Seahawks TE Graham refutes reports of discontent with role in offense

RENTON, Wash. Jimmy Graham smiled constantly and laughed easily as he met with Seattle media Friday, looking like anything but a picture of frustration, which a couple of national reports portrayed him as being earlier in the week.

“Yeah, I’ve been reading the same thing,” he said. “That’s a surprise to me. I’m really not sure where it came from.”

Where it came from, in part, is that Graham did not talk to reporters after the Seahawks’ first two games, losses at St. Louis and Green Bay. An NFL.com report made specific note of Graham not being available after the loss at Green Bay as a potential sign of his displeasure in the offense after he had just one catch in a 27-17 defeat.

Graham, though, said he was available.

“I mean, I was in there for the time I needed to be and then I went to the shower,” said Graham, who likely will meet with the media at large once a week during the season, which he did Friday.

“I’m really not sure where all of these articles started, especially since I said nothing to nobody. Usually, I figure to write stories you have to have some type of source, which should be me. And it certainly wasn’t.”

More than his media dealings, though, was that Graham often seemed invisible on the field Sunday, targeted just twice.

The one catch was a lower total than in all but three games when healthy since his rookie season in 2010.

Graham, though, repeated what coach Pete Carroll and teammates have said about him all week that his only frustration is in the Seahawks’ record.

“I like to win and I hate to lose, so frustration becomes because we are 0-2 and we are a lot better than that,” he said.

Graham caught six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown in the opener at St. Louis, and Graham said he is aware that his involvement can change week to week, especially playing now in a more run-oriented offense.

“I’m doing what is asked of me,” he said. “I know my opportunities are going to come, and I know my moments are going to come, and I know I’ll be ready when they do come my way.

“ ... And we have talked about it that this team runs the ball simple as that. We are not (passing) 60 times a game, and if we are then that means we are in trouble. So I’m just doing what is asked of me.”

Carroll said earlier in the week that four of the first five passing plays had Graham as the primary receiver (which included his only target in the first half, a deep pass down the sideline). Graham also was the intended receiver on a pass into the end zone in the third quarter. The play was blown dead due to a penalty. (The Seahawks scored on the next play, a pass to Fred Jackson.)

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said the Seahawks will continuously have to balance getting all its offensive skill players involved, including Graham.

“I don’t want to diminish that we do want to get Jimmy the ball,” Bevell said. “But we do have guys that can make plays all over. If you just force feed it, I think it can hurt your offense.”

Graham said he understands he is working in a different offense and with a different quarterback than in New Orleans. The Saints, for instance, passed 63 percent of the time last year, and the Seahawks were second-to-last in the NFL at 48.41 percent (though Seattle is up to 58 percent through two games this year).

“Obviously it is kind of constant growth (finding his role),” he said. “There are a lot of variables, and I know the most important thing isn’t about what my role is or what I’m doing out there but about wins.”

He said he is OK with blocking more. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Graham has been called on to block 44 percent of the time with the Seahawks compared with 28 percent during his New Orleans career.

“Yeah, you know I’m a tight end now,” he said. “I’m fulfilling that role, and it’s been something that people have said a lot about towards me because I was split out so much (in New Orleans) and playing so much receiver. I’m a tight end now. Definitely earning my stripes.”

And, he insists, doing so happily.

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