Is Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham frustrated?
“I’ve been reading the same thing,” Graham told reporters on Friday. “It’s a surprise to me. I’m not really sure where that came from.”
We know where it came from. Earlier this week, a reporter asked coach Pete Carroll whether Graham is frustrated.
“I think he is,” Carroll said. “I think he’s a competitor. He wants the ball. He wants to help us win, I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
It also came from Graham’s refusal to answer questions after Sunday night’s loss to the Packers.
For now, Graham sounds as if he’s trying to be patient.
“I’m doing what’s asked of me,” Graham said. “I know my opportunities are going to come. I know my moments are going to come. I know I’ll be ready when they do come my way. . . . This team runs the ball, simple as that. We’re not slinging the ball 60 times a game. If we are, it means that we’re in trouble. I’m just going to keep doing what’s asked of me.”
Part of the problem is the adjustment to a new quarterback.
"[O]bviously Drew [Brees] wasn’t running the read options,” Graham said. “If he’s in trouble, he was going to read me, and I was the option.”
Graham seems to hope Wilson eventually views his tight end as an option, even if it appears Graham is covered.
“I tell Russ every day, it don’t matter and sometimes just throw it because sometimes it just doesn’t matter,” Graham said. “That’s just chemistry and something that we’ve got to get comfortable with. Sometimes a guy, maybe some guys, are there and sometimes I’m going to make it happen.”
It’s clear that it’s not happening the way anyone envisioned, at least not yet. In time, it could. Or maybe it simply won’t happen because maybe Graham was never going to be a fit with what the Seahawks do.