Aug. 19—RENTON — A question about the 2023 NFL draft leads to Seahawks tight end Brady Russell offering his general outlook on life.

“I’m more of a set-expectations-low kind of person,” he says with a smile. “And then once you exceed them you are more excited.”

Those expectations weren’t met or even exceeded that weekend as Russell went undrafted, despite having been told by a few teams he might go in the later rounds.

But it might be fair to say his expectations have been met or exceeded since then.

After working his way onto the Eagles’ practice squad last year, he was signed to Seattle’s 53-man roster in September when the Seahawks needed some tight end and special teams depth in the wake of a Week 2 injury to Will Dissly.

Russell responded by playing the second-most special teams snaps of anyone on the Seahawks in 2023.

That led to him deciding that this year he wanted to show he could be more than just a special-teams player and help out on offense, as well.

“My goal coming into this season was to be able to establish a role that’s specifically Brady Russell’s role and what he can do in this offense,” he said.

Russell appears on his way to doing just that, working consistently as the third tight end in training camp behind veterans Noah Fant and Pharaoh Brown, and ahead of fourth-round pick AJ Barner.

But Monday, with Fant and Brown out with injuries, Russell spent practice working with the starters.

And he could stay there a little while.

Fant, who has been dealing with a foot injury, missed a joint practice against Tennessee on Thursday and was out again on Monday.

So too was Brown, who was carted off the field during Thursday’s practice in Nashville with a foot injury.

Coach Mike Macdonald said he had no specific update on either player Monday.

The word around the team, though, is that there is realistic hope Fant will back for Week 1.

But Brown posted on Instagram Monday that he is in Austin, Texas, getting a second opinion of an injury that ESPN reported is a strain.

Brown posted video of himself still on crutches but getting ready to ditch them and then “get some therapy work, get this healing process started so I can be back out there Week 1. That’s the goal.”

The team’s depth issues don’t stop there as former UW standout Jack Westover again sat out on Monday due to a hamstring issue, with no specific ETA for his return.

That led Seattle to sign free agent tight ends Devon Garrison and Michael Ezeike to give them five healthy players at the position along with Russell, Barner and veteran Tyler Mabry.

Barner, the 121st overall pick out of Michigan, has also been using the increased snaps to appear to be making more of an impact of late.

But the big riser has been Russell, who appeared just about a lock to make the team heading into camp due to his special teams ability, but now could be finding a role as a regular in the tight end rotation, as well.

Russell, who played at Colorado from 2018-22, is tied for the lead in receptions for the Seahawks in the preseason with five for 47 yards and a TD.

He also has been used as a blocker on 24 of his 51 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, which has given him an overall grade of 88.7, third-best of any player on the team.

He had two catches for 22 yards in Saturday’s 16-15 loss at Tennessee, including a diving grab on the sideline that set up a last-play field goal in the first half, then another reception on the final offensive possession of the game that set up a go-ahead field goal.

“Talk about a guy that just forces his way onto the field,” Macdonald said Monday.

Macdonald said he was impressed Russell was able to bounce back from dropping a pass in the second quarter on a play that was initially ruled a catch before being overturned to then make the two plays later.

“Anytime you get more reps, especially you when kind of club up there with the ones and show what you can do, those are valuable reps,” he said. “Treat them like gold and take advantage of them and Brady has done that, so we expect him to keep doing it.”

It’s a far cry from where Russell was a year ago this time when he was just hoping to hang on in any way with the Eagles.

After being waived at the roster cutdown he was re-signed to the practice squad.

He recalled Monday how he was in the Eagles’ locker room preparing for another practice third week of the season when his phone rang.

“I was in the bathroom and got a call from Pete Carroll and he says, ‘Hey, you good to play Sunday,?’ ” he said. “I said, ‘Absolutely, what do I do next?’ And I was on a plane the next morning.”

Signed to Seattle’s 53-man roster on Sept. 20 he played 21 snaps on special teams four days later in a win over Carolina. His seven special teams tackles were sixth on the team but he only played 16 on offense as the Seahawks had not only Fant but also Dissly and Colby Parkinson to handle most of the tight end work.

But that may change this year as Russell continues to show he can handle an offensive role, as well.

“Hopefully I’m doing that,” he said. “We won’t really know until we start playing in the regular season but I feel confident in the foot I’ve put forward.”

It would prove something not only to the teams that passed him up in the draft, but also his kindergarten teacher in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Russell comes from a long line of football players, notably his uncle, Matt, who was an All-American linebacker at Colorado under Rick Neuheisel before playing three years in the NFL.

Brady Russell said from as long as he could remember he wanted to follow in their footsteps.

“We were doing Valentine’s Day cards and I was having trouble cutting out the hearts, so I told my kindergarten teacher that I was made for football and nothing else,” he said. “She was real upset about that and called my mom and it was a whole ordeal. But I think that was the moment I realized I was only going to play football. That was all I had in me.”