Russell Wilson: "I Definitely Believe I've Moved Closer"

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson talked to Ian Furness on KJR and gave some interesting quotes on his new NFL experiences and the competition that he's in to be the starter. It's hard for me to sit here and tell you that anything in the interview was exactly "telling" other than to say that he did tell us stuff. His mouth opened and moved in such a way that words came out and those words were English, which is good because it's the only language I speak.

But did he give us insight?

On whether or not he's gaining ground on the job to be the starter:

"I definitely believe I’ve moved closer. You take one step at a time, one day at a time, one rep at a time and you just improve. You respect the process and that’s the biggest thing is just respecting the process and taking one day at a time and just learning as much as I can. I’m on a constant quest for knowledge and just trying to gain as much knowledge as I can so when I do get that opportunity I just keep growing. I know there’s going to be ups and downs, it’s a process like I said, and always in a process there’s ups and downs but as long as I keep moving forward, that’s the key."

I think that on Saturday we saw a player that was incredibly-gifted, but still a work-in-progress. That doesn't mean that Matt Flynn isn't a work-in-progress or that Tarvaris Jackson won't work-for-food but it still means that I saw a player that is exciting and maybe not quite ready. What I would really like to see is Wilson play with the ones against another team's ones. Just in general, we just need to see more game action before we can make any hard or fast conclusions about either of these guys. But while the headlines today read like, "Wilson thinks he's moving closer to the starters job," that's neither exactly true or telling.

Russell Wilson is in a competition and we would hope that he's moving closer every day. He's not going to say, "Well, I've definitely moved into third!" The next three games are going to be a lot more telling than any interview, but it's still interesting to hear. Additionally, Darrell Bevell has confirmed that it's unlikely that Jackson will play at all against Denver, so we're going to get even more opportunity to see the two guys that we want to see.

More quotes after the jump.

"Four score and seven years ago" - Anonymous?

Also, these quotes from Wilson:

"We’re playing football and my job is to facilitate the ball to the right guy at the right time and there is no certain variable on height. My height doesn’t define my skill-set and I believe I just have to keep working and keep improving every day and that’s why I come up here every single morning when I wake up."

I have written much about Wilson's height, as have others. It would be incorrect to say that he doesn't look "different" out there from other quarterbacks, because he does. His size is unusual. That doesn't mean that he's not an exception because he definitely did some great things against the Titans that should get you excited about him, if you are a Seahawks fan or a short person fan.

In regards to his interception:

"I just didn’t throw it hard enough. That’s one of those throws you throw hard, back shoulder type of throw and I just kind of lofted it up but you learn something new. That’s what preseason is for, to learn and understand things."

In other words: "I f%^ked up!" Everybody makes mistakes. Tom Brady makes mistakes. It's likely that a rookie is going to make more mistakes than Tom Brady, but he's getting his licks in now. I'm sure that playing in practice against the league's best secondary is something that has helped him learn to make fewer mistakes as we've now fully entered the preseason and the more time he gets throwing it, the better he should get. I believe Wilson when he says that he's "on a constant quest for knowledge and just trying to gain as much knowledge as I can so when I do get that opportunity I just keep growing," because that's always how he has presented himself.

Whether or not he actually manages to win the starting job in 2012 remains to be seen, but he certainly sounds like a player that's not going to give up until he gets there.

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