IRVING – As he answered questions from media members Monday morning at Valley Ranch, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett spent very little time talking about the season opening victory over the New York Giants.
"We're well into Seattle right now," Garrett said. "We're on to the next one. We cleaned up the Giant game on Friday with our players. We're focused on Seattle. We'll have a Seattle practice this morning."
A "Seattle practice" likely included game-planning for Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson. Seattle signed free agent quarterback Matt Flynn to a three-year, $26 million deal in March and drafted Wilson in the third round in April.
Wilson had a good career at North Carolina State before transferring to Wisconsin for his senior season. Although Wilson had an outstanding year [33 touchdown passes, four interceptions and six rushing scores] and guided the Badgers to the Rose Bowl, he fell to the third round largely because of his height. Wilson is listed at 5-11.
But an impressive preseason led to Wilson earning the starting job over Flynn. Wilson played in all four preseason games, completing 40-of-63 passes for 536 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed 10 times for 150 yards and a score.
"We were really impressed by him coming out of school," Garrett said. "He had a really, really productive college career. He just has a really good feel for playing the game and playing the quarterback position. It's amazing that he went in there and took that starting job. That's a hard thing for a rookie to do in the NFL. He's been impressive through the preseason and impressive in the ballgame [Sunday]."
Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr talked about what he saw from the rookie when he recently watched film.
"He's a rookie quarterback but he has a lot of savvy," Carr said Monday. "From just looking on film, if you didn't know he was looking at you, you couldn't tell he was a rookie quarterback. He handles himself well in the pocket. When he gets outside the pocket, he keeps his poise and gets the ball down the field."
