Pete Carroll’s relationship with Russell Wilson amid Seahawks slide: ‘Best it’s ever been’

For those watching from the outside, about the only thing to be thankful for about this sunken Seahawks season is only seven games remain in it.

Yet the Seahawks players and coaches say they are thankful this holiday for far more than meets the eye — and, let’s be real, 3-7 doesn’t meet the eye all that well.

“Yeah, man. It’s Thanksgiving week, man. Y’all better be thankful for something, man,” defensive back Ryan Neal said. “Shoot, it’s quiet as a church mouse in here.”

Then again, being in last place this time of year does tend to dampen enthusiasm.

Yet Pete Carroll is grateful for the most important relationship relating to the Seahawks for beyond this seemingly lost 2021: the coach’s with Russell Wilson.

“The best it’s ever been, by far,” Carroll said Wednesday, five days before Seattle tries to win for only the second time in seven games, Monday night at Washington (4-6).

The 70-year-old coach says his bond with his 32-year-old franchise quarterback strengthened this past offseason. That was after Wilson stated his frustrations with getting hit too much behind his offensive line, then was the center of a soap opera that lasted through the spring. It included his agent telling ESPN the four teams Wilson would approve a trade to, should the Seahawks want to trade him.

They didn’t. And they don’t.

“We’ve been closer because of all that happened in the offseason we went through and the time we spent together,” Carroll said Wednesday. “It’s as connected as it’s ever been.

“It’s a natural thing when you spend that much time and you’re working stuff together that you grow together. I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful for the relationship and helping him.”

Wilson’s never had a calendar year like this one.

After Carroll fired Brian Schottenheimer in January in a move Wilson did not support, then the drama of the offseason, Wilson had to learn a new offense and first-time play caller with Shane Waldron arriving. Just as Wilson was settling into those schemes, he tore a tendon and dislocated and broke bones in the middle finger of his throwing hand Oct. 7 in Seattle’s loss to the Rams. He missed the first three games of his 10-year career. The injury and surgery on his right hand ended his streak of 165 consecutive games played, the sixth-longest in NFL history.

He returned in just over a month, about half the time the surgeon estimated he might miss. In his first game back, Wilson’s passes and decisions were shaky and he threw two interceptions into the end zone and got shut out for the first time in his career, 17-0 at Green Bay.

Last weekend he again struggled with long passes and choices. Arizona, without Kyler Murray, beat him and the Seahawks 23-13.

He’s a 35% passer on third downs this season, THE problem area for Seattle’s offense. The Seahawks are 30th in the NFL in third-down conversation rate, just 32.4%. Only winless Detroit and two-win Jacksonville have been worse.

“He just went through one of the most difficult things he’s ever faced in his career,” Carroll said of Wilson and his injury. “(It’s been gratifying) to make it through that one step at a time every day and stay in touch. To see him handle it and all that and now he’s ready to go — I’m a little bit frustrated that we didn’t jump back in at a high level — but we’re cranked to turn.

“Looking forward to it.”

Carroll last year signed an extension with the Seahawks to lead them and be their top football authority through 2025. Does this 3-7 start to a season change the coach’s belief in what direction the team is headed and how it’s built for future seasons?

“Not other than just buckle down and keep grinding and keep going,” Carroll said. “That’s what’s obvious, because that’s what’s at hand right now. This time of year, in any season, I’m not thinking about down the road, the future, or any of that kind of stuff. That’s not what’s in my mind, at all. It’s really just the next day that we have and the opportunity that we have in that game that weekend.

“I’m trying to live that so that I can demonstrate that for our guys and be a good example and illustration for that. There’s no place really for that (future talk).”

More specifically to the point of Wilson and whether he will want to stay with Seattle after this season: Carroll was asked if he worries how the Seahawks being 3-7 may affect the $140 million quarterback who is under contract through 2023, and Wilson’s desire to remain with the team.

“I’m looking into how a 7-0 finish is going to affect all of us, more so,” Carroll said.

Sunday, following his latest subpar day in the Seahawks’ home loss to the Cardinals, Wilson was asked the same question: Given how frustrated you were in the offseason and how you went about expressing that, how does starting 3-7 impact your future in Seattle beyond 2021?

“It doesn’t impact any of my thoughts, at all,” Wilson said. “All I think about is right now what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it.

“I love this team. I love this organization. I love being here.

“Like I said, I like the challenge. I’m looking forward that it, where it’s going to be a great story.

“Go Hawks.”