Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner on training camp, preseason games

Published 2:47 pm Thursday, August 11, 2016

Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner spoke to the media Thursday. Here’s a few highlights of what he said:

The Seahawks play their first preseason game Saturday when they travel to face the Kansas City Chiefs, and he’s ready to take on a team other than his own:

“I’m getting tired of seeing the same people’s faces, trying to chase down [quarterback Russell Wilson] every play. It’ll be good to actually hit the quarterback instead of letting him run by. You can tell Russ he’s slow, though.”

Wagner has been happy with what he’s seen from the team so far in training camp:

“There’s a lot less drama then we had last year [when safety Kam Chancellor’s holdout was the main story]. I feel like everybody’s coming in focused, ready to go, no outside distractions, we’re not coming off a Super Bowl loss and things of that nature. Especially the way the season ended last year [with a 31-24 loss to Carolina in the divisional round of the playoffs], I don’t think anybody was happy with that. When we were away I watched everybody work out, work hard.”

Wagner then went on to compare it to the vibe during training camp in 2013, when the Seahawks were coming off a divisional playoff loss to Atlanta and went on to win the Super Bowl:

“It’s kind of like when we lost to the Atlanta Falcons, just that hunger and wanting to get back on the field and prove what we can do.”

Starters tend to see a very limited number of snaps in the first game of the preseason, and when asked how much he wants to play in preseason games Wagner responded with the following:

“If it was up to me I’d rather just start the season now. But we go through these preseason games to give guys opportunities to make the team. But I’m ready to play, I’m ready to go. Whenever that first game is, we’re ready. I’ve trained so hard this offseason so I don’t need the preseason games to be ready. I’m ready.”