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Seahawks turn their focus to future
RENTON, Wash. — As quickly as the Super Bowl spun out of Seattle’s control is how quickly the Seahawks are trying to spin it forward.
It only makes sense, of course, that the Seahawks would try to turn the public discourse regarding their season in another direction.
And so it was that less than 48 hours after the stunning end to Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks were already talking about next season.
Quarterback Russell Wilson, whose pass with 20 seconds left was intercepted by New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler to seal Seattle’s fate, said he would use the game as an experience to draw on for the future.
“My focus is still on being a Super Bowl-type winning quarterback for this football team, obviously,” Wilson said. “But not just getting back. Getting back is not good enough.
“That’s what’s great about this football team — and the fans, too. Being in that stadium and feeling that disappointment, feeling that disappointment in general, that’s the amazing part about our fans, our organization, our players, is that we now all expect to win it all, you know. When you think about that, that’s different than it was before… That’s the great thing. That’s the thing that I keep focusing on.”
Indeed, there is no reason to doubt the Seahawks ability to make another run at it in 2015-16.
Seattle could lose just one starting defensive player — cornerback Byron Maxwell, who is an unrestricted free agent and might be hard for the team to keep.
The Seahawks are working on new deals for Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch, which would solidify the offense. Wilson seems likely to sign an extension that will make him among the highest-paid players in the NFL. Lynch could sign an extension that would assure he would be with the team another year or so beyond 2015 and at least quell the talk about his future for now.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll said that the loss could just be a bump in the road to even greater heights in future seasons.
“They’re a very young team that has a lot of future and a lot of hope, and we’re going all kinds of places and everybody knows that,” Carroll said.
Still, the stunning ending to the Super Bowl will take time to get over, players said as they cleared out lockers this week.
“It’s devastating,” tight end Tony Moeaki said. “Everyone is going to feel this for a little bit. Some guys will handle it longer than another guy, but I think once we get back OTAs or camp and stuff like that, we will start getting back to normal, just getting back in the swing of things.”
Exiting players got a last message from Carroll, who told the team to remain united as it deals with the aftermath of a shocking loss.
Players said that is what they planned to do.
“It’s difficult,” wide receiver Jermaine Kearse said. “It’s disappointing to go out like that, but we just have to stick together.”
–Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was officially introduced as coach of the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday. Speculation remains heavy that the Seahawks will name secondary coach Kris Richard as his replacement.
–CB Richard Sherman may not need Tommy John surgery to repair his injured left elbow, but he could be looking at a different procedure. Either way, it is expected he will be ready for the 2015 season.
–S Kam Chancellor will have his knee looked at to determine the extent of the injury he sustained on the Friday before the Super Bowl. Chancellor played through the injury.
–Kearse will be a restricted free agent this offseason but said he hopes to remain with the team.
–WR Doug Baldwin drew an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty after scoring a touchdown that put Seattle ahead 24-14 when he squatted as if going to the bathroom.
He was unapologetic about it when asked about the incident as the players cleared out their lockers.
“I was just out there having fun, enjoying the game of football,” he said. “The explanation, I don’t know. There’s no explanation. You play this game for so long, you go out there, you have fun. And I can get criticized all you want to — that’s fine. Everybody has their opinion. But in the moment, I was just having fun, and my teammates know that.”
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