Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf experienced a garbage-time ejection on Sunday at Green Bay. On Thursday, Metcalf addressed whether he’ll avoid similar outcomes in the future.
Put simply, he may not.
“Me and Pete [Carroll] have talked like three times, I think I have had an outburst three times this year, so we have talked three times and the conversation has always gotten better,” Metcalf told reporters. “I’m a passionate player and I’m never going to back down from anything. He understands that but at the same time, I’m starting to become a leader on this team. I have to grow up and continue to get better. I know that I’m still a work in progress. I don’t like to use my age as an excuse, but sometimes I forget that I’m 23 years old. I have to continue to grow each day and the mistakes are going to get fixed.”
Metcalf said he has talked to linebacker Bobby Wagner, who told Metcalf “you’re not the first person to do this on multiple occasions.” Reiterated Metcalf: “I have to grow up, assume my role as a leader on this team, and look at myself in that aspect.”
On whether the tension was building throughout the game, Metcalf was blunt: “I wouldn’t say building, but I’m not going to back down from anything. I felt I was being challenged and growing up is realizing that challenge and making the best decision for the team, not myself. Yes, it was brewing throughout the game, but some other factors led into that. . . . I’ve been doing it, but I’m just under a tighter microscope right now. Everybody is watching me to see what I do and how I would react. I’m taking that into account every time I’m going into a game or preparing for a week where I’m being looked at. It’s just another challenge that I have to overcome.”
The reality is that, if defenders think there’s a chance they can bait Metcalf into reacting, they’ll keep trying. Quarterback Russell Wilson realizes this.
“I think as he continues to play the game, everybody is going to challenge him because he’s DK, and that’s just how it is,” Wilson told reporters on Thursday. “He’s a star. I think that as you go throughout every day, every week, knowing that’s going to be team’s approaches. We have great confidence in who he is, the person that he is. There’s nobody better than DK in terms of his work ethic. There’s nobody better in terms of a great teammate. He’s so focused on others, and he works his butt off in the weight room, he works his butt off in the film room. He’s there early, he leaves late. I have no doubt about DK Metcalf. I have all the belief in the world of who he is and where he’s going to go throughout his career.”
Wilson’s right in his assessment of Metcalf, but the next challenge clearly becomes to mature to the point where the little things that defensive backs will say and do to get under his skin simply won’t register.
