“Honestly, I just tackle people, try to be the best version of myself, try to help this team out the best that I can,” Wagner said.
Wagner also isn’t interested in hyping up a return to Los Angeles after spending the 2022 season with the Rams, the one year he spent away from the Seahawks before returning to Seattle this offseason. If anything, that trip to L.A. holds extra significance because it is close to home for the Southern California native.
“It was just one year,” he said of facing the Rams in L.A. “So it kind of just brings me back to what it was before, going back, being able to play at home. It’s a big game and it’s the next game. It should be fun.”
But even if Wagner isn’t focused on his individual achievements this year, his play is definitely getting noticed by teammates and coaches.
“He’s doing great,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “The way we play him and the demands of the position really suit him well. The best we’ve ever done for him. We’re trying to maximize everything that he brings. He’s tackling well, really solid tackler, his pass coverage stuff and his own stuff has really been nice. He’s doing great. Not to even mention all of the other things that he brings, it’s the leadership, the direction, the toughness and all of that stuff.”
And Wagner is doing what he’s doing this season while being an every-down player at 33 years old, something that was hardly a given when the Seahawks brought him back this year. Wagner has played every defensive snap in seven of nine games, only coming out late in the game in Seattle’s Week 4 win over the Giants, and in the Week 9 loss in Baltimore.
