Wilson says Seattle could give Antonio Brown chance to grow

Russell Wilson leads the NFL in touchdown passes, is leading the top scoring offense in the league and still wants more.

So if Antonio Brown becomes available once his current NFL suspension ends, Wilson is all for the Seattle Seahawks bringing him in.

“I think that he’s always been a special player in terms of on the field,” Wilson said Thursday. “The reality is with Antonio he’s had some tough moments in his life, especially as of late, and I think he’s gone through a lot of things that he wishes he could take back and just not say or whatever it may be. But I think that he’s a special player for sure.”

While the Seahawks are the last unbeaten team in the NFC heading into Sunday’s matchup at division foe Arizona, much of the focus the past couple of days has been on a player who is not even on their roster.

ESPN reported Wednesday that Seattle was interested in potentially signing Brown once his current eight-game suspension expires. Brown could still face additional punishment from the league as well.

Head coach Pete Carroll didn’t dismiss Seattle’s interest on Wednesday and Wilson didn’t a day later. Wilson said Brown has “obviously made some mistakes along the way,” but that Seattle’s culture could be place for him to restart his career if given the opportunity.

Wilson also stressed he has no idea how serious the Seahawks' interest may be.

“With how our culture is, with coach Carroll, I think with the teammates that we have, the men that we have, I think if he does play football, I think this is a great place, if he does play again,” Wilson said. “I think this is a place that he’ll grow a lot as a man, too. We’re going to try and help anybody that walks into this locker room.”

Asked if Seattle needed to add a player like Brown, Wilson referenced the Kansas City Chiefs and their recent addition of Le’Veon Bell to one of the top offenses in the league. Seattle enters the week ranked fourth in passing and is averaging 33.8 points per game. Wide receiver DK Metcalf leads the league in yards per catch at 22.5, yet Wilson believes there’s more that can be unlocked.

“I think we’ve been great all year,” Wilson said. “You’re always trying to look to see how can we get better. How can we get better in every way? There’s more touchdowns. What can we do?”

SCHEDULE SWITCH

Seattle suddenly got an extra prime-time game when the NFL flexed Sunday’s matchup against Arizona to a night game on NBC. The move was made after the Las Vegas Raiders placed five more players on the COVID-19/reserve list Thursday. The NFL decided to move the Raiders game against the Buccaneers scheduled for Sunday night into the afternoon window out of an “abundance of caution” to make sure a game would be available for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”

NO FANS

Seattle announced Thursday that it will not have fans in attendance for the Nov. 1 home game against San Francisco. The Seahawks earlier in the year announced the first three home games would be without fans, but had not made decisions beyond their Oct. 11 win over Minnesota.

The Seahawks said they remain hopeful conditions with the COVID-19 pandemic will improve as the season moves forward.

Image credits: AP