Seattle Seahawks offense hoping to reclaim old work ethic

RENTON, Wash. -- Despite being without Marshawn Lynch and Jimmy Graham for significant stretches last season, the offense of the Seattle Seahawks exploded the second half of the year.

Russell Wilson set several team and NFL records last season, receiver Doug Baldwin set franchise receiving records and rookies Thomas Rawls and Tyler Lockett emerged as potential stars for the future.

Baldwin says the key to accomplishing similar feats this season rests on the team's ability to employ the same work ethic that got them there in the first place.

"The first thing is we have to recapture our work ethic," Baldwin said. "That's what we talk about when we get back in OTAs and minicamp, we have to recapture our work ethic. That's what it comes down to. We can't worry about what happened in the past. We've got to focus on the now and the only way we can have sustaining success is if we recapture our work ethic and continue to move forward."

Wilson threw 25 touchdowns with just two interceptions over the final eight games of the season. He became the first quarterback in league history to throw at least three touchdown passes in five straight games. Wilson was the first Seattle quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season and his 34 touchdown passes were most in team history.

Baldwin set a franchise record with 14 receiving touchdowns and posted just the fifth season in team history with at least 1,000 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns, joining Steve Largent and Joey Galloway.

Rawls and Graham are expected to be back in time for the start of the regular season. Paul Richardson appears back to full strength after missing all but one game last season due to knee and hamstring injuries. And Seattle has three new running backs to pair with Rawls in hopes of replacing Lynch in the backfield.

On a Pete Carroll led football team, optimism always abounds and Baldwin is eager to get the season under way.

"Excited about this season," Baldwin said. "Of course, we've got to take it one day at a time. We've still got a lot of work to do to get ready for the season. We're looking forward. We don't look back. We've got to focus on the task at hand rather than what happened in the past. We're going to move forward."