Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin didn’t receive quite as much fanfare during his sophomore season in Seattle. Part of that was the burden of his new role – Griffin was switched to left cornerback following the release of longtime All-Pro veteran Richard Sherman. Another part of that, at least according to Griffin, was the result of his focus on the wrong things.

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“I feel like last year I was so big on, ‘I’ve got to get this many picks or this many pass breakups’,” the former third-round pick told Bob, Groz and Tom during an interview with 710 ESPN Seattle Tuesday. “I felt like the maturity level of it, I wasn’t thinking the correct way.”

It’s not that Griffin had a bad year. In his first season as a full-time starter, he had two interceptions, eight passes defended, and 61 combined tackles.

“This year when it comes to setting goals, it’s just not about the specific stats that I want,” Griffin explained. “It’s, first off, just becoming a better teammate, a better player, and just correcting myself more as a person, as a man. And helping this team win ball games no matter what it is or what they need me to do. If I can help us win ballgames and play my part, everything else — the accolades and the stats — will come along with it. That’s just the maturity level growing and being more of a vet and going on through this league, the years I’ve been playing, it’s starting to finally click for me.”

After giving himself two weeks to recover from a foot injury after the end of the season, Griffin started working on trimming down. He estimates he’s lost 12 pounds from his playing weight, which has made it easier to run and break. It’s all part of a goal toward improvement in 2019.

“If I’m critiquing myself the hardest I can, (2018) was a D, a D-plus for me,” Griffin said. “They wanted me to be the next person up… and I feel like it was just average, and I can’t be that average guy on this team. Being at that number one cornerback position, they need me to make those splash plays and count on me when it counts the most, and that’s the part I need to hold myself (accountable) about because that’s the person I have to be. The best thing about that is I can only go up from here. I’m taking it upon myself to make this a great year.”

Listen to Griffin’s full interview in the audio clip embedded above, or on Bob, Groz and Tom’s podcast page here (download available).

Listen to the Bob, Groz and Tom Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on 710 ESPN Seattle. Subscribe to the podcast here.