Jimmy Graham says he’s not ticked with how Seahawks have used him and that such reports are bogus; Marshawn Lynch “questionable” for Sunday

Jimmy Graham is not “p****d off” with how he’s been used so far with the Seahawks, as a national internet report asserted this week.

That’s what the start tight end himself said following practice on Friday, five days after the most prolific pass-catching tight end in the NFL since 2011 had one catch and only two targets in Seattle’s 27-17 loss at Green Bay.

I started off a press conference with Graham saying to him light-heartedly: “OK, tell us how mad you are and frustrated you are.”

Graham laughed.

"Yeah, I’ve been reading the same thing. That’s a surprise to me. I’m not really sure where that came from,” said the $40 million tight end for whom Seattle traded two-time Pro Bowl center Max Unger and a first-round draft choice to New Orleans in March.

That was a reference to this report from Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman this week, which included that Graham “hates what’s happening in Seattle...I’ve had several Seattle players tell me this. He is telling players, ‘Why did you bring me here if this is how you are going to treat me?’”

A second report from NFL Network’s Mike Silver out of the visiting locker room at Green Bay last week surmised Graham must be unhappy.

So I asked him why he hasn’t been available to comment following the games at St. Louis -- when he had six catches and a touchdown in his Seattle debut -- and Green Bay in the times I and my beat-writer colleagues have been in those visiting locker rooms the last two weeks.

"I mean I was in there, you know, for the time I needed to be. And then I went to the shower,” he said.

Then Graham made an excellent point.

“But I’m not really sure where all these articles started. You know, especially since I said nothing to nobody,” he said, alluding to the fact no outlet has quoted him following either game. “Usually, I figure to write stories you’ve got to have some kind of source – which should be me. And this certainly wasn’t.”

He did say he was indeed frustrated about one giant issue entering Sunday’s home opener against Chicago.

"You know, I like to win, and I hate to lose. So frustration comes because we are 0-2,” Graham said, “and we are a lot better than that."

On his lower numbers through two games -- seven catches in 10 targets for a guy who has averaged just under six receptions per game over 63 regular-season contests with the Saints the previous four seasons -- Graham said: "You know, I’m doing what’s asked of me. I know my opportunities are going to come, and I know my moments are going to come. And I KNOW I’m going to be ready when they do come my way. And, you know, even leading up to that question, we’ve talked about it: This team runs the ball. Simple as that. We are not slingin’ the ball 60 times a game. And if we are, that means we’re in trouble. So I’m going to keep doing what’s asked of me."

When asked how he thinks the adjustment period in going in this new role in what for him is a new, run-first offense featuring Marshawn Lynch’s power rushes and Russell Wilson’s dashes, Graham said: “I think, obviously, it’s kind of a constant growth. There are a lot of variables. The most important thing isn’t what my role is or what I’m doing out there. It’s about wins. That’s all we’re concerned about.

“What keeps me up Sunday night, Monday night, isn’t if I got a pass. It’s if we won or not.”

Whatever. Bottom line is: Expect many more targets of and catches by Graham Sunday against the Bears, eight days after that in the Seahawks’ Monday night home game against Detroit and beyond.

CHANCELLOR LIKELY TO PLAY, POSSIBLY THE ENTIRE GAME

To no one’s surprise, coach Pete Carroll said “we are planning on” activating Kam Chancellor from the exempt list to play Sunday. The team makes make that move onto the active roster by 1:25 p.m. Saturday, 24 hours before kickoff.

Chancellor didn’t end his 54-day holdout on Wednesday to sit out a third consecutive game. He’ll start at strong safety.

Carroll said "it's not unrealistic" to think Chancellor could play four quarters against Chicago. He reported six pounds under his listed playing weight of 232 pounds with what Carroll said was six percent body fat. The coach says the team must now decide whether Chancellor playing the entire game in his first action since the Super Bowl Feb. 1 is the right thing to do.

The Seahawks will need to drop someone from the 53-man roster to make room for Chancellor so he can play.

LYNCH QUESTIONABLE -- WHICH USUALLY MEANS “PLAYING”

Here is the official injury report for Sunday’s 1:25 p.m. game:

Lynch’s calf injury is new as of a couple days ago. He missed one drive in the third quarter last weekend at Green Bay, with Thomas Rawls running for him. Carroll said Monday that was because Lynch was complaining of neck pain. A team doctor checked him out on the Seahawks’ sideline at Lambeau Field, then Lynch returned for the following drive and finished the game.

Carroll said Lynch’s availability for Sunday will be a game-time decision.

During the Carroll/John Schneider regime, almost every time a player has been listed as questionable he has played in that game.

▪ Carroll said backup CB Tharold Simon dislocated his toe, apparently a few weeks ago, and that’s why he won’t play Sunday after making his season debut against the Packers. Carroll said he expects Simon to be able to play against Detroit on Oct. 5.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Jimmy Graham says he’s not ticked with how Seahawks have used him and that such reports are bogus; Marshawn Lynch “questionable” for Sunday."