Blitz
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- Mar 20, 2019
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photo courtesy Seattle Seahawks
A grizzled 35-year old veteran tight end such as Greg Olsen could normally expect an NFL training camp experience to be one of workload management in an effort to preserve as much as possible for Week 1 of the season.
But for a myriad of reasons, that isn’t the case for Olsen as he looks to acclimate to a new team in Seattle without the benefit of a normal offseason to serve as the springboard into camp. Instead, Olsen is gladly taking more snaps in practice than he’d become used to with the Carolina Panthers as he works to build chemistry with new quarterback Russell Wilson with the Seahawks.
“Typically in training camp, especially as I’ve gotten older, we were always very selective with the plays,” Olsen said on Tuesday. “If it was a pass or a look I needed to get in the run game or pass protection, I was always in there to get it. But I didn’t take the extra stuff and here I find myself – when you’re trying to learn a new system – I took for granted all the little things that I just came to know in my time in Carolina. There’s things that the first time I do them here is the only time I’ve ever done them or it’s done a little bit differently than I had done in the past.
“So every rep whether it’s a walkthrough or a jog through practice or full speed team is so valuable and finding that balance between, you can’t take 80 plays every day, but you need all those reps. You need to see things. You need to mess things up. You need to hear Russ say ‘hey, I was thinking you were going to go flatter there.’ You can only gain the real intricacies of playing by playing. You can study the playbook all you want and you can ask as many questions, but until you’re out there out of the field doing it, that’s the only way is to mess it up, or do it right and cement and then learn from it.
“So that’s definitely been kind of unique, chomping at the bit to kind of get every rep in practice while also realizing I’m not 21 anymore where you can just go for days. But it’s been a fun challenge. I’ve really enjoyed it and so far it’s gone pretty well.”
Olsen said that while offenses can use different terminology and words for their varying playbooks, most of the schemes run across the league are similar. It’s in the details and the adjustments where the differentiation lies and finding footing with Wilson and new teammates on those details is the challenge he has to solve before the start of the season.
“I think the personal stuff, on the field especially, is really the part that just takes reps. It just takes time,” Olsen said. “There’s so much about bringing those pieces of paper, bringing those plays on paper to life that goes beyond anything you can note down in a notebook. … There’s a lot of those things that I’m adjusting to out here. And a lot of the things they do out here and great and are new for me but are things that I’m excited about doing. But there is a learning curve to that.”