to incorporate Percy in," he said, "and I don’t think that Jimmy is in the same category as that. He’s a tight end. We’re able to plug him in and use him that way, and I think everything’s going to be fine. We don’t really have an issue getting him the ball.”
Of course, he also brought up Miller, who was brought in on a big contract in 2011 ostensibly to lift the passing attack at the tight end spot. But Miller too often spent his time as the sixth offensive lineman, with the running joke after any catch becoming, "When did the Seahawks get Zach Miller?"
"There’s a growing process there," Bevell said. "I don’t know what he had in the first game -- five or six catches -- then he had one (in Green Bay). We’ve seen that before. Zach Miller has eight catches one game, then he has zero. That’s not something that we try to do, but sometimes that’s how the game goes.”
Graham will have to get used to not getting the ball as much. From 2012 to 2014, the Seahawks threw the ball to the tight ends 20.8 percent of the time. Miller was the top tight end target in 2012 and 2013, receiving 13.2 percent and 13.7 percent of the targets.
The past three years in New Orleans, Graham alone was targeted 20.6 percent of the time -- basically the same share (on many more balls) that all of Seattle's tight ends got. He had a whopping 22.1 percent of the targets in 2013.
As for his role in Seattle, he said, “I’m doing what’s asked of me. I know my opportunities are going to come. I know my moments are going to come. I know I’ll be ready when they do come my way. Even leading up to that question, we’ve talked about it. This team runs the ball, simple as that. We’re not slinging the ball 60 times a game. If we are, it means that we’re in trouble. I’m just going to keep doing what’s asked of me.”
As part of the chemistry building, the 6-foot-7 Graham has tried to convince Wilson to trust him even if it looks like he might not be open.
“I tell Russ every day," Graham said. "It doesn’t matter and sometimes just throw it because sometimes it just doesn’t matter. That’s just chemistry and something that we’ve got to get comfortable with. Sometimes a guy, maybe some guys, are there and sometimes I’m going to make it happen.”
Wilson actually did that a couple of times in the Green Bay game, throwing to a tightly covered Graham down the right sideline and also into triple coverage in the red zone. Both were incompletions, but they proved that Wilson does indeed trust his big tight end.
"Obviously looking for him," Wilson said. "He’s such a huge target, you want to get him the football. Like I said, he got six catches in the first game … and we still want to get him more catches.
"We definitely have the chemistry. So there’s no worries about that. I’m looking forward to that part of it and just continuing to grow, and continuing to build on that.”
Bevell said he encourages Wilson to work on those "trust" throws in practice.
“We’ve seen a lot of opportunities to do that in practice, and he’s taken some of those opportunities," Bevell said. "Sometimes you just have to feel it out; you have to learn. I talk to him all the time about throwing some of those balls in practice to kind of feel it out. You know: What is he? Where can you throw the ball? What kind of throws can you make to him? What kind of catches can he make?
"But a lot of the times there are progressions, there are things that we need to go through to be able to get to that," Bevell added. "There are times where Jimmy’s the primary target, there are times where he’s two or three, and we throw a touchdown to Doug Baldwin in the back of the end zone and Jimmy’s wide open. Well, I do want the touchdown, instead of just giving Jimmy an extra catch. But he’s part of it, and he’ll continue to be part of it.”
Image: Neal D (Flickr)
