Early this month, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was saying that any questions about benching Russell Wilson for Matt Flynn were moot because Flynn wasn’t ready to play because of a sore elbow. Now Carroll says Flynn is ready. But he’s sticking with Wilson anyway.
“He’s ready to play, he’s ready to go, but he’s never had a chance to practice on a full scale where he’s taken all the reps,” Caroll said of Flynn on WEEI, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “He had an elbow that was just sore coming through the third week of preseason, and so we started to count his strokes and make sure we gave him a chance to get back.”
Flynn being ready, however, doesn’t mean the Seahawks are ready to give him a chance to unseat Wilson. Carroll said the Seahawks’ priority is to give Wilson all the practice reps he needs.
“Russell emerged as the starter,” Carroll said. “And Russell needs every snap.”
Wilson has averaged only 163 passing yards a game so far in his rookie season, with just five touchdown passes and six interceptions. So it’s easy to see why Carroll thinks Wilson needs every snap. But from everything Carroll says, he has made his decision to give Wilson every snap, and to keep Flynn on the bench.