Seattle - 38, Dallas - 31
Q. The three touchdown passes to Tyler Lockett. Can you just tell us what was working so well for you two today?
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, I mean, we have had that great, amazing connection for a long time and he's made so many special plays, has shown up in so many different ways. He got behind the defense on the first one and then he made two great ones down the road. So he's just, he's everything you would want in a receiver. He's so focused. He's so dialed in every day. He loves the game. He loves his teammates. He plays it the right way and I'm grateful that he's on our team, that's for sure.
Q. I saw you threw the binoculars during Dallas's drive to the go ahead touchdown. You always talk to the offensive players and your blockers, but how much did you feel like the game was on you and the offense at that point, the way Dallas was moving up and down the field?
RUSSELL WILSON: Well, once they scored, it was 31-30, I believe it was, I told our guys, I said, Listen, this is the drive. If we want to be a championship team, we got to make it right here. And I kind of looked at Greg, that drive, or the drive before, right at that moment, and I said, You're going to make a big time play for us. You're going make a big-time play. Be ready. It's coming your way. You're going to make a big-time play. And sure enough, fourth down, game on the line, and he pops open on the back end. He makes a great play. He carries it on the drive, keep going, then DK obviously scampers to the back of the end zone there. So I thought that drive was a testament of who we are as a team. High character, guys focused in, dialed in, always constantly believing, staying neutral in the midst of everything, all the back and forth and everything else. We were able to come up with a huge, huge win against a very good team in Dallas. So that was big for us. I never fear those moments, as you know. I look forward to them. I believe that we're going to make them every time and just stay calm, stay neutral, believe in it and sure enough it worked out tonight.
Q. The mental aspect of that, how much do you feel like you're at a different plane from everyone in the league mentally prepared for that situation at that moment?
RUSSELL WILSON: I don't want to compare myself or anything like that. I don't know what everybody else, how they think or whatever, but I know how I have thought for the past 10, 11 years of my life, just being, just believing in it, speaking great things, speaking great language, having adversity tolerance, being able to remain neutral in the midst of it all. And I've been through highs, I've been through lows, I've been through it all and there's nothing that really can get to me, to be honest with you. It's just stay in the moment, stay right here in this play, execute this one, have great fundamentals, just be clutch when you need to be clutch, go make the play. And it's not on me. It's everybody. It's this group that we have. Guys showed up in a tremendous way tonight. And the last play, we had great protection. I was telling those guys on the offensive line, I mean, I think it was Duane blocking on the left and Shell just doing an amazing job holding those guys down on that play to give me enough time to hold it, and then, boom, here it goes, touchdown and we take the lead.
So I think the mental part of the game, though, like I said to you before, is the number one thing that I cherish in terms of what I want to bring to the table every day. Yeah, throwing and running and moving and doing all that stuff and getting us in the right plays and all that, that's critical. That's maybe the most important part of it. But I think the most important part of it is the mental side and how I process, remain neutral in the midst of it all. I think that's been key for me in my career so far.
Q. Did you talk to DK at all after the play in the end zone where he lost the ball and all that or did you feel a need to or how was he on the sidelines and everything after that play?
RUSSELL WILSON: I talked to him afterwards. I said, Listen, you're going to have to make a play down the road, so get back in, get focused again, let's revamp. Things happen. There's no excuse for it. He knows that. He wants to be the best in the world. And the good thing about him, you know about him is he'll never do it again and he'll be ready the next opportunity that comes to him. And, you know, like for me, you know, he's like a little brother to me. We're so close. And so to me, I told him I said, Listen, there's another opportunity. When it comes your way you're going to make the play. Just speaking life into it, just knowing that something great's going to happen. Sure enough he makes the game-winning touchdown, which worked out for us.
Q. I asked Pete about the nature of these close wins, something that dates back to last year where you guys were pulling them out left and right, and he said, I know they're nerve wracking, I know fans are pulling their hair out, and I know this is going to sound sick, but this is just how I like it. This is just where I want to be.
Do you feel the same way or would you rather just coast?
RUSSELL WILSON: I would rather win by a lot, but I don't mind, I don't mind winning either way. A win is a win and I love winning. I love winning. I love winning. I love winning. And just it's a process. It's a journey. No matter what we face, we always feel like we can find a way to win a game and find a way. Just do right and just stay in the midst of it and we have been able to do that. I think you got to be clutch too. And this game it's so challenging every day, you're not going to beat every team by a lot. It's just so challenging because there's so many great players on the other side and this and that. And so you just got to remain steady, remain the course, stay on the course and know that when the game gets tight, knowing that we had a lot of great experience at it, we have done it many times, and we're going to do it again.
Q. When you guys are celebrating at the end there, what's it like seeing a guy who is on the practice squad literally yesterday coming up with a game-clinching interception and getting to celebrate with everybody?
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, you know, it was, today was a testament who we are as a team. I think that, I think about guys like Alton Robinson making the huge, huge sack, just he came in, ready to play, ready to practice, every day when he got here in training camp, ready to make a play for us. He was flying around. I kept telling the offensive coach, I said, This guy is amazing. This guy can make some plays. He's showing up, showing up. He gets his opportunity and he capitalizes.
Then you go to Ryan Neal, a guy who was on the practice squad. We get to go against each other every day, it's competitive. We're going after each other, going after each other. And he just keeps getting better, better, and better. He's got the right attitude, right approach every day. He gets his shot, unfortunately because, unfortunately, but fortunately because somebody else goes down, he gets his shot, right? So when he comes into the game, key point in the game, makes a play. That's just who they are as guys, as men, as players. I think the culture helps that to as well, just the attitude, everything else, it all adds together. I think about a guy like Shaquem, a guy who was on our team, made some great plays last year for us, goes on the practice squad, unfortunately, steps up today, just chasing guys down, making plays after play. I mean, they're the reason why we won the game because of guys like that. So I'm grateful, man, just grateful for the work ethic and the focus and the detail.
Q. Can you get a sense for when Schottie is dialed in. I felt like a number of occasions today guys were skating wide open, whether it was the passes on the one-yard line, I think the first touchdown, they just didn't cover Tyler deep. I mean, do you get a sense of when he's got a great feel for how the game's going and what to call?
RUSSELL WILSON: Yeah, Schottie and I have been on the same page every day, just spending tons and tons of hours working. I told you guys, I think he's one of the best coaches in the game. I think he knows the game. He understands it. He's teaching it. He's coaching it. He's one of the best teachers I know. I've been around some great coaches too. And so he understands the game and really does an unbelievable job. He's got great confidence in who we are as a team and we got so many guys that can make so many plays at the wide receiver position, the tight end position, the running back position. The offensive line is doing a great job of battling and fighting through. And he's just dialing it up. So it's a part of the process and I think that we have done a great job of it so far, me and him have a tremendous relationship as friends, as brothers in Christ and everything else too and just we're super close. But I think as a football coach he knows the game, he teaches the game. And I think a guy like Austin Davis has done a great job as to well, we have spent so many hours, upon hours, upon hours in the QB room with Geno and Austin and Danny. It's so tight, it's so close and we spend so much time and we just are so focused on that part of it. And our Saturday meetings are always great, just talking about who God is and what our focus and what we're trying to do and half the time it's not even about the game, it's just about this life that we get to live. And it's just a blessing just to be able to get to do it together. And I cherish those relationships. Guys like Dave Canales and Brad Idzik and people like that. So it's been really cool, this year's been really special, despite everything else going on, it's been a hard year, as you guys know, it's been a tough year, but I think so far as the relationship it's about relationships, this life's about relationships and friendships and that part of it and now when it comes to football, Schottie is kicking butt. He's dialing up.
Q. You called Tyler Lockett underrated earlier this week. How long do you think that will last if he keeps playing like this --
RUSSELL WILSON: I don't think he's underrated, I mean --
Q. I'm saying you said he was like the most underrated player in the league.
RUSSELL WILSON: No, I get you. No, I think Tyler is one of the best receivers in the game. He does everything right. He's just so dialed in. He's -- I don't know how many catches he's made over the past years, but the big-time plays, the big-time touchdowns, he knows the game, he plays the game like a quarterback, man, and I think Tyler is one of the best in the game. And so it's cool just being with him and playing and you just got to stay the course, stay focused, keep staying dialed in, just keep doing what he's doing.
Q. We heard you just call him, DK, you said he's like a brother to you and we heard you talk about how close you guys have gotten. Why do you think you guys have clicked as well as you have in the time he's been here?
RUSSELL WILSON: I really respect guys who come in with the right mindset. There's so many guys on our team, everybody, to be honest with you. But a guy like him has all the talent in the world, he could take it easy, he could do this, do that. And he is one of the first guys there every day, he's one of the guys that's always ready to work, he's always ready to get extra reps -- I think back to the summertime when we were in Mexico, I think back to when we were in California and just all the time that we spent together throwing the ball and just working on our game and just trying to dial it up and trying to get ready for the season. And we didn't know if we were going to play, to be honest with you, but what we really connected on more than anything else was life, you know, just, you know, I think what's really important to him, the same things are really important to me, faith and family and all those things, but I just think that he loves the game, he wants to be great and when somebody wants to be great, it's not just about wanting to, it's about doing the actions, it's about everything that you do about it and it's a life-style that you have to live and I think that he really wants to do it. He had that fluke play today and I told him to never do it again, but, you know, he's great at what he does, he's so young, he's only 22, so it's kind of crazy to think about. So we're going to have a lot of fun together many years ago or many years to come, so just got to stay the course and we haven't done anything yet, we're just getting started.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports