Deon Butler's Rookie Diary: Ready for the holidays

Deon Butler is coming off the most active game of his rookie season. Sadly, it occurred during the Seahawks' worst loss of the year, a 34-7 defeat at Houston. Butler caught three passes, was targeted several more times and even had a special-teams tackle.

Now, as it turns out, the Seahawks were fortunate he played well last week. With receiver Nate Burleson out with a high ankle sprain, Butler now moves from the No. 4 to No. 3 receiver role and will be depended upon to produce.

In this installment of his weekly rookie diary, Butler talks about taking on that greater responsibility, shopping for Christmas and making a special teams play.

'I was struggling a little bit, but I got him down!'

"I had my first tackle on a punt return last week against Houston. That one, that was good. I couldn't believe that. I couldn't believe (Texans punt returner Jacoby Jones) actually caught the ball where he caught it. It was, like, the 2-yard line. I wondered, 'Is he serious?'

All those drills and staying patient paid off. It felt like it was coming. It just felt good to come down and be able to make a play like that. As soon as he caught it, I kind of just broke down my feet a little bit because watching him on film, he's a guy that likes to go east and west and use his speed. So I just caught him going one way and wrapped him up, and if you saw it, I was struggling a little bit, but I got him down! I was struggling, but I got him down, and some other people finished him off. I've been waiting for that one for a while."

'It was definitely a shock that I was even targeted that much'

"Obviously, I'm happy that I got more opportunities to catch the ball last week. I knew the game plan that we had called for more four-wide receiver sets, but with the guys we have in front of me, I was figuring I'll be one of the last options out there. But maybe from practice reps and stuff like that Matt is starting to become more comfortable with me out there. He's not afraid to come to me and go through his reads and when I'm open, he's not shy to throw it to me. Hopefully, we can continue to build on it. But it was definitely a shock last week that I was even targeted that much.

"There were two balls that I didn't get my hand on, and I wish I could've gotten them. There was one that was kind of high. Maybe if I jumped a little higher, I could've caught it. And the other one was a play where the Texans kind of caught us. They were blitzing a lot, so they caught us in a good blitz, and the depth that I had to get to for my route, Matt didn't have time to wait for me to get there, so he kind of threw it early and the ball just got to me before I could really see it, and it went over my head.

"I wish I could've gotten that one back. I wish I could've seen the blitz and shortened the route a little bit. But that would be coming off the page, and as a rookie, you have to stay on the page. You don't want to start doing what T.J. (Houshmandzadeh) and Deion Branch can do, those savvy veterans. Just stick to the paper right now because you have to follow the rules."

'I'm going to be excited for it'

"It's unfortunate, first and foremost, that Nate Burleson goes down like that. But in talking to a lot of guys, most of them got their first opportunity this way. Someone went down or was slowed down by some injury, and you just have to be able to take advantage of the opportunity. So this is my opportunity to play more, and for me, it's kind of exciting that I'll kind of be one of the next in line. Hopefully, I'll be able to build on what I started with the 49ers game with that big catch, and last week I had a couple more catches. It's just going to be an opportunity that I'm going to have to be ready to seize, and I'm going to be excited for it."

'I'd never really seen a Rolex'

"I've been finishing up my Christmas shopping. I feel good about it. I've got everything under control. One of the big things is that I went to Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler in Bellevue. I went in there, and I'm not a big jewelry guy. I have my No. 3 chain, and that's about it. So they had to give me the lowdown. They explained some stuff to me. So I really understand diamonds now and why women love them. It was a great experience. I also saw a whole bunch of Rolexes. I'd heard about Rolex. I'd never really seen a Rolex, never really paid attention. It just kind of let me know what type of store and jewelry place I was in. Stuff was sparkling all over the place. It was definitely different from my normal Piercing Pagoda that I would go to and get my little earrings or something.

"It was kind of intimidating, but they made me feel comfortable. Everybody was real personable. At the end of it, I felt comfortable about what I got and felt comfortable that the person I was getting jewelry for would be thoroughly excited. I didn't want to go in there and get something that I thought was good, and then the person would be like, 'Seriously? This is not high quality.' "

'We'll have a good family affair for Christmas'

"My mom is actually coming in today (Friday). She'll be here until the last game of the season. When she comes, she just can't stay for a few days. She has to be here a long time and just make my house into her work office. My dad is going to be coming about Dec. 22. My brother will be here next week, too, and my cousin as well. We'll have a good family affair out here for Christmas.

"I was just joking with my mom. I said, 'I'm going to leave a whole bunch of dirty clothes and stuff for you to clean.' She told me, 'Nah, I know you better than that. You like to impress me.' And I said, 'You know what? I've gotten past that point of impressing you now, so I'll do whatever. I don't care.' But my place is going to be clean. It's going to be nice. My brother hasn't been here. I've got to make sure it's clean for him. And I'm sure my mom will start rearranging things like it's her place."

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com, Twitter: @Jerry_Brewer