A press conference immediately following a Super Bowl victory parade is not typically a bastion for hard news.
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Still, Pete Carroll took the opportunity to go to bat for Russell Wilson, the quarterback who incurred his fair share of criticism leading up to the Seahawks' blowout victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
"There was a lot of concern about our offense and Russell's performance and all that, and I would continue to tell you that he was playing well within what we were expecting in games," the coach said Wednesday. "I thought there's always more production, there's always more yards out there of course, and all of that.
"But it was just exquisite effort from the quarterback," Carroll added. " ... We go into this season, this next season, this offseason, and my hopes are that he's really going to take another big step forward and he's going to continue to get better."
It should be pointed out that Wilson's struggles in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII were not a fabrication of the media. He had five touchdown passes and four turnovers in six games as Seattle leaned hard on its defense and Marshawn Lynch to get through the NFC playoffs.
Carroll sounds confident Wilson will be able to shoulder the load.
*"The Around The League Podcast" recapped Super Bowl XLVIII live from MetLife Stadium right after the game. *
