New colors, new coach … same ol’ Russell Wilson.
Win or lose, Wilson has always remained fervently, unfailingly positive.
That didn’t change after his first game as the Denver Broncos’ quarterback ended in a bizarre 17-16 loss in his awkward return to Seattle on Monday night before a packed house at Lumen Field.
Seahawks fans booed Wilson during pregame warmups.
They booed him when he jogged onto the field with teammates a few minutes before kickoff.
They booed him every time the Denver offense took the field.
And then they chanted the name of his replacement, Geno Smith, again and again.
Through it all, Wilson insisted he wasn’t fazed on the field Monday night.
“I couldn’t have been more locked in,” he said.
And he wasn’t ready to dwell in the moments after his disappointing debut for Denver.
“More than anything else for me, personally, I didn’t waver,” he said. “They may cheer for you. They may boo you. They’ll love you one day and hate you the next. That’s sports. But at the end of the day I’m gonna keep competing, I’m going to keep battling.”
Wilson and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll — who won 113 games together over the past decade, including a Super Bowl — exchanged a brief hug at midfield after the game.
“I gave everything I had every day here. Every day,” Wilson said. “And anybody who says anything else, they’re completely wrong.”
Wilson played well Monday night. Just not quite good enough to overcome two lost fumbles from Denver running backs at the goal line.
Wilson completed 29 of 42 passes for 340 yards with one touchdown, but he couldn’t get the Broncos in the end zone when they needed it.
Three times the Broncos drove inside the Seattle 3-yard line in the second half, and all they had to show for it were three points.
Wilson didn’t question the decision — at least not publicly — by Denver coach Nathaniel Hackett, coaching his first NFL game, to try for a 64-yard field goal in the closing seconds instead of putting the ball in Wilson’s hands on fourth-and-five.
Predictably, Brandon McManus’ 64-yard attempt was no good. It would have matched the second-longest field goal in NFL history.
“I believe in coach Hackett. I believe in what we’re doing. I believe in everything,” Wilson said. “Any time you can try to make a play on fourth-and-five, that’s great too. But, also, I don’t think it was the wrong decision. … If we were in that situation again, I wouldn’t doubt what he decided.”
Wilson closed his postgame news conference with more optimistic tones.
“This was a special game,” he said, “just because I got to see and play against some of my closest friends and just be around them and just be in this stadium again. This stadium has been special for me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without this place, so I’m grateful for that.
“… On the other end of it, though, I didn’t just play for this one game. I’ve got a bigger mission on hand. This was just step one. We’ve got 16 more steps to go … and that’s what I’m looking forward to. We’ve got a great football team and we’re going to do some special things this year.”