Q.*Russ, you guys pride yourselves on finishing. How tough is a game like that for you?*
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, to lose that kind of game, we were up pretty good there in the second half and all that. The game just kind of slipped away from us. We could have played tighter across the board. They got a good football team. And they've been a playoff team for a while now. And they got good players. We got to be sharp, be on our stuff and we got to make plays. And, unfortunately, it didn't happen. We did some really great things, though. It's a journey. It's not -- you don't get to the championship over night. It takes a lot. But we could have handled that game and played better. And that's really it.
Q.*Did they do anything differently in the second half or just make it a little harder for the offense to get going?*
RUSSELL WILSON: Not really. I think we had the ball once in the third quarter, I think. It was once in the third quarter, right? So we had the ball once in the third quarter. They had the ball for quite a bit. I think they were trying to play the game slow in a way. And we got the ball once in the third quarter. And then in the fourth quarter, we hit Freddie. And they answered back and that was kind of the end of the fourth quarter in a way. Next thing you know, in overtime. We had some unfortunate penalties and things that were good plays, this and that. On both sides of the ball. And it just didn't work out our way on those. And that's just part of the game. We still got to stay poised and answer and find a way to win. We should have had a great opportunity to win this game and it's unfortunate. But, we're staying focused on what we can do.
Q.*Russ, you guys had a great drive at the end of the half, 75 yards in less than a minute. But then did you guys take it easy and lose your edge because it came so easily in the first half?*
RUSSELL WILSON: No, not at all. I think that they're a good football team. The reality is they got the ball in the third quarter for most of the whole quarter. I mean, we had the ball one time. And in the fourth quarter, we scored. So we didn't lose our edge there. We scored a good amount of points. They made some plays when they needed to. So I don't think we lost our edge by any means. I think across the board we could have played tighter and better. And like I said, it's unfortunate.
Q.*What did they do to take away your tight ends today?*
RUSSELL WILSON: They didn't -- I mean, they didn't necessarily do anything in particular. I think Tyler had such a great game. He was remarkable. To think about what he did today. Freddie Swain had a great game. DK made some plays. And so, I think those guys just -- we didn't have the ball that long. But when we did make plays, those were the guys who were making them. So nothing in particular. I think that we can always get those guys the ball. There was a couple of opportunities here and there. But other guys had made -- showed up. Down the field, we took those guys. So I know -- and then the two-minute drive when we were going up and down the field, Gerald was open on a couple of them. It's a good thing to have guys that can get open and make plays.
Q.*Russ, what happened on the possession in overtime when it kind of fell apart?*
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, they stopped us. We almost had Tyler on the sideline on the first play. On the second one, we tried to throw it away because it looked like something was going on over there. I'm not sure exactly. And then the third play, they just covered it well. Tried to move and make a play, you know? And then that was it. I think that, no second-guessing, we feel like we're always great in those situations. And more times than that, we're always going to be great in those, win those, make those plays. We always have. And so, it doesn't happen every time. And even when we punted the ball, we still felt like we could win the game. And they made their plays.
Q.*You're somebody who thrives in that neutral mentality and try not to get too high, too low. But afterwards, Jamal and Bobby were talking about the emotions of having the 12s back in the stands and the first home game. Did you feel like there was an element of added emotion on the sidelines that could have led to that, like, undisciplined shooting yourselves in the foot that you're talking about?*
RUSSELL WILSON: That's a great question. I mean, I have -- I felt super poised. I felt like we were poised for the most part throughout the game. I mean, obviously, it's a football game. It's going to bring emotions. And you like that. You got to eliminate them and eliminate them throughout the process but still play with great passion. It doesn't mean that you can't play with great passion. I think there's a difference between passion and emotion. So I think the thing is that -- I think that for us, I think that as we're continuing to play to find that poise throughout the whole game. It's a long game, it's a long battle. It's a good team over here, good team over here. It's back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. They made some huge plays. Henry had that nice run after we scored. So it's high, and then some tough moments there. But I think that's why that neutral thing is so important. It's -- for me, in particular, playing this game for so long it's -- I know there's going to be ebbs and flows of the game. And so I think as we all talk about it, what can we do better in groups and stuff like that or whatever? I think we did a good job. Listen, we scored 30 points or whatever. We had a chance to win that game and they made some plays. That's really what it comes down to, a good football team against us. And we're a good one, too. We knew it was going to be a battle, we knew it was going to be a tough fight. We had a feeling it was going to be a long, drawn-out game that we may not even get the ball all the time, just because how they play football and they're going to hand it off quite a bit. I'm not sure how many runs he had. But they gave it to him quite a bit. But when we capitalized, we capitalized in a good way. But Chris Carson, had those two nice runs down near the goal line. But that was great by the offensive line powering that in there. Like I said, Tyler had a spectacular game, Freddie. So there was a lot of good things. But not good enough.
Q.*Apologies if this feels too prime, but how personally difficult was this week for you?*
RUSSELL WILSON: I think that throughout the week it's been challenging in a way. You think about Trevor because he's such a good friend, one of my best friends in the world. To lose him is devastating. But I also know that he's up in heaven somewhere smiling down with my dad. And heaven's a good place. And I just think about everything's he's fought through and battled through. He didn't tell many people, just kept going, and kept trying to lead and help people and serve. And I love Trevor. You know, he was with me all day today in a good way. And, you know, I really, truly felt like, you know, all his thoughts and everything else was with me today. So I'm grateful for that and grateful for all the time we spent together. And, long days, man. We spent a lot of time together. We spent a lot of hard moments. A lot of great ones, too. A lot of great ones. And so, I wrote him on my cleats today and did some -- just some of his quotes that really kind of stuck with me always. And so, he'll forever be with me. But, today, just tried to, you know, once again stay neutral as possible knowing that, it was going to be a tough one in that sense. But also knowing that I've gone through some stuff in my lifetime and you lose people and people come and go. But, what I'm grateful for is he got to know God and got to know just what that's like. And, seeing him in heaven is going to be a good day one day. So he means a lot to me.
Q.*The work that you guys did together, does that prepare you in any way to deal with something like -- you know, play through something like that?*
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, I think so. For sure. Without a doubt. I think all the things that we have talked about -- I think, first of all, my faith is No. 1. No. 2 is being through some things. Losing my dad is the heaviest thing I've ever dealt with, and in the highest of the high, I got drafted the day before, the next day, my dad passed away. The highest of the high and the lowest of the low within 24 hours like that. That was challenging. I think about, how my mom would always be at the hospital. That's pressure. You know, that's challenging. That's not easy. I think about all the things that just you go through throughout life, that we all go through. And we all go through different circumstances in different ways. And what I think is so important is, you know, surrender and surrounding around the right people. And that's the thing that's always kept me, blessed and knowing that, hey, you know what, know, there's going to be a better day ahead. And that's what Trevor always said. He used to always say, The best day's ahead, the best days are ahead. So I really believe that. So, in life, I think that we're going to go through all these circumstances and everything else, but we all have challenges and everything else. But I do believe our mindset is everything, how we think about things, talk about things, our language. Trevor would -- language is such a big part of it, what we say, don't say. That's part of the battle all the time, is, like, what we don't say sometimes. And, how do we speak to one another, care for one another, uplift one another. And, even as you're going through life things, but even as a team. As leaders, like, what do we say, how do we say things like that? And that's why I've spent my time and energy around that, because I know that's something that I can control. I know I'm going to go through obstacles and adversity, but if I can control my mind, that's the part that I really believe is really key. And so that's why I control my language and making sure that, Hey, I'm on the same page and the people I'm around and all that. I think that's really critical. And that's why I've invested so much time and energy amongst the mind and all that stuff. It means something to me.
Thank you, guys. Go hawks. Thanks for all the fans who came, too, obviously. Just to see you guys, again. Obviously, we weren't able to finish it the way we wanted to, but everything we've gone through with COVID and everything else, and what everybody's going through, it was really special today just to be around the 12s again. So we'll be better and back. And we'll see you guys soon. We'll see you guys in Minnesota. Go Hawks.
