Rise and Shine: D'Wayne Eskridge Adjusting to Early Wake-Up Calls, Working Out With Russell Wilson
Throughout his nine-year NFL career, Russell Wilson has built a reputation for being one of the first players at the Seahawks facility and one of the last to leave. After all, his tireless work ethic on the field and in meeting rooms spawned the #NoTimeForSleep hashtag on Twitter.
Keeping that in mind, it shouldn't come as a surprise Wilson consistently arrives at the VMAC before 6 AM every day during training camp to get extra work on the field. After spending the first three weeks of training camp on the PUP list with a toe injury, rookie receiver D'Wayne Eskridge has been joining the star quarterback bright and early in order to play catch-up before the start of the regular season.
“It’s what I got to do. It hurts to get up that early,’’ Eskridge said. “But it’s worth it in the long run.”
According to Eskridge, he has been setting his alarm for 5:15 AM. Trying to get up that early isn't easy, but it must be done in order to ensure he gets to the facility before 6 AM to work out with Wilson, who has been pleased with what he's seen thus far from the speedy receiver.
"Every morning we get out here, and we walk on the field at 5:45, 6:00 and me and him just go through plays for 45 minutes to an hour," Wilson said. "There’s still dew on the grass, but it’s good to go through the plays and really visualize it. To go through everything mentally and focus on it."
Wilson has always been a believer in visualizing success. It's one of the perks of being at the facility just as the sun rises above the horizon. With only a few other players waking up and arriving that early, he appreciates the quiet time to run through plays and fine tune his craft.
For Eskridge, the extra reps have been invaluable after being unable to practice for most of camp, providing an opportunity for him to work with Wilson on receiver tendencies, run plays on air, and learning signals.
“It’s been great," Eskridge commented. "Me and him are building our relationship. We come here as soon as the sun comes up, so we’re building our relationship and building a relationship wide receiver to quarterback as well.”
Eskridge told reporters following Thursday's practice that he had been dealing with inflammation in his big toe since rookie minicamp. With the injury progressively getting worse, the Seahawks opted to sit him out during OTAs and mandatory minicamp in June and even after a six-week break before training camp, he wasn't able to pass his physical when he reported last month.
To help him get back on the field, Eskridge worked with Seattle's equipment staff to make modifications to things such as shoe style, shoe size, and sock combinations to prevent his foot from slipping inside of his shoe and further aggravating the injury. He ramped up his running in recent weeks without any discomfort, paving the way for him to finally be activated from the PUP list earlier this week.
After such a long layoff to start his rookie season, Eskridge admitted he felt some pressure trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible. But teammates and coaches have been supportive of him throughout the process, encouraging him as he works his way back from the injury and providing some peace of mind.
As for learning the offense, while Wilson had to redirect him to a different spot in the formation a couple of times before the snap on Thursday, Eskridge indicated he feels comfortable with coordinator Shane Waldron's offense and looked the part in Thursday's practice.
Showcasing his electric speed and playmaking ability in front of fans while seeing a slight uptick in workload, Eskridge caught a quick bubble screen from Wilson and promptly exploded upfield. Finding his way to the sideline, he gained 30 yards before a quick whistle was blown to rule the play dead. He later recorded a catch on a slant and picked up close to 10 yards after the catch in the red zone.
Proclaiming himself 100 percent healthy, Eskridge only expects to get better as the Seahawks continue to give him more and more reps and he continues to build a rapport with Wilson through their early morning sessions. With the toe injury behind him, he remains hopeful he will be able to play in the preseason finale against the Chargers and be ready to hit the ground running when the regular season begins.
“It feels great. It feels great to be a part of the team again, actually going out there and going to war on a day-to-day basis with my teammates. So, I’m just happy to be healthy enough to be back out there again.”
