Heading into this season, the media had us going 0-16. No one in the locker room believed that. We ended up winning five games and I don't think any of the guys on the team were pleased with just winning five game or were complacent with winning five games. These guys are competitive. We want to win. It is really important to have that mindset and, most importantly, to have everyone on the team have that mindset. That's what you can see in this team.
We have a mental toughness. This was a roller coaster season, but this team stayed mentally tough. We started 0-2 and then put together three wins in a row and then had some back-to-back losses. Being able to go through adversity while staying together as one unit, it's very telling. That's something that will definitely benefit us in the long run and help us build into something.
When I first got to Seattle, we were very young. We had to go through the same growing pains that we are going through now. But, it's important to trust the process and put in the work. We have the offseason ahead of us to really make some moves in our own personal game and as a team. It is a good opportunity for us to take this in stride and go into the offseason with confidence to prepare ourselves for next season and put ourselves in the best position to win.
People like to bring up my stats this season. They call it a "career season." It might have been career highs but it doesn't feel that great to me. I want to win football games. That's all that matters. Yes, I have pride in my individual work and can build off this season but, at the end of the day, my focus is to win as many football games as we can.
The next step for me is to continue to get better. I like to say you're either competing or you're not and I have the offseason to compete and improve my game in all different aspects. My mindset is to attack this season as if I were coming off career lows. As a team, we all need to think that way. We need to go into the offseason with a championship mindset. We will prepare that way so that when we come back, we can continue to grow. Last season, we laid the foundation. Now, it's time to build.
