SEATTLE — Jimmy Graham has a message for all the critics who crawled out of the woodwork this week.
They can stick it.
The Seattle Seahawks tight end silenced those who suggested he was frustrated in Seattle’s offense Sunday, providing the type of performance promised by his offseason acquisition.
Graham, who arrived to much fanfare during the offseason when the Seahawks gave up Pro Bowl center Max Unger and a first-round draft pick to acquire the dynamic receiving tight end, was the subject of much consternation during the lead-up to Sunday’s game. Graham managed just one catch for 11 yards in last week’s 27-17 loss at Green Bay, and he was targeted just twice. In the aftermath rumors were floated by members of the national media that Graham was frustrated in his role in Seattle’s offense, forcing Graham to dispute those rumors during the week.
Those rumors are sure to dissipate into the wind now. Graham did a little bit of everything Saturday. He caught the ball on Seattle’s first play from scrimmage. He scored the team’s only offensive touchdown, and he finished with a team-leading seven catches for 83 yards as the Seahawks strolled to a 26-0 victory over the Bears.
So much for frustration.
“I didn’t know I was frustrated last week,” Graham said. “But just to clarify things, I’m not frustrated at all.
“I don’t really watch TV,” Graham added about the reports of his frustration. “I didn’t find out about all this until I had my press conference. For me, it don’t matter. When I come in every week and I work, I ignore the distractions. It’s not about that. It’s about the guys in this locker room, it’s about winning, and that’s all I care about.”
Much was expected from Graham upon his arrival, considering he caught 355 passes for 4,396 yards and made three Pro Bowls the previous four seasons in New Orleans. But following a somewhat lackluster performance in Seattle’s opener followed by last week’s near shutout, just about everyone involved in Seattle’s offense was forced to answer questions about Graham this week. What was wrong? Why wasn’t Graham more involved? Was it the scheme? Did Graham need to do something different?
Apparently it was none of that.
“Jimmy looked great,” Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said. “Now that you look at it, he has (six catches) in the first game with a touchdown, he had seven and a touchdown today. OK, there was one in the middle that we didn’t like. I think we have a real chance to make this a big factor for us and it’s so cool for the fans to see what he can do.”
It would be one thing if the Seahawks were changing their run-oriented offense to accommodate Graham. There was just the hint of that when Seattle’s first play from scrimmage was a simple slant pattern clearly designed to get Graham in the box score.
But after that there was no forcing the ball to Graham as the rest of his catches came within the context of Seattle’s offense. On his touchdown catch, a 30-yarder in which he caught down the middle of the field, fought out of a tackle and lunged across the goal line, he wasn’t even the first option.
“(Quarterback Russell Wilson) went through his reads and he waited for me,” Graham said. “I’m definitely not the first option there, obviously just a great pitch and catch.”
Said Wilson: “(The game plan) was no different. The game plan is to throw the ball to the right guy at the right time, have a successful play and move on to the next one. Obviously (Graham) is a spectacular player, he showed up a lot today. That was a lot of fun.”
Graham acknowledged Sunday it’s been an adjustment fitting into Seattle’s offense. In New Orleans, while he was technically a tight end, he was used more as a receiver. In Seattle he’s strictly a tight end, with the blocking responsibilities that go along with it. Graham, at 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds, is also a completely different kind of target than Wilson has had in the past, so both parties are still learning one another.
“It’s Week 3, I’m doing all right, but there’s a lot of room for myself to grow and to learn,” Graham said. “Especially just the angles and what we’re doing in the run game. I’m growing at that because I played a lot of receiver back in the day.”
The rumors of Graham’s frustration were accompanied by questions of whether he was happy in Seattle. But Graham showed just how emotionally involved he is late in the first quarter. He caught a pass short of the first down, rolled over a defender, then got back up and got the first down. Afterward he popped up and bellowed demonstratively in celebration. The play was eventually reviewed and it was determined Graham was down on the initial tackle, but it still showed Graham is fully invested.
“I’m an emotional player, and for me every play matters so much,” Graham explained. “As far as emotion goes, I’m all in. Whether it’s a flat route and a two-yard catch, to me it doesn’t matter.”
Neither, it would seem, do rumors of frustration.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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