QB Matt Hasselbeck has finished speaking with reporters following the game tonight. He remains concerned about the offense heading into the season, unsure what they'll get from WR Darrell Jackson, and from the TE position. He also talked about some of the little things they need to do well, things that helped them get to the Super Bowl last season. The audio is here. NOTE: That's it for me from the stadium tonight. On my way home.

The Seahawks looked much better tonight than in previous exhibition games. It's tough to say whether the Raiders simply checked out of this one, but it seemed clear that the following players helped themselves tonight: QB David Greene, who led that 16-play, 90-yard touchdown drive by completing 8-10 passes for 77 yards; CB Jimmy Williams, who averaged better than 15 yards on three punt returns, possibly at the expense of Peter Warrick; RB Marquis Weeks, who started camp strong but had faded recently; and WR D.J. Hackett, who drew a 25-yard interference penalty in addition to his seven receptions. Hackett was already going to make the team, but he certainly tightened that grip on the No. 4 receiving spot.

A few other tidbits: TEs Matt Murphy and Leonard Stephens committed holding penalties; RT Sean Locklear had another hold, this one declined; LT Tom Ashworth had some problems in pass protection subbing for Walter Jones; DE Darryl Tapp made play after play, including one nice back-side stop against the run (not a point-of-attack play, but still a good play against the run); the Raiders' 72-yard punt return will give Mike Holmgren and Bob Casullo something to talk about this coming week; CB Kevin Hobbs and MLB Niko Koutouvides missed tackles (including two by Koutouvides ... one on special teams, one on defense); and QB Seneca Wallace kept using timeouts at the line of scrimmage, never a way for a QB to endear himself to the head coach, particularly Holmgren.

That's it from me for now. Gotta run down to the locker room for some interviews.

QB Matt Hasselbeck leaves tonight's game against the Raiders with a poor stat line (2-of-6 passing) thanks to some aggressive play from the Oakland secondary. Let's just say he played better than those numbers, scrambling for a 25-yard gain up the middle during a long touchdown drive. Seneca Wallace is taking over for Hasselbeck and he just got drilled in the back by #91 Tyler Brayton, who is giving Hawks LT Tom Ashworth problems. They called Ashworth for holding on the play but Brayton still got a clean shot on Wallace's back.

Earlier, Brayton threw Ashworth so hard that the veteran lineman could have injured Hasselbeck's left knee. Ashworth flew backward and landed at Hasselbeck's feet. I'm guessing they'll go back to Walter Jones in the opener.

FB Leonard Weaver is heading to the locker room for X-rays on his left ankle. Weaver left the game following a 9-yard carry during the Hawks' recent scoring drive. Update: X-rays were negative, according to the team.

Sometimes we can gain some perspective (and come up with an easy blog item) by looking at the present in relation to the past. And so, as the NFL's 53-man roster deadline approaches for 2006, we bring you a look at the roster as it was three years ago. The defense is clearly better now. Consider that the 2003 Hawks kept nine defensive linemen and the final cuts at the position featured only Joey Evans, Luis Almanzar and Norris McCleary. Now the Hawks could keep nine and still get rid of established players such as Chris Cooper, Joe Tafoya or Kemp Rasmussen. Anyway, the 2003 breakdown is below. ...

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You gotta read this great story by Jim Corbett of USA Today in which Mike Holmgren admits to stiffing Steve Hutchinson when the two passed each other at the recent wedding for Hawks equipment man Erik Kennedy. It's comical. Here's Holmgren, technically an adult for the last 40 years, refusing to shake Hutchinson's hand because he's still tweaked about what happened this offseason. "By the end of the evening, we sat down and talked," Holmgren said in the story. "I wish him the best. It's just too bad he's not with us. I miss him."

This final exhibition game is even more lacking in star appeal than the first three, but there is also a little added drama for those who track roster moves the closest. A few thoughts came to mind as I went through the possibilities today:

For years I've resisted the temptation to list LB Isaiah Kacyvenski as a "bubble" guy. This year I've finally gone ahead and done it -- not for anything he has or hasn't done, but more as a reflection of the strength Seattle now enjoys at the position. Four or five guys could start and be OK. Seattle often keeps seven linebackers, but usually only six wind up being active on game days. Just something to consider. ...

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The Seahawks will have to clear 22 more roster spots by Saturday to comply with the impending 53-man limit. The team can clear one of those spots by placing safety Mike Green on injured reserive. My latest roster analysis is available below, subject to change at any time (note: I've made a couple changes since posting this originally).

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Just a heads up on what to expect today: There is no media access to the Seahawks, so there won't be a post-practice report. I'm working on several things for the paper, including a roster analysis that I'll post here a bit later today. In the meantime I get to play two of my favorite roles -- husband and dad -- for the next several hours, so you won't hear from me before about 2 p.m. PDT unless news breaks. "See" you then.

First, I'll post a transcript of a recent interview with new Raiders QB Jeff George, formerly of the Seahawks. This transcript comes courtesy of a friend who covers the Raiders. George makes some pretty funny comments, comparing himself to Vince Evans. ...

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I had a chance to speak with third-team QB David Greene following practice today. He's looking forward to getting more playing time against Oakland on Thursday night. I have not seen Oakland play this summer, but I do recall the Raiders blitzing Brock Huard into the ground during a horrific (for Seattle) preseason game several years ago. That was an example of what can happen in these exhibition games. Seattle's offensive line is better now, and the Raiders aren't as good. But this could still be a rough outing for Greene if the Raiders decide they want to come after him. In any event, the audio is here.

Thanks to Dale Phelps for posting the Hamdan-to-49ers news after I called it in while driving to speak at a Seahawks fan-club function tonight. To answer one of the questions posed here while I was away tonight, I don't think 49ers coach Mike Nolan is going to be relying on Gibran Hamdan for his game-planning. Hamdan might be able to help with a couple of things, but we can presume that Scot McCloughan, the 49ers' top personnel guy, might have a little more information about the Seahawks after spending several years in the front office here. Not that it helped much last season. Also, someone asked about OL combinations. I see Seattle going into the season with Jones, Womack, Tobeck, Gray and Locklear on the line. That changes if there's an injury, but probably not otherwise.

Quarterback Gibran Hamdan, who was cut by the Seahawks on Monday, was claimed off waivers today by the San Francisco 49ers.

The Seahawks chose to keep David Greene as their third quarterback over Hamdan. Hamdan was allocated by the Seahawks to NFL Europe, where he led the league in passing and was league most valuable player with the Amsterdam Admirals. He was a seventh-round draft pick by the Washington Redskins out of Indiana in 2003.

“Hamdan is a young guy that has a real strong arm,” 49ers coach Mike Nolan said on the team's Web site. “He is more of a pocket passer than anything. We wanted to bring him in to get a look this week.”

The 49ers are considering Hamdan as a candidate for a backup job behind Alex Smith and Trent Dilfer.

The Seahawks have already signed a tight end off the street (Leonard Stephens, released by Tampa Bay this summer). In looking at the players let go yesterday, we see the following tight ends (with releasing team in parenthesis, followed by years of NFL experience):

Jed Weaver (Detroit, 6); Patrick Hape (Houston, 8); Marcellus Rivers (Oakland, 5); Tim Euhus (New Orleans, 2); Matt Kranchick (Tampa Bay, 2); Klaus Alinen (Atlanta, 0); Keith Willis (Seattle, 0); Rob Docherty (Kansas City, 0); Paul Irons (Cleveland, 0); Robert Johnson (Washington, 2); Calen Powell (Washington, 0); Onye Ibewke (San Francisco, 0); Joey Hawkins (Indianapolis, 0); Kori Dickerson (Detroit, 0); and Rod Trafford (St. Louis, 0).

Just thought I would pass along those names. I haven't been able to check to see if any were claimed off waivers or signed, but those were the tight ends let loose yesterday.

Note: I'll be speaking at a Sea Hawkers club function tonight, so I won't be checking the blog until late. Ah, the perks.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished speaking with reporters following practice today. He answered questions for about eight minutes, covering a range of topics. Looking ahead to the exhibition finale Thursday, Holmgren touched on what he wants to see from third QB David Greene, who could get some playing time in the first half (Holmgren said he hasn't made up his mind on that one, but the goal is to get Greene some reps in relatively normal circumstances). The audio is here.

The Seahawks have finished practicing in pads. RB Maurice Morris (ankle) and SS Michael Boulware (knee) returned to practice. WR Darrell Jackson was back at team headquarters after missing Monday because of illness. LT Walter Jones (shoulder) was doing some running off to the side during practice. DT Russell Davis (foot) was moving around a little bit while working with a trainer. He fired out of his stance a few times.

Dave Boling takes a closer look at the Hawks, pointing out a few concerns and taking issue with the release of QB Gibran Hamdan. ... Our Mike Green injury story is here. ... Our notebook, led by Robbie Tobeck's partial return, is here. ... Looking ahead, the Seahawks have a full-pads practice scheduled for 1:30 this afternoon. There is no media access Wednesday. The final exhibition game is Thursday night. The final round of mandatory cuts comes Saturday.

The loss of S Mike Green hurts Seattle's depth in the secondary. As noted, Jordan Babineaux will get some more work at safety after spending camp at cornerback. We have a short clip of Babineaux reflecting on Green's likely season-ending foot injury. The audio is here.

Coach Mike Holmgren said the team released QB Gibran Hamdan and not QB David Greene because the Seahawks thought Greene had more upside. In other words, they though Hamdan was closer to being a finished product, whereas they hadn't seen Greene play enough to know what his potential might be. Looking ahead to Thursday night, Holmgren said the Hawks might go directly from Hasselbeck to Greene, giving Seneca Wallace the night off (or at least giving Wallace significantly fewer reps).

The Seahawks have improved the level of detail in their team-issued press releases. Their release on the cuts today breaks them down into the appropriate categories. All you roster geeks will appreciate this. Thirteen players were waived. One veteran contract was terminated. One player was waived/injured.

Waived: CB Reggie Austin, LB Evan Benjamin, WR Tony Brown, OL Jeff Bolton, FB Ran Carthon, CB Lance Frazier, DT Alex Guerrero, QB Gibran Hamdan, S Brandon Haw, P Gabe Lindstrom, C Taylor Schmidt, WR Taco Wallace and TE Keith Willis.

Veteran contract terminated: S Shaunard Harts.

Waived/injured: WR Keenan Howry.

Reserve/NFLEL: WR Skyler Fulton.

C Robbie Tobeck was back at practice today in a limited capacity. He expects to be ready for the season opener in Detroit. Tobeck talked about how much he hates standing on the sideline watching practice. He's ready to get back in there less than two weeks after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow. The audio is here.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished speaking with reporters following practice today. This is a wide-ranging interview packed with tidbits for the informed fan. The audio is here.

LT Walter Jones suffered a bruised shoulder against the Chargers. An MRI showed no structural damage. The Seahawks will keep Jones out of the exhibition finale Thursday night, allowing OL Tom Ashworth to get the start. Jones will be ready for the regular season, coach Mike Holmgren said. This sounds like one of those where Jones would definitely play this week if the team had a regular-season game. Now he'll get some good rest, which should help his legs too. Not a bad thing for the NFL's best offensive lineman.

Seahawks S Mike Green is probably out for the season after suffering the dreaded lisfranc foot injury. This can be a career-threatening injury, or at least a career-diminishing injury. Chad Brown was never the same after this injury. The Hawks will have Jordan Babineaux work more at safety now. Coach Mike Holmgren said he thought they had the right personnel at the position to go into the season OK, but losing Green is a big blow. ... Also, Holmgren confirmed that TE Itula Mili could be back for the season opener.

Our latest 27-category Excel roster is available. This one has been updated to reflect the release of the 15 players who were not at practice today and not on the roster given to reporters at practice. The roster is here. The Seahawks have yet to announce their cuts, but when players are 1) not at practice and 2) not on the team-issued roster, we have a pretty good idea who is no longer with the team.

Players not at practice today and not on the team's updated roster: P Gabe Lindstrom, QB Gibran Hamdan, WR Taco Wallace, WR Tony Brown, WR Keenan Howry, CB Reggie Austin, CB Lance Frazier, DB Brandon Haw, RB Ran Carthon, SS Shaunard Harts, TE Keith Willis, LB Evan Benjamin, OL Taylor Schmidt, OL Jeff Bolton and DT Alex Guerrero. The Seahawks will be announcing their cuts shortly, but these are most likely the guys.

By my count, this would be 15 cuts, leaving open a roster spot, perhaps to sign another tight end or even a veteran QB if the right one becomes available. Travis Lulay is still here, which is interesting. Update: The team has signed TE Leonard Stephens.

Coach Mike Holmgren once said there wasn't much to choose from between the candidates for the third QB position. We now know the Seahawks won't be choosing Gibran Hamdan. The team has included the former NFL Europe standout on the list of players it plans to release in compliance with the 75-man roster limit. Those who thought Hamdan outplayed David Greene should know this: Hawks president Tim Ruskell invested a 2005 third-round pick in Greene. He probably didn't want to give up on such a high pick after only one season (this assumes Greene will now stick around -- likely but not guaranteed). Note: I have also gotten word on some of the other cuts, but I'll hold off on those until they can be confirmed. Moves do not become official until they are executed, but the Seahawks will probably provide a list at some point. Practice starts at 3:30 this afternoon, so we'll see who is not on the field at that time.

Seahawks WR Nate Burleson said he's becoming increasingly comfortable working with QB Matt Hasselbeck. The brief audio is here.

Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck talked about several things in his post-game comments Saturday night. Topics included: the tight ends; Nate Burleson; and one of the things that facilitated Shawne Merriman's interception. The audio is here.

That would be Clark Judge of CBS SportsLine. He visited Seahawks camp last week and recently filed two reports. The main story checks in with QB Matt Hasselbeck in explaining why Seattle should stop the streak of Super Bowl losers missing the playoffs. Judge also provides five observations from Seahawks camp. "There's too much talent here," he concludes. "Plus, tell me who's going to beat them in the NFC West. Gaining home-field advantage for the playoffs for a second straight season is entirely plausible."

The first wave of cuts should be easy to predict. There should not be any huge surprises. It'll be interesting to see how some of the tighter races turn out in the end.

Some thoughts: Remember WR Ben Obomanu? The rookie really looks the part, but it's tough to look at this exhibition season and say he has outplayed Maurice Mann for what could be the final roster spot at the position. ...

I don't know how many receivers they'll keep, but I am anxious to see if Peter Warrick is one of them. The dropped pass last night wasn't exactly what he needed. ...

FB Mack Strong seemed to come to life last night. The Seahawks have to see that as a good sign given his age and the natural tendency to wonder if he's going to hit a wall. Mack was hitting a lot of other things in that San Diego game. ...

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Just a programming note: Sunday is travel day for me, at least in the morning, so no blog updates during that time. Sorry I wasn't able to upload audio tonight. The late start put me behind, and now I really need to get some sleep (plane leaving in about four hours). There was nothing firm as far as injury updates with Itula Mili and Mike Green. Coach Mike Holmgren indicated it didn't sound too good on Mili, but that should not substitute for a diagnosis. They'll have to get the MRI results before saying anything definitive.

TE Itula Mili left the game with a knee injury. SS Mike Green left the game with a foot injury. No word yet on the severity of these injuries, but if Mili is out for any period of time, Seattle is in trouble at the position. TE Jerramy Stevens is already out through September.

This game is turning out about how I expected now that the Chargers aren't losing fumbles every other time they touch the football. Seattle's lack of game-planning is showing up in the form of frequent pass-protection problems. RT Sean Locklear also got beat for an early sack. WR Nate Burleson is doing his best to sustain drives, but it's not enough. WR Bobby Engram has two of the more impressive non-catches you'll see, not that it's doing the Seahawks much good. At this point Seattle needs to do everything possible to protect QB Matt Hasselbeck. This is the type of situation where a team can lose a key player.

The Chargers have five plays and two turnovers, giving Seattle's offense the kind of boost it used to beat San Diego in an exhibition here two years ago. Chargers QB Philip Rivers has two lost fumbles and no pass attempts. Neither fumble was forced, either. San Diego is a much better team when Rivers isn't losing fumbles. Update: Rivers just led a three-play, 64-yard touchdown drive. Rivers found Michael Turner for a 24-yard gain on a screen pass after Hawks FS Ken Hamlin blitzed. Turner then ran up the middle and to his right for a 38-yard touchdown. DE Darryl Tapp appeared to miss the tackle near the line of scrimmage.

Some things apparently never change. The last time Seattle played an exhibition game here in San Diego, the Chargers' quarterbacks tossed three interceptions. Two plays into their exhibition game tonight, Chargers QB Philip Rivers fumbled into the end zone, where Seahawks DT Rocky Bernard recovered. Bernard, making his exhibition debut following offseason knee surgery, pounced on Rivers before pulling in the loose ball. Touchdown, Seahawks. Pretty funny.

The drive into Qualcomm Stadium was a fairly entertaining one. I was alongside a silver car with Seahawks magnets on the doors, Seahawks flag flapping above the rear driver's-side window and NFC Championship insignia on the back window. I could see the guys in the car laughing at something, so I rolled down my window. Charger fans were heckling these guys mercilessly as the traffic stopped and started. Guys were screaming verbal threats against these fans' persons. The Seattle fans did manage to get into the parking lot, at which point I headed for the press box. ...

It's a perfect evening: 75 degrees, clear skies, light breezes. Keith Gilbertson and some of the Seattle coaches are walking their customary laps around the field. ...

The late start is going to make it nearly impossible for me to update the blog until well after the game (probably after midnight PDT). I'm not even sure if there will be time for post-game interviews in the locker room. We'll see how it goes.

With the starters scheduled to play past halftime, this should in theory be the exhibition game where the Seahawks play their best. Reality could be quite different, at least for the Seattle offense. It goes back to the story I wrote last week about how the Seahawks don't do much game-planning for these things. The approach migh work against an Indianapolis defense missing some starters, but not against more talented defenses with unconventional schemes. The Chargers run a 3-4 defense that would seem to require some level of preparation even if San Diego keeps it simple. Dallas is another 3-4 team with good talent; Seattle scored three points against the Cowboys two weeks ago. The Seahawks did play one of their better offensive preseason games in San Diego two years ago, but it helped that the Chargers' quarterbacks kept turning the ball over. I would be a little surprised if Seattle enjoyed that kind of success offensively tonight. Note: San Diego allowed three points in its exhibition opener against Green Bay; Chicago scored 24 points against the Chargers last week, but that included touchdowns on an interception return and a kick return.

As promised, we have some KJR audio available from earlier tonight. Elise Woodward and I spent about 11 minutes talking about the Seahawks tonight. The audio is here. That's it from me tonight. I'll check back in Saturday, probably in the afternoon.

The Seahawks have until Tuesday to reduce their roster to 75 players in accordance with league rules. That means Seattle must release 14 of the 89 players currently on the roster. Our previous roster listed 90 players, but WR Skyler Fulton was not supposed to be listed. He suffered an injury during in NFL Europe, so he never passed a physical or practiced with the Seahawks. Seattle retains his rights. In any event, you can download our updated 27-category Excel roster here. Our latest roster analysis runs below and again in the paper tomorrow (along with a story advancing the exhibition game against the Chargers) ...

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Radio programming note: I'm scheduled to talk Seahawks with KJR's Elise Woodward tonight at about 8:35 PDT. The plan is to post the audio here later. You can listen live to KJR here. I just tested it out for the first time in a while and the audio quality was remarkably good. Update: I have finished the KJR segment. Should have the audio late tonight, after they go off the air with their in-house programming.

Welcome to the Seahawks-Chargers pregame show. Only about 30 hours until kickoff. We could dedicate one hour to each starter and still have time to catch a full night's sleep. Or I could use this opportunity to provide feedback to the questions and comments that accumulated while I was in the air today. Here goes ...

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WR Darrell Jackson, still sidelined following knee surgery in April, says he's on schedule to play in the regular-season opener against Detroit on Sept. 10. I had a chance to speak with him tonight at a charity appearance he was making in Puyallup on behalf of the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound. Jackson said his timetable never called for him to appear in exhibition games. Coach Mike Holmgren, speaking in general about several injured players, including Jackson, said earlier in camp that he hoped those players would return for the third exhibition game (at San Diego on Saturday). Jackson has been following the timetable set forth by his doctor, not team medical personnel. That probably accounts for the information gap. In any event, the Jackson audio is here. Note: KOMO-TV was also there tonight. I'm the one asking questions in the beginning. Also: The story I filed for the paper is below.

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The Seahawks have finished practicing in shorts and shells. The EWU portion of training camp is over. WR D.J. Hackett (hamstring) was back practicing. Still not practicing because of injuries: Skyler Fulton, Keenan Howry, Darrell Jackson, Robbie Tobeck, Russell Davis and Marcus Tubbs. Still excused to tend to a family matter: Tom Ashworth. I'm showing 52 players who participated in each of the 33 regular practices and walkthrough practices since camp opened July 29. View the participation chart here if you want to see the breakdowns on a player-by-player basis.

The Seahawks are on the practice field at Eastern Washington University for the last time this summer. The team returns to Seattle later today before heading to San Diego for its third exhibition game. Rosters must be pared down to 75 players by Tuesday. Some players know their days with the Seahwaks could be about over. One of them, CB Kevin Hobbs, shared his thoughts with John McGrath. "I expect to hear about some cuts by Sunday or Monday," Hobbs said. "But those are decisions I can't control, so why waste energy worrying about things you can't control?"

This was a shorter session in shorts and shells, much like the one scheduled for tomorrow. FB David Kirtman (quadriceps) participated in all aspects of practice. WR D.J. Hackett sat out to rest his hamstring. Everything else was pretty much the same as this morning. As noted previously, camp breaks following the 8:45 practice tomorrow morning. Right now I have camp participation at 85 percent, with 52 players who have partcipated in every non-special-teams practice since camp opened July 29.

The Seahawks have finished their morning practice in full pads. LG Floyd Womack worked with the first-team offensive line for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury Aug. 9. That means promising rookie LG Rob Sims is back with the second unit. C Chris Spencer continues to work with the starters while veteran Robbie Tobeck recovers from elbow surgery. Rookie FB David Kirtman was back on the field but limited. Also, OL Tom Ashworth was excused from practice for family reasons. He'll rejoin the team in Seattle. WR Bobby Engram was back at practice today. The Seahawks break camp following an abbreviated practice tomorrow morning.

The Seahawks' secondary is looking stronger now than it was when the team released CB Andre Dyson. Depth has been restored by the return of three important players from injury: FS Ken Hamlin, SS Michael Boulware and DB Jordan Babineaux. CB Kelly Herndon is having a good camp. CB Kelly Jennings is getting a chance to ease into things. He isn't even needed in the nickel at this point, a surprise given that the team once was counting on him to start.

Dyson, meanwhile, seems to be doing good things for the Jets, as this story indicates. Health is always such an important factor in these things. Herndon's knee was a problem last season; he didn't play as well as anticipated. Dyson had injury problems late last season; the Hawks released him. RCB Marcus Trufant is healthy again this season; he is having a strong camp and could be poised for a breakthrough season.

John McGrath's column takes a look at the Trufant brothers. You knew Marcus played for the Seahawks. Isaiah is playing for the Spokane Shock, which led the af2 in attendance. Note that former University of Washington WR Charles Frederick also plays for the Shock.

WR Darrell Jackson and DT Marcus Tubbs won't be on the field before next week, coach Mike Holmgren said today. Holmgren had expected Jackson in particular to be back by now. Jackson (left) met in recent days with Dr. John Uribe, his surgeon, and they decided Jackson should take some more time before returning. Jackson's knee wasn't the issue so much as the corresponding muscle mass in the thigh (Holmgren alluded to this last week). Once that muscle regains its proper proportion, I suspect we'll see Jackson back on the field. This type of thing can be frustrating for an organization, but in light of what happened with TE Jerramy Stevens last week, I would not expect Holmgren to raise any objections. We have his comments on the matter below.

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After waiving seven players in the first 13 days of camp, the Seahawks are now into their 12th day of roster tranquility. By my accounting, the team hasn't waived a player since parting ways with TE Mike Gomez on Aug. 10. If this goes on much longer, team president Tim Ruskell might need to waive someone just for the heck of it. Perhaps he's just giving the ol' trigger finger a rest in preparation for the mandatory reduction to 75 players (Tuesday, Aug. 29).

A list of the players Seattle has waived since April 20: Gomez, Ryan Killeen, Darrell Wright, Matt Henshaw, Lance Reynolds, Brock Edwards, Jeb Huckeba, Tom Rouen, Kevin Kasper, Alex Bannister, Garrett McIntyre, Jerheme Urban, Alain Kashama, Wayne Hunter, Kyle Ralph, Ron Smith, Joey Hollenbeck, Kevin House, Chonn Lacey and Jeremy LeSueur.

For those who live in the Northwest: WR Darrell Jackson is scheduled to sign autographs and meet fans for the opening of a new Circuit City store in Puyallup. He is scheduled to begin signing for fans Thursday for one hour beginning at 6 p.m. A press release from Circuit City notes that proceeds from signed memorabilia will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of South Puget Sound. This store is at the South Hill Mall.

John Mcgrath called to say the Seahawks have finished their morning practicein shorts and shells. WR Bobby Engram was not there. The team excused him so that Engram could tend to a family situation in South Carolina. WR Darrell Jackson (knee) and DT Marcus Tubbs (Achilles) did not practice. There had been some talk earlier in camp that those guys could be back for this third exhibition game. At this point I'll be surprised if we see Jackson before the regular season. He obviously won't play against San Diego, and the starters usually don't do much in the final exhibition game. ... MLB Lofa Tatupu was back at practice today. DE Grant Wistrom and DT Rocky Bernard worked with the starters, meaning Seattle came closer to fielding its No. 1 defense than at any point in camp. ...

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The NFL Network is in Cheney today for the morning practice. Fans can watch their broadcast this afternoon. Check your local listings, as they say, but my Comcast grid shows a 3 p.m. PDT airing this afternoon.

QB Matt Hasselbeck said he couldn't help but sneak a look at the Colts on video in the hours before the Seattle-Indianapolis exhibition game Sunday night. Coach Mike Holmgren regularly talks about how he doesn't game-plan until the regular season. But as a quarterback, Hasselbeck said he feels strangely unprepared going into these exhibition games. It seems to me that a QB could be at additional risk of injury if he isn't aware of how the opponent might be planning to attack him. Hasselbeck's thoughts on the matter are in this audio.

John McGrath will be covering for me in Cheney during the final three days of camp, starting tomorrow. I'm not sure why the Seahawks would return to Cheney from Indianapolis, only to head back to Kirkland briefly before leaving for San Diego, but I'm happy to say my employer knows better than to make me follow that kind of schedule. I'll therefore be working from home while John covers practices and writes columns over the next three days. That will let me work on some projects before heading to San Diego for the third exhibition game, which kicks off Saturday night. And of course I'll keep the blog items coming.

Seattle's KJR-AM 950 was nice enough to pass along an audio file with my "appearance" on Dave Grosby's show this afternoon (not sure if anyone can "appear" on an invisible medium, but you get the point). We talked about where the Seahawks' stand halfway through their exhibition schedule. At one point it almost sounds like I said the Seahawks' offensive line was overmatched Sunday night; I actually said that it wasn't overmatched (this in the context of things you look for in exhibition games, and that a team should be worried if its line can't measure up physically, not usually a problem for Seattle these days). The audio is here.

The onside kick appeared to be an awareness problem and a preparation problem. Also, the rules are different now in that teams cannot overload one side so heavily. The result is that the receiving team might sometimes have less advance warning that the onside kick is coming. My thought last night was that Seattle received a gift from the Colts: something coaches can coach to heading into the season. ... Darrell Jackson's knee does fall into the degenerative category from what I know about those types of injuries. He might be a candidate for arthritis and a shortened career. That's what I read upon researching the injury at the time of his first surgery. ...

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I'm back from Indianapolis, which means more postgame audio coming your way. RB Josh Scobey played like a guy who knows he's fighting for a roster spot. Sometimes his kick returns fall short on artistic merits, but part of me admires a guy who isn't afraid to just ram it up in there, no matter the consequences. That approach makes Scobey a superior special-teams player. His 55-yard kick return gave him a boost last night. He caught it four yards deep but knew he had to go. Scobey needs more of that to secure a roster spot, and he knows it. His mindset comes through in this audio clip.

I have filed my game story, notebook and game box for the newspaper. This stuff will be on the Web site sometime in the morning. Nothing is stopping me from posting them here for you Sunday night blog loyalists. So here goes (note: more audio tomorrow).

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Coach Mike Holmgren has finished speaking with reporters following the Seahawks' 30-17 exhibition victory over Indianapolis in the RCA Dome. He was pleased with the performance even though the Colts' first-team passing game had its way early. Holmgren praised the efforts of Seattle's first-team offense; QB Seneca Wallace; DT Chris Cooper; LB Kevin Bentley; TE Matt Murphy; and SS Mike Green. We have the audio here.

Coach Mike Holmgren said the Seahawks escaped serious injury in this game. We'll know more tomorrow and Tuesday, but for now the injury list goes as follows: MLB Niko Koutouvides and RB Josh Scobey suffered quadriceps contusions; and LB Lance Laury suffered a pulled hamstring. Scobey said he'll be back at practice Tuesday. UPDATE: KEENAN HOWRY SUFFERED THE PULLED HAMMY, NOT LANCE LAURY. Holmgren said "Howry" but I heard "Laury".

The press-box announcer has noted that the following Seattle players will not be active for the game tonight: D.J. Hackett, Maurice Morris, Lofa Tatupu, Robbie Tobeck, Joe Tafoya, Floyd Womack, Darrell Jackson, Jerramy Stevens, Marcus Tubbs, Russell Davis, Grant Wistrom and Rocky Bernard. Morris has missed practice recently to rest a sore ankle. We had no indication until tonight that he would not play. Tatupu was a borderline guy, but logic said he would not play after resting a groin injury all week.

This might be a good time to provide a comprehensive injury update. DT Rocky Bernard (knee), DE Grant Wistrom (shoulder) and DE Joe Tafoya (shoulder) returned to practice last week. They could play against San Diego in the third exhibition game. WR D.J. Hackett (hamstring), WR Darrell Jackson (knee), DT Marcus Tubbs (Achilles), OL Floyd Womack (hamstring) and MLB Lofa Tatupu (groin) are tentatively scheduled to resume practicing Tuesday. I say "tentatively" because things change and we cannot know how the players will feel at that time ...

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RT Sean Locklear was one of the NFL's surprise players last season. He stepped into the starting lineup on short notice and played better than anyone expected. Rarely does a backup actually provide an upgrade at a position, but it's fair to say Locklear did just that upon replacing the injured Floyd Womack. Can Locklear do it again? Yes. Will he? Let's take a little closer look (I'm addressing this topic after someone pointed out that the Madden video game wasn't giving Locklear much credit for what he did last season).

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The Indianapolis Star has comprehensive Colts coverage for those curious what to expect from Peyton Manning and those guys tomorrow night. This story notes that Manning and the first-team offense are expected to play at least 18 plays. Manning played about 20 snaps against the Seahawks at Seattle late last season. Manning might want to stay in there a little longer tomorrow night after watching Tony Romo move the ball against Seattle last week. From the Star: "Last week at St. Louis, Manning, receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne and a few other offensive starters were on the field for only the first series. They made the most of the seven-play drive, generating a touchdown."

Just a heads up for those new to the blog: I generally travel the day before a game, making it harder to keep the blog updated during that time. My plane touched down in Indianapolis within the last hour or so. I'm settling into the hotel and need to write a couple things for the Sunday paper. Dinner will in my future at some point too. But first, let me provide some answers and responses to reader questions and comments. Those are below.

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Many press releases find their way into the deleted-items folder in my email program. The latest one I received from Stubhub.com will get there eventually, but not before making a brief appearance here. According to the release, tickets to Seahawks games have shot up in value. Some stats:

Average price for tickets sold during all of 2005 season: $95
Average price for tickets sold during the playoffs: $295
Average price for all tickets sold for 2006 to this point: $175
Highest average priced game: 11/27 Green Bay at Seattle - $178
Lowest average priced game: 12/24 San Diego Chargers - $95
The number of tickets sold has increased by 350% compared to this date last year (8/18/06 compared to 8/18/05)

As the Seahawks prepare for their nationally televised exhibition game Sunday night, we take a look at what national reporters are saying about the NFC champs. Some of you have been there, done that. For the rest ...

ESPN.com's John Clayton was in Cheney recently and at the Seahawks' exhibition opener. He wrote a main story as well as a sidebar with five observations. Sports Illustrated's Peter King weighed in previously with this postcard. I was expecting to see more national reporters at camp this season. USA Today dropped by early. Clayton and King made appearances. That was about it so far. Camp resumes with three more days next week.

I spent the afternoon driving back to Tacoma, but there wasn't much news out of the afternoon practice. SS Michael Boulware (knee) returned after missing the morning session. He is one of the recently recovered players working on a once-daily basis. Boulware is expected to make his preseason debut against the Colts on Sunday (this is the national NBC game, set for 5:15 PDT).

Let me update the list of players NOT traveling for the game: WR Skyler Fulton, WR D.J. Hackett, C Robbie Tobeck, DE Joe Tafoya, LG Floyd Womack, WR Darrell Jackson, TE Jerramy Stevens, DT Marcus Tubbs, DT Russell Davis, DE Grant Wistrom and DT Rocky Bernard. Also, the team will probably hold out MLB Lofa Tatupu, who has been resting a pulled groin muscle.

Note: In my haste to get out of Cheney (nothing personal, EWU), I omitted Wistrom and Bernard from my initial list of players not traveling. They are scheduled to make their preseason debuts against San Diego the following week.

Back in Tacoma. Leaving for the airport in about eight hours. Indy calls. In the meantime, let's addresss some of the Seahawks' options at tight end. Reading through the comments, I half-expect someone to suggest moving P Ryan Plackemeier to the position. He does have the size, after all. Not an option, of course. Neither do I think teams address a weakness by having someone play out of position. They could always have someone at another position serve as the third TE in theory, but I doubt we would see that translate into anything meaningful on the field. Doesn't mean it won't happen. That's just what experience tells me.

Much could depend on how quickly Jerramy Stevens recovers from surgery for that torn meniscus in his left knee. As of this morning, coach Mike Holmgren said they had not yet talked about, let alone decided, how many tight ends to keep on the 53-man roster. If it's looking like Stevens will miss only a couple of games, I could see them carrying just two healthy tight ends coming out of the preseason. Holmgren said that was an option even before Stevens was injured, a reflection of the team's relative indifference (so far) over some of the prospects beyond Stevens and Itula Mili. None of the other tight ends has risen up and forced Seattle to set aside a roster spot.

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The Seahawks have finished practicing in shorts and shells this morning. I will be driving back to Seattle this afternoon because I have to catch a flight from Seattle to Indianapolis in the morning, so this will be my final update from practice this week. SS Michael Boulware (knee) sat out this morning but will travel and play Sunday night unless something changes in the interim. CB Jordan Babineaux will also play. MLB Lofa Tatupu will travel but probably not play. Not traveling: Skyler Fulton, Robbie Tobeck, Floyd Womack, Darrell Jackson, Jerramy Stevens, Marcus Tubbs, D.J. Hackett and Russell Davis. Hopefully I haven't missed anyone there. ... QB Seneca Wallace worked some with the starters in preparation for the Indy game. Matt Hasselbeck will start and probably play a little longer than he did in the opener. Wallace takes over from there, with Gibran Hamdan scheduled to finish the game. Note: I messed up while trying to capture Mike Holmgren's comments following practice. Another reporter was nice enough to let me attempt to capture his audio. It's here but it doesn't sound very good. Sorry.

A daily review of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: We have a more detailed look at the tight end situation post-Stevens; a notebook with items on the team's trip to the movies and the cornerback situation, among others; and a story about the nun who visited practice. I am not immediately seeing the daily camp box online, so I will include it below.

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The injury to TE Jerramy Stevens hurts quite a bit given that Seattle was already going into the season without its No. 2 tight end from last season (Ryan Hannam). Now it's critical for Itula Mili to remain healthy, a concern give his age and given that he missed most of last season. Losing Stevens deprives the offense of perhaps its most dynamic receiver, or at least the receiver who created the most headaches for opponents when the ball was going his way. The health of Darrell Jackson also becomes more important now. This should still be a top-10 offense if the following things happen: 1) Two of the top three receivers remain healthy for most or all of the season (Jackson, Burleson, Engram); 2) Stevens returns and contributes; and 3) Seattle does not lose Matt Hasselbeck or Walter Jones.

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TE Jerramy Stevens has a torn meniscus in his left knee. Team physician Ed Khalfayan will perform surgery at 2 p.m. Friday at the Seattle Surgery Center. Stevens, the Seahawks' 2002 first-round draft pick out of the University of Washington, is expected to miss six weeks. As reported earlier today, Stevens was carted off the field during practice this morning. He appeared to bang the knee on the ground on a pass play. The injury comes just a little over a week after Stevens returned to practice following recovery from offseason surgery on his left knee.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sando filed this note by phone. He will be away from his computer -- and therefore this blog -- this evening.

Sister Mary Tarcisius was out at practice today in her habit. Before ripping the refs in Super Bowl XL, she gave a gift to coach Mike Holmgren designed (jokingly) to ward off poor officiating. Sister Mary has been out to training camp before. She is stationed in Louisiana but sometimes visits family in North Idaho. She is a Saints fan, naturally, but the Seahawks are her second-favorite team. She gave to Holmgren a gold box housing a medal St. Michael the Archangel. "It is for protection," she said. "I wrote a little joke: 'This is a blessed medal of St. Michael to protect you against evil refs in the Super Bowl." She was quite serious about the poor officiating. "I know football and I should have been the referee," she said. "I'm a nun and I know football better than they do." For more on Sister Mary, check out this link (be sure to scroll down a ways).

QB Matt Hasselbeck has finished speaking with reporters following the only practice scheduled for today. He covered some serious stuff, notably how much he values WR Bobby Engram, but there was also some more classic digs on C Robbie Tobeck. Hasselbeck and Tobeck are buddies. They walked off the field together today (Tobeck is in camp, but watching on the sideline while his surgically repaired left elbow recovers). Hasselbeck, referring to a fight involving C Chris Spencer, said it was nice to finally have some toughness at center. He also said Tobeck was taking some days off to rest his tennis elbow. Noting that Tobeck's left elbow was the one that needed surgery, Hasselbeck mused that Tobeck must have a mean two-hand backhand. Great stuff. Yours free. Click here.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished speaking with reporters following the only practice the team will hold today. This was a wide-ranging interview packed with information. I don't have time to give a complete summary, but the audio is here. He did say he was concerned about TE Jerramy Stevens' injury given that Stevens had surgery on the same knee only a few months ago.

The Seahawks have finished their morning practice, which was moved back from 8:45 to 10 after coach Mike Holmgren decided to give players the afternoon off. The team is heading to a local movie theater for a private screening of "Invincible". Holmgren said he wanted to break things up a little. ... The morning practice was jam-packed with newsy stuff, starting with the loss of TE Jerramy Stevens to a knee injury (see earlier item). ... We saw DE Grant Wistrom, DT Rocky Bernard and DE Joe Tafoya ramp up their involvement in practice. They worked together as part of the scout-team line. Wistrom also participated in one-on-one pass-rush drills. ...

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TE Jerramy Stevens was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam today after re-injuring his surgically repaired knee. Stevens was carted off the field during the morning practice, which has now ended. He appeared to bang the knee on the ground on a pass play. The Seahawks should have MRI results this afternoon. Update: As noted here, Stevens walked to the cart before leaving on the cart. I add that just so people aren't misled into thinking this was one of those grotesque injuries whereby medical personnel carefully placed him onto a cart.

The Seahawks have moved their 8:45 morning practice back to 10. My understanding is that there might not be an afternoon practice. This is a last-minute change. I pass it along in case you were planning to attend the afternoon session. My guess would be that coach Mike Holmgren has a surprise in store for players, but until I get out there and hear it from him, we can't say for sure.

DE Grant Wistrom has finished speaking with reporters about his return to practice today. He turned self-deprecating when assessing his impact out there (one snap with the scout-team defense before defensive coordinator John Marshall yanked him out of there). Wistrom is coming off his third shoulder surgery. My understanding is that he played with the injury most of last season but did not want to say anything for fear of putting himself at further disadvantage by allowing opponents to take shots on him. While Wistrom said he appreciates the organization not rushing him back into full-contact practicing, he expects to mix it up a little more aggressively tomorrow. The audio is here.

DT Rocky Bernard and DE Joe Tafoya spoke briefly following the morning practice. Bernard provided some information about the specific nature of his injury. Tafoya said he'll have to fight the urge to go all-out for the next few days. The Tafoya audio is here while the Bernard audio is here. I'll try to grab DE Grant Wistrom, who also returned today, during the lunch hour.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished addressing reporters following the morning practices. This session ran longer than 12 minutes. Holmgren addressed issues ranging from: the return of injured defensive linemen; the expected return of DT Marcus Tubbs and WR Darrell Jackson; Koren Robinson's latest legal problems; Jerry Rice's presence in camp today; and what he wants to see in the exhibition game Sunday night at Indy. The audio is here with his answer to the final question here (I jumped the gun in stopping my recorder, so I had to re-start it).

The Seahawks have finished their morning practice in full pads. This was another fast-paced practice, at least the third in a row. They'll shift into special-teams mode this afternoon. ... DE Grant Wistrom, DT Rocky Bernard and DE Joe Tafoya returned from injuries today. They were extremely limited in their participation. Wistrom took one snap at RDE with the scout team. That was one more than I saw for either Bernard or Tafoya. ... MLB Lofa Tatupu has what coach Mike Holmgren called a small pull in his groin. Tatupu did not practice. He might not play in the game Sunday. Holmgren stressed that this was very minor. I think they want to get a long look at Niko Koutouvides on Sunday anyway. ...

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Peter King mentioned yesterday how it seemed wrong to have WR Nate Burleson (drafted by Minnesota) starting for Seattle while WR Koren Robinson (drafted by Seattle) was starting for Minnesota. We talked about how Robinson had run out of second chances here, and that if he was going to straighten out his life, it would have to be elsewhere. Sadly, it was only a matter of when, not if, Robinson would run into trouble again. That "when" turned out to be last night. "Along with drunken driving, Robinson is accused of fleeing police, reckless driving, speeding and driving without a valid license," the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Check out the St. Paul Pioneer Press report here. Robinson's problems with alcohol were behind his June 2005 release from Seattle.

DT Chuck Darby on his buddy Walter Jones: "It's all about competing. I call Walt 'Big Baby'. He come out every day, he put on that smile but he's all business when he go out there. Every now and again you like talking trash and tripping so you can get through practice, so you can make practice easy for you because it's going to be hard anyway. It's all about competing. That's what it's all about. That's why we talk a lot." The Darby audio is here.

One reason LT Walter Jones likes DT Chuck Darby: "He's smart. That's what you need, a guy who can tell you things and then once you get in a game, if I'm tight on my guard, what's he thinking? Am I going to double-team with the guard or not? That's what makes it easy. Especially like when they run the stunts and stuff, I talk to him about that kind of stuff. But he's a good guy. You don't get too many guys that will tell you those things. He does a good job of doing that." The Jones audio is here.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: This feature explores the relationship between Walter "Big Baby" Jones and Chuck Darby; this notebook leads with an item on Michael Boulware; and the daily camp box is below.

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The Seahawks have finished their afternoon practice in shorts and shells. RB Maurice Morris rested a sprained ankle. SS Michael Boulware (knee) and TE Jerramy Stevens (knee) sat out as expected (each is practicing only once per day following surgeries). ... Special-teams coach Bob Casullo was extremely animated for the second practice in a row, directing much of his attention toward kicker Josh Brown, who did not seem to appreciate the treatment. ... After practice, coach Mike Holmgren gathered eight players at the center of the field: Tom Ashworth, Matt Hasselbeck, Shaun Alexander, Chris Gray, Mack Strong, Nate Burleson, D.D. Lewis and Leonard Weaver. Holmgren spoke to them for quite a while. The players continued talking among themselves after Holmgren left. They were the last players off the field. Hasselbeck stopped briefly to chat with reporters, but he offered no insight on the subject of the meeting. ... Update: Holmgren had let some players with families come back to camp on their own. Some were a bit late in returning. They could face fines. Gray and Strong were not late in returning; they are the team's union reps.

RB Shaun Alexander has finished speaking with reporters following practice. His interview sessions have improved over time. I get the feeling he is putting more serious thought into his answers, resisting the temptation to just clown around for the sake of hamming it up. In this interview, he said: he thought Maurice Morris could start for at least 10 teams in the league; he explained why he isn't catching as many passes as he once did; and he wondered aloud whether this year might see him catch more balls out of the backfield. He also said the huddle isn't nearly so lively without Robbie Tobeck cracking jokes in there. The Alexander audio is here.

The Seahawks have finished their morning practice in full pads. This was a spirited, intense and physical session. The tempo seemed to be fast. SS Michael Boulware (knee) returned to the field yesterday, but this was his first full-pads workout in some time. He appeared to be in midseason form. He was batting down passes and just generally making plays on the ball. Much more aggressive than he was earlier in camp. I spoke with him afterward and he said the knee is feeling much better. CB Jimmy Williams (ankle) also returned to practice this morning. Big plays: DT Craig Terrill picking off a batted pass from Matt Hasselbeck, then heading up the sideline with Nate Burleson practically on his back. ... Maurice Mann making a high, tough grab over the middle against Jordan Babineaux. ... Hasselbeck flinging one deep down the right sideline to Shaun Alexander, who caught the ball over his shoulder with Lofa Tatupu in pursuit (sandlot play we probably won't see during the season, but it was fun while it lasted).

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Maurice Mann leads our camp notebook, while the main story (with camp box) is here. I have also pasted the camp box below. In news involving former Hawks, Kerry Carter suffered a career-threatening knee injury, perhaps opening the door for another ex-Hawk, Jesse Lumsden, to earn a roster spot with the Redskins; Jon Kitna is attempting to bring some leadership to the Lions; and Marquand Manuel is finally on the field for the Packers.

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WR Maurice Mann led the Seahawks in receiving Saturday night. He played at Nevada with Nate Burleson and was in camp with Cincinnati when Peter Warrick was there. If the Seahawks keep more than five receivers, Mann has a shot. Seventh-rounder Ben Obomanu is probably the favorite for that spot (if it exists), but it's still early. The Mann audio is here.

The Seahawks have finished their special-teams session this afternoon. There was no news out of practice, but we were able to confirm that DT Rocky Bernard, DE Grant Wistrom and DE Joe Tafoya are scheduled to begin practicing Wednesday. That is particularly welcome news to the Seahawks now that DT Russell Davis is out for a while. Also, CB Kelly Herndon was resting a bruised quadriceps suffered in the game Saturday night. The team expects him to return as early as tomorrow morning.

Details can get lost in translation when information flows from a doctor to a trainer to a coach to a reporter to a blog. That happened earlier today when coach Mike Holmgren explained that DT Russell Davis has a tear in his plantar fascia. Holmgren's voice seemed to trail off as he was saying the words "plantar fascia"; I initially thought he was saying plantar fasciitis. My best information at this time is that Davis has a clean tear in his plantar fascia. This does not necessarily mean the plantar fascia is ruptured. This is also different from having having plantar fasciitis. Sorry for the confusion. The bottom line is that Davis needs to stay off his foot.

The Seahawks have finished practicing in shorts and shells. They have a special-teams session scheduled for this afternoon. WR Keenan Howry (hamstring), LB Isiah Kacyvenski (quadriceps) and SS Michael Boulware (knee) practiced today. Boulware participated in all of the individual work but I did not see him do anything in team drills. TE Jerramy Stevens (knee) practiced, as he has been doing for the morning sessions. We noted earlier that C Robbie Tobeck (elbow) will miss 7-10 days, and they will probably hold out DT Russell Davis (plantar fascia) for the remainder of the exhibition season, although he could return sooner if the games counted.

The No. 1 offensive line now consists of LT Walter Jones, LG Rob Sims, C Chris Spencer, RG Chris Gray and RT Sean Locklear. The second unit consists of LT Tom Ashworth, LG Jeff Bolton, C Pat Ross, RG Taylor Schmidt and RT Ray Willis. The third unit featured Willis at left tackle and William Henry at right tackle.

QB Matt Hasselbeck has finished speaking with reporters following the morning practice. He said the Seahawks have a lot of new faces and some of them aren't familiar with how the team needs to practice. He said that partially explains some of the procedural problems that bogged down the offense Saturday night. Hasselbeck did not sound particularly worried, noting that the exhibition season began similarly in 2005, but he did say the team needs to pick up the pace. Update: It would help if I provided the link to this audio. HERE IT IS.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished speaking with reporters following the morning practice. We have the audio here. Holmgren is focusing on the procedural errors that popped up in the exhibition opener Saturday night.

The Seahawks expect C Robbie Tobeck to miss 7-10 days after the veteran center underwent an operation to remove loose particles from his elbow. This means Chris Spencer is back at center this week, with Rob Sims at left guard. That lineup will probably be the one we see in the exhibition game at Indianapolis. Tobeck's elbow has been bothering him more than usual over the last week, coach Mike Holmgren said.

DT Russell Davis suffered a plantar fascia injury. The timetable is two weeks, but it sounds like the Seahawks are going to be cautious with him. Coach Mike Holmgren said Davis would be back for the regular-season opener. The team also expects to get some of its defensive linemen back this week. Holmgren did not provide a specific list, but DT Rocky Bernard, DE Joe Tafoya and DE Grant Wistrom have been seen running hard as part of their rehabilitations.

The Seahawks are back on the practice field today. That means I'm back, too, after taking last night off. We'll have the usual post-practice reports. We'll also find out for sure if anyone can't practice coming out of the game Saturday night. Coach Mike Holmgren said he knew of no injuries, but our friend Rob Rang is hearing that DT Russell Davis could miss some time. Confirmation comes on the field today and we'll have the latest at that time. "See" you there.

Rookie P Ryan Plackemeier helped himself with a solid effort in the exhibition opener Saturday night. He dropped three punts inside the 20, atoning for a shaky performance during the scrimmage last week. I spoke with Plackemeier after the game last night. He explained why he had trouble sleeping the night before the game. We have the audio here. Transcript is below. Note: Plackemeier is the favorite to win the punting job, but Gabe Lindstrom had a better scrimmage. Lindstrom did not punt Saturday night. His turn will presumably come later in the preseason, unless Seattle makes an early decision in favor of Plackemeier.

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It was interesting to see Chris Spencer (far left) play both guard positions, but not center. They were taking a long look at Pat Ross at center with the backup line. I'll be interested in watching that one. Perhaps Ross can convince them to keep a 10th offensive lineman. ... Didn't see either of the backup fullbacks emerge. Leonard Weaver can obviously do several things, but the blocking has to be the priority. He had trouble picking up at least one blitz that led to pressure. ... Production-wise, Seneca Wallace (left) did not seem to do more than he had done in past exhibition games. Mike Holmgren said good things about him, though, and he generally doesn't do that on behalf of a QB unless he means it. Enough other things went wrong to spare Wallace from the blame, probably. ...

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We have postgame audio from QB Matt Hasselbeck, coach Mike Holmgren, CB Kelly Jennings, OL Chris Spencer and MLB Lofa Tatupu. That will have to suffice for now. I'm outta here. I'll check back in after I get home. Could be close to midnight by then.

Just a heads up: I have filed my stories for the paper. Now I'll be heading down to the locker room for postgame interviews. I'll make some of those available tonight. Whether they make it on here right away depends on how long I spend in the locker room. At worst, I'll post them when I get home late tonight.

Penalties on both sides of the ball have hurt the Seahawks in their exhibition opener tonight. First play on offense: False start, Bobby Engram. The defense had a couple of offsides penalties to help Tony Romo and the Cowboys score the game's only TD so far. ... Matt Hasselbeck went 4-6 for 43 yards and an 87.5 passer rating. He is done for the night. Romo pumped his rating from 39.6 to 138.9 on the TD drive. ... Chris Spencer is moving well at left guard. Looks solid so far. ... Leonard Weaver had a 23-yard kick return early. Not a great yardage total, but there wasn't a lot there. That didn't hurt him. ... Hawks backup QB Seneca Wallace went three-and-out on his first possession. No push on the third-down play. ... Second-team defense consisted of Kevin Bentley, Robert Pollard, Oliver Celestin, Kelly Jennings, Russell Davis, Shaunard Harts, Lance Frazier, Kemp Rasmussen, DD Lewis, Chris Cooper and Niko Koutovides.

For those new to how the in-game stuff works here, I'll provide important updates as I get them. Time permitting, I will make postgame audio available here. Generally there will be a haltime update of some sorts. Right now the Seahawks are running onto the field for introductions. The place is starting to fill up a little more, but as they say, plenty of good seats remain available. Maybe it has something to do with the $30 parking at the exhibition center. That seemed a bit steep for a game that doesn't count.

The Seahawks have held 20 regular practices, one scrimmage practice and one walkthrough so far, with 59 players participating in every one of them. How do I know this? Well ... first, a little background info.

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Amid diminishing concerns about airport security delays, I arrived at Spokane's airport this morning at 6:20 for my 9:30 flight to Seattle. By 6:40 I was boarding the 7 a.m. flight. Now I'm home for a few hours before heading to Qwest for the exhibition opener. Not bad. While I was away, Cortez Kennedy met with reporters to discuss his induction into the Ring of Honor. Also: Those looking for my game advance and daily camp box will find them here.

The Seahawks don't even game-plan for exhibition games, so why should we? It's a good question, and to be honest, I didn't write one word about the Cowboys in the game advance I filed for the Saturday paper. In looking around online, I ran across this Cowboys blog sponsored by the Dallas Morning News. Looks like this blog has more than enough information for those interested in catching up with the Cowboys.

Thought I'd make available a recent interview with LB D.D. Lewis, who was the subject of a feature story that ran today. Lewis has been the odd man out at linebacker since Seattle signed Julian Peterson. The audio is here.

My recent interview with TE Will Heller is available here. Heller walked on at Georgia Tech after receiving no scholarship offers from Division I programs. He was the only undrafted free agent to earn a roster spot with Tampa Bay in 2003. Now he's trying to become the third tight end here.

The Seahawks have finished their 45-minute walkthrough practice in preparation for their exhibition opener against Dallas tomorrow night. There was no news on the injury front. Newly signed G Jason Murphy was not in attendance. The team presumably sent him directly to Seattle. That means it's unlikely Murphy will play against the Cowboys. The following injured or recently recovered players will not play: Skyler Fulton, D.J. Hackett, Keenan Howry, Jimmy Williams, Michael Boulware, Isaiah Kacyvenski, Joe Tafoya, Floyd Womack, Darrell Jackson, Jerramy Stevens, Marcus Tubbs, Grant Wistrom and Rocky Bernard. Otherwise the Hawks will be at full strength. Healthy players and various other team personnel are scheduled to depart Spokane early this afternoon.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: D.D. Lewis might be better than ever, but he's the odd man out at linebacker; and TE Will Heller hopes to go from walk-on at Georgia Tech to fourth-year NFL veteran. The daily camp box is at the bottom of the D.D. Lewis story; I have also included a formatted version below. Also: Special thanks to our desk crew for catching a mathematical error in my Heller story (I realized after deadline that I had miscalculated a disparity in signing bonuses) Good work, guys. Game balls all the way around.

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Our 26-category roster has been updated and you can download it here. This one reflects all roster moves through today. I have also updated the injury information. This roster is updated periodically. You can find it under the "resources" section along the right side of the blog.

The Seahawks have finished an abbreviated afternoon practice in shorts and shells. LB Leroy Hill (foot) and CB Kelly Jennings (groin) practiced. Both are expected to play against Dallas on Saturday night. TE Jerramy Stevens (knee) missed the afternoon session. The team plans to ease Stevens back into things following knee surgery. Stevens practiced this morning. ... WR Justin Surrency was returning kicks today. ... C Pat Ross and QB Gibran Hamdan muffed a couple of center exchanges. Coach Mike Holmgren was not happy. That stuff gets under his skin so predictably that it's entertaining to watch. ... LB Isaiah Kacyvenski (quadriceps) did not practice. ... Right now it's looking as though these players will not travel for the game Saturday night: Skyler Fulton, D.J. Hackett, Keenan Howry, Jimmy Williams, Michael Boulware, Joe Tafoya, Floyd Womack, Darrell Jackson, Jerramy Stevens, Marcus Tubbs, Grant Wistrom and Rocky Bernard.

The Seahawks released TE Mike Gomez (waived/injured) today, no surprise given how team president Tim Ruskell likes to operate. Ruskell used the roster spot to claim G Jason Murphy off waivers from San Diego. Gomez is the latest in a string of players released after suffering an injury. More info on Murphy here.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished speaking with reporters following practice. He said Chris Spencer will start at left guard against Dallas. Spencer will move to center once Robbie Tobeck leaves the game. Rob Sims will then take over at left guard. Coaches are still figuring out what to do at right guard. They do not want Chris Gray to play for an extended period. Holmgren said the young offensive linemen are going to be tired because they'll be logging extra minutes. Those who have been paying attention know Spencer and Sims have had solid camps so far. This should be a good chance for them to get some work. The Holmgren audio is here.

The Seahawks have finished their morning practice in shorts and shells. LB Leroy Hill missed practice with a foot injury. He is scheduled for an MRI exam. Hill watched practice and seemed to be walking normally. There is no reason to suspect this is serious, but of course we'll be monitoring closely. D.D. Lewis worked in his place today. ... Seattle worked on some situational stuff for the Dallas game, including some blitz pickup. But for the most part they do not game-plan for exhibition opponents. ... SS Michael Boulware missed practice again. He appears close to returning based on the sprints he was running off to the side during practice. ... CB Kelly Jennings (sore groin) practiced today but he has been limited and might not travel for the Dallas game.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: This one is easy today. They combined everyting into one massive story. The highlight was probably Bob Casullo's diving finger-tip grab of a punt from Gabe Lindstrom. This was a twist on the drill where linemen have to field a certain number of punts successfully to secure an additional hour of curfew. This time coaches had to field the punts. It came down to Casullo, the special-teams coach, and he miraculously caught a punt that sailed way over his head. Coach Mike Holmgren called it one of the more unbelievable things he has seen in coaching. Which gave me an idea: Why not save a roster spot by having Casullo double as return specialist this season? Surely he could average better than 5.7 yards per punt return.

The return of TE Jerramy Stevens today came as the Seahawks practiced without fellow tight ends Mike Gomez and Keith Willis. Gomez underwest X-rays after injuring a foot. Willis missed practice because he was sick. That left Seattle with the three tight ends most likely to earn spots on the 53-man roster: Stevens, Itula Mili and Will Heller (plus Matt Murphy). Dave Boling said Stevens appeared quick and sure-handed in his first practice since returning from knee surgery. That's a great sign for the Hawks. Stevens also answered questions about the passes he dropped in the Super Bowl. Stevens interview transcript below.

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The Seahawks are planning to induct Cortez Kennedy into the Ring of Honor this year. A press conference has been scheduled for Friday at Qwest Field. Kennedy is an obvious choice for the honor. He was an eight-time Pro Bowl choice. Most impressively, he was the NFL's defensive player of the year for 1992, when the Hawks went 2-14 because they had possibly the worst offense in league history. Kennedy was unblockable for three or four seasons in the early-to-mid 1990s. He was also one of the league's most popular players.

Floyd Womack suffered a hamstring injury today. The team expects him to miss at least one week. Coach Mike Holmgren did not immediately announce a replacement for the exhibition opener Saturday. Rookie Rob Sims is a candidate.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mike's taking the day off but called this in from Cheney.

The Seahawks have one full practice and one special-teams practice scheduled for today. TE Jerramy Stevens was scheduled to practice for the first time since undergoing knee surgery in April. It should be interesting for those in attendance. I won't be among them. Dave Boling has graciously offered to cover for me today so I can be a decent daddy and celebrate my oldest son's birthday with family. The beat is in great hands with Dave. The blog will resume when I get cranking again Thursday morning (or, knowing me, sometime tonight).

LB Julian Peterson sounded like a man on a mission when several of us interviewed him following the scrimmage Saturday. A few of these comments appeared in Dave Boling's subsequent column about Peterson. I wanted to make the full audio available here for those who want to get an even better feel for what drives this guy (Peterson, not Boling). We have the audio here

QB Seneca Wallace is getting lots and lots of reps in practice. The trend will continue during the exhibition season. The coaching staff wants to be as comfortable as possible with the notion of Wallace playing when the games count. The Seahawks can't know for certain whether Wallace would lead them capably if called upon. They think they'll have a better idea after watching Wallace perform at length in the exhibition season. Wallace speaks about his top priority for training camp in this short interview.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Dave Boling takes a humorous look at Gabe Lindstrom's nearly decade-long quest to earn an NFL roster spot; and my story relays Shaun Alexander's feelings about the defense (and his new cleats). I am not immediately seeing the daily camp box online. I have included it below.

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The Seahawks have finished their afternoon practice in shorts and shells. This session was a little shorter than most. That's to be expected given that Seattle plays a game Saturday and coach Mike Holmgren has put injury prevention atop his list of priorities for camp. He couldn't prevent DE Darryl Tapp from suffering what appears to be a minor hip injury in the morning practice today. Tapp watched the afternoon practice. LT Walter Jones received the afternoon off. He has earned a day off, and the team wants Tom Ashworth to get reps at left tackle in preparation for the Dallas game Saturday. The highlight of practice: LB Julian Peterson making a diving interception in the end zone. This came a few minutes after Peterson pumped out some pushups as self-imposed punishment for letting a pass bounce off his hands.

RB Shaun Alexander has finished speaking with reporters following practice today. I found this to be one of his more interesting interviews. He said the current Seahawks would beat the 2005 version comfortably in large part because he thinks the defense is better. He said he was stunned that Seattle was able to add Julian Peterson this offseason. Don't take my word for it. Listen to Alexander here.

The Seahawks have finished their morning practice (in pads). ... WR Taco Wallace returned to the field but he was clearly bothered by those bruised ribs. That's going to be tough for him because rib injuries take a long time to heal. Taking hits in practice every day is not going to help him. ... Former USC, UNLV and Los Angeles Rams coach John Robinson attended practice today. He has numerous ties to members of the coaching staff, particularly Gil Haskell and Mike Holmgren. ... The Seahawks released K Ryan Killeen, who missed his first two field-goal attempts in the scrimmage. Seattle filled his roster spot with WR Justin Surrency. Adding a receiver made sense given that Seattle has been without several receivers lately (Darrell Jackson, D.J. Hackett and Keenan Howry remain sidelined; Wallace and Tony Brown returned only recently). More below.

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A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Dave Boling takes a closer look at LB Julian Peterson; my latest roster analysis is here; and my sidebar looks at the return of Jordan Babineaux. Note: A hard copy of the roster analysis is here. Finally: Latest Excel roster is here (updated after the release of K Ryan Killeen).

I'm on my way out to watch the last half of the special-teams practice. These are generally uneventful, and given that I have already filed my three stories for the paper, you won't hear from me immediately after practice UNLESS something newsworthy happens. My plan will be to head from practice straight back to the hotel. I'll have a chance to respond to your questions and comments at that time.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished addressing reporters following the morning practice. He said the Seahawks aren't doing anything major in reaction to the scrimmage on Saturday. Instead the team is trying to clean up little things. That is to be expected for a team that reached the Super Bowl last season. They generally shouldn't have any major overhauls planned. Holmgren also talked about getting DB Jordan Babineaux and TE Jerramy Stevens back on the field (Babineaux was back today, while Stevens returns Wednesday). We have the audio here.

TE Jerramy Stevens is scheduled to resume practicing Wednesday, a little earlier than I had expected coming into camp. Stevens has been recovering from offseason knee surgery. Getting him back is a pretty big deal for the offense. The tight end position has been weaker for his absence. Veteran Itula Mili also missed a few practices in there. Mike Gomez and Will Heller have gotten more reps in Stevens' absence. Gomez has worked quite a bit with the No. 1 offense, particularly when Mili was limited or unavailable. Coach Mike Holmgren was not sure when Stevens would be ready to play in a game, but getting back on the practice field is the first step.

The Seahawks have finished their morning practice in pads. DB Jordan Babineaux made his debut after missing the first nine days following shoulder surgery. He will work at corner for now, with a chance to play safety if needed. In theory he will challenge Kelly Herndon and Kelly Jennings for the starting job on the left side. He has some ground to make up at this point, but with Babineaux, you don't want to rule out anything. He has made a career of proving people wrong. More practice notes below.

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One of these guys is Joe Jurevicius. The other is Ben Obomanu. You try to tell them apart. "Some people just see No. 87," Obomanu said. "They get up to me and then they have to think about it for a second. ‘Hold on, that’s a whole different guy. He’s not on the team anymore.' "

I had some fun today with a story about players being mistaken for each other, even when they look nothing alike. We have audio of Obomanu, Gibran Hamdan and Niko Koutouvides sharing their stories.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Dave Boling checks in with Etric Pruitt, who faces his Super Bowl nighmare head-on; and my story takes a look at some of the more humorous cases of mistaken identity (is that you, Travis Lulay?).

The Seahawks have finished their second practice of the day, this one also in shorts and shells. A few notes: WR Taco Wallace missed practice with bruised ribs. We'll update his status as more information becomes available. ... WR Tony Brown returned to practice today. ... DE Darryl Tapp made an outstanding play to bat away a pass by QB Matt Hasselbeck. Tapp nearly picked off the ball as well. ... WR C.J. Jones made a few more nice catches, including one on a deep pass from QB Seneca Wallace. CB Kelly Jennings was right there, but he could not make the play. ... The heat was more of a factor this afternoon. Temperatures reached the high 80s in the Spokane area but it felt hotter out on the fields.

FB Leonard Weaver played a prominent role in the scrimmage Saturday. A couple of us had a chance to speak with him afterward. The audio is here. Weaver is the favorite to emerge as the No. 2 fullback and, possibly, the No. 3 halfback.

The Seahawks have finished practicing in shorts and shells this morning. CB Reggie Austin (knee) returned to practice ahead of schedule. There were no other changes on the injury front. Generally this is where I would offer some observations from practice, but I missed most of this one because I needed to finish a story. Dave Boling watched the entire practice, so we were covered in case something newsworthy happened. I'll be back out there for the full session this afternoon. I hope to post some audio in the meantime.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Dave Boling takes a closer look at Seneca Wallace's value as a quarterback; my main story gives an overview of the scrimmage, with camp box at the bottom; and my notebook leads with an item on Leroy Hill. Camp box is also below.

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We have updated and expanded our 26-category Seahawks roster. This file includes some summary information at the top, including: number of players on the roster; number of NFL Europe exemptions; number of cuts since April 20 (when we started the roster); number of players whose contracts expire after 2006, 2007 and 2008; and the number of players at each position. We make this available here in case you forgot to grab one at the office. Download it here.

As pointed out here, former Seahawks LG Steve Hutchinson still appears upset that the Seahawks didn't do more to re-sign him before free agency. He apparently concludes that Seahawks negotiator Mike Reinfeldt was afraid to deal with agent Tom Condon for fear of becoming the "next guy getting beat." I would like to see a full transcript of the interview. If the spirit of the quotes is accurate, it seems to me that Hutchinson might not be looking at the big picture here. My experience tells me this is what happened with Hutchinson:

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The Seahawks kept stats at the scrimmage today. These are obviously unofficial, but we make them available for those interested in knowing that QB Matt Hasselbeck completed 4 of 6 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions. View stats here.

QB Matt Hasselbeck has finished speaking with reporters following the scrimmage. Perched on his bike outside the locker room, a Detroit Lions hat on his head and ear-piece headphones at the ready, Hasselbeck answered questions about the offense in general and the scrimmage in particular. You'll have to wait until near the end of the audio to know why he would wear a Lions hat at camp. Seattle does open with Detroit on Sept. 10. We have the audio here.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished meeting with reporters following the Seahawks' scrimmage. I missed the first couple questions because I was speaking with players. We spoke with him under less-than-ideal circumstances: on the field, with wind and music blaring in the background. Hopefully these things weren't too much of a distraction. The audio is here.

The Seahawks have finished their scrimmage at Eastern Washington University's Woodward Field, where an estimated 12,000 fans turned out (compared to 4,500 last year). Coach Mike Holmgren seemed to be in a pretty good mood afterward. There were no known injuries of consequence, and getting out of this thing healthy was priority No. 1. Holmgren was not so pleased with some mental mistakes and overall sloppiness, even in a logistical thing such as how the assistant coaches were operating on the sideline.

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LB Leroy Hill spoke yesterday about bouncing back from a poor morning practice; he outlined goals for the scrimmage today; and he spoke about playing alongside Julian Peterson and Lofa Tatupu. We have the audio here.

The daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Dave Boling, who has covered the Hawks since the late 1980s, sizes up the team through one week of training camp; my notebook takes a look at how the team responded to a sluggish morning practice; this includes the camp box, which also appears below.

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The Seahawks have finished their afternoon practice. The tempo and execution improved from the morning session, which ended prematurely when coach Mike Holmgren abruptly sent players into the locker room. The special-teams portion of practice stood out to me today. Clearly this is an area of emphasis. Holmgren was right in the middle of things, coaching hard. Special-teams coach Bob Casullo still plays a central role in these things, but he is not alone. Running backs coach Stump Mitchell and assistant o-line coach Keith Gilbertson were again very active in kick-return drills (as they had been during the previous special-teams practices of camp). Holmgren was not available to reporters after practice (he was signing autographs and posing with fans, and this was a scheduled "off" day for him in terms of media). Tomorrow we won't get going until the scrimmage at 2 p.m.

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Misleading headline? Hey, that's what Matt Hasselbeck gets for snapping unauthorized photos at training camp. I'm kidding, of course, but Hasselbeck was serious the other day when he said Canon had given him a camera to take some candid shots around camp (yes, that's me in the first shot ... looking like I need to cut out the Cheetos and double the rep count in that Ab Lounger). Hasselbeck had a great line at the time. With the headphones-over-hat look, he said I looked like Steve Bartman. Not bad for the 187th player chosen in his draft class.

Coach Mike Holmgren, upset with how practice was going, canceled the final 30 minutes and sent the players directly into the locker room without signing autographs or mingling with fans. Holmgren then spent several minutes addressing his coaching staff near midfield. I recall this happening a few other times over the years. Usually it means Holmgren is upset with his staff.

On this day Holmgren seemed a bit irritable in his demeanor from the start of practice. He was all over the tight ends and linebackers during blocking drills. Otherwise he wasn't all that vocal, but his displeasure was apparently building within. Then, less than two hours into practice, he gathered the team, addressed them briefly and ended practice. No yelling, no screaming, just an efficient and matter-of-fact yer-outta-here. There were none of the usual post-practice interviews. Also out of luck: The kids who waited in line earlier for the 100 tickets distributed daily for the private autograph session after practice.

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DL Darrell Wright has passed his physical. He had been on the PUP list. That means we'll probably see him practicing soon. I'm on my way out to practice now. Look for the customary updates on the other side. Update: Forgot something in the work room. While I'm here I can point out that Wright was waived. He was not counting on the roster, so the team does not gain a roster spot by waiving him. Also, WR Tony Brown is practicing for the first time since camp started. CB Reggie Austin left practice on a cart. Not sure what happened there.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Dave Boling takes a look at the interesting stories behind a few players facing long odds to earn roster spots; while my story and daily camp box are here. Generally we would have had an additional story today, but there were some unusual space constraints.

Sometimes space constraints in the newspaper prevent us from delving into issues as deeply as we would like. That was the case this morning. As a result we didn't go into great detail on rules changes and points of emphasis for 2006. Fortunately for us, Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette put together a pretty detailed report on the matter today. He notes that points of emphasis for 2006 are "offensive holding; watching centers more closely for false starts — among the changes is they can't pick up the ball and move it forward when the reach the line of scrimmage; and illegal hits on defenseless players."

The Seahawks held a special-teams-only practice this afternoon, their second such practice since opening camp. These are generally scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Many of the front-line position players do not participate in them. The quarterbacks get a chance to rest their arms. Many of the linemen get a break from the pounding. RB Josh Scobey was back on the field for this practice after missing three practices while feeling sick. Scobey faces a fight for a roster spot this season. The Hawks generally keep five running backs. Shaun Alexander, Maurice Morris, Mack Strong and Leonard Weaver are probably going to be the top four. David Kirtman has a shot at the fifth spot, although Holmgren wants him to improve his study habits.

Referee Ed Hochuli has finished meeting with reporters to explain rules changes and points of emphasis for the 2006 season. Two big changes: Down-by-contact is now a reviewable play on fumbles, but the challenge will fail unless the video clearly shows who recovered the ball; and referees will now have 60 seconds, not 90, to view replays.

Hochuli also defended officials' calls in the Super Bowl, saying it was a well-officiated game in which most of the important calls just happened to go against Seattle. He called the Darrell Jackson pass-interference call a "no-brainer" because "any time you have an extended arm and you have separation between the players, it's going to be an automatic flag for pass interference."

Said Ed: "The Super Bowl was one of those games where it seemed like the big calls went against Seattle. That was just fortuitous, bad fortuitous, for Seattle. That doesn't mean there were no mistakes, but it was a well-officiated game." He also said that none of the new rules changes would have impacted calls made in the Super Bowl.

According to coach Mike Holmgren, the Seahawks expect WR D.J. Hackett to miss the next couple of weeks with a hamstring injury. Hackett suffered the injury toward the end of the morning practice Wednesday. He had been working at split end with the starters. Holmgren referred to the injury as "grade one" in severity. Read more about such injuries here.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished speaking with reporters following practice. He praised Ed Hochuli as probably the best referee in football. Coincidentally, Hochuli happened to be out at practice today as part of the officials' annual visit to training camp. Holmgren also talked about what he wants from WR Nate Burleson, why he pulled aside WR Ben Obomanu following a TD grab and when he expects some injured players to get back onto the field. We have the audio here.

The Seahawks have finished an extended morning practice in pads. Referee Ed Hochuli and a crew of officials monitored this practice, explaining changes in rules (point of emphasis, etc.). The officials were wearing these "Spandexy" shirts that appeared to be at least loosely related to wrestling singlets. Summer dress rules, apparently. ... WR Nate Burleson made quite a few impressive catches today. ... SS Michael Boulware (knee), CB Jimmy Williams (ankle) and RB Josh Scobey (sick) missed this practice, as did the usual group of players on the PUP list. ... Holmgren said TE Jerramy Stevens is ahead of schedule and could return next week. ... The team had some problems handling pitch-tosses today, so Holmgren made the quarterbacks and running backs stay after practice to work on that seeminly routine aspect of the game. That's why they have training camp. ... Reporters will be meeting with officials at about 1:30 this afternoon. That's when they show us a video explaining rules changes and points of emphasis. We also get to ask questions.

Yesterday we provided some of the audio from Mike Holmgren's post-practice media session. Today we give you the rest of what he had to say. Short audio is here. A transcript is below.

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Coach Mike Holmgren and QB Matt Hasselbeck have implied that the defense sometimes has an unfair advantage in drills because they know what plays are coming. CB Kelly Herndon, who has so far enjoyed a strong camp, puts those charges to rest. Short audio here.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Dave Boling looks at Gibran Hamdan's fight for a roster spot (and his family's unexpected journey from Kuwait to the United States after Saddam Hussein confiscated their belongings); my main story goes into detail on the growing rivalry between Seattle's offense and defense; and my notebook shows why Robbie Tobeck is not a leading candidate to return punts. The camp Cheney box is at the bottom of the main story, and also below.

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WR D.J. Hackett is having an MRI on his injured hamstring. That is the latest. He had been working at split end with the starters, although those guys rotate quite a bit. I have no additional details about the injury. I also forgot to mention earlier that SS Michael Boulware did not practice this afternoon. He did quite a bit this morning. They want to rest his surgically repaired left knee. Veteran Mike Green is getting lots of reps with the starting unit. He has the experience to push for a starting spot.

Hawks president Tim Ruskell is keeping me busy with all these roster moves. Pretty soon they're going to start cutting guys on the field. They'll have to have ready-to-sign contracts on hand for the new guys. Ruskell has already made several moves since camp opened a few short days ago. Three words for anyone on the fringes of his roster: Don't get hurt. In any event, we have updated our 26-category roster, which should be current for another few minutes, and hopefully longer. Download it here.

The Seahawks have finished their afternoon practice in shorts and shells. Newly signed TE Matt Murphy (No. 89 on your roster) made some catches (from Seneca Wallace and David Greene) in his first time on the field with Seattle. Greene made one of his best passes of camp, a deep ball down the left middle, but WR Taco Wallace couldn't make the grab. ... RB Josh Scobey missed his second consecutive practice with what the team called flu-like symptoms. WR D.J. Hackett missed this practice. He appeared to hurt a hamstring this morning, but I have not confirmed that yet. Someone asked about DE Darryl Tapp's participation on special teams. I saw him working with the punt-cover team today. Note: Now it's time for me to get working on stories for the paper/Web site. I'll check back later and answer any questions in the comments section as time permits.

The Seahawks have waived TE Matt Henshaw to make room for TE Matt Murphy, formerly of the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions. Murphy started two games for Houston last season. The Lions made him a seventh-round pick in 2002. More information on Murphy is here. Henshaw had suffered an ankle injury. The precise term for his release is waived/injured. In other roster minutiae that may appeal to one or two of you, DE Jeb Huckeba went onto the reserve/PUP list. There had been some thought that he would not be paid while on PUP, but my understanding is that he is entitled to compensation because this is a reserve/PUP list.

Coach Mike Holmgren has finished speaking with reporters following practice. He talked about the scrimmage planned for Saturday and gave some thoughts about how the defense outplayed the offense today. "Our defense did a great job in practice," he said. "The offense, today they took one on the chin." We have the audio here. Generally I post the entire session. This time I'm making an exception because there were only a couple of us there for his opening remarks. I'm going to use those for a story I'm working on. I'll post that portion of the audio here a little later.

The Seahawks have finished their morning practice and it was a fun one to watch. The defense has come so far over the last couple years. For long stretches today the No. 1 offense couldn't complete a pass, couldn't make progress on the ground, couldn't funtion, period. It was really something to see. Coach Mike Holmgren was a bit steamed -- he admits to having his mood tied to the plight of the offense -- but not as angry as he might have been in years past. As the head coach, he's happy to finally have a strong defense on his side, even if it means taking some lumps in practice. There is really a good offense-defense rivalry in the making here. MLB Lofa Tatupu (left) is instinctive anyway, but his knowledge of the Seattle offense makes some of these drills almost unfair.

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From listening to feedback here, fans seem to be concerned about the Seahawks' special-teams play. I watched practice yesterday and noticed a few changes from past special-teams-only sessions. LB Kevin Bentley confirmed those changes during an interview yesterday afternoon (see some of his quotes at the end of this story). Listen to Bentley here.

Seahawks TE Mike Gomez has an interesting story. I spoke with him following practice the other day. The resulting story is here. Listen to the interview here.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Dave Boling thinks Chris Spencer is ready to start whenever the Hawks need him; my main story includes some observations on how the Hawks are trying to avoid complacency (daily camp box at the bottom); and my notebook leads with the road Mike Gomez has taken from substitute teacher to NFL hopeful.

The Seahawks held their first special-teams-only practice of camp today. I'm putting together a few observations that will run as part of our newspaper coverage tomorrow. Right now I need to get back to the hotel and finish some stories. Note: Coach Mike Holmgren did confirm after practice that backup C Chris Spencer suffered only a sprained ankle this morning. It sounded like he would be on the field again soon. Holmgren also said he did not consider TE Itula Mili's injury to be serious. That tells me Mili should be back this week. TE Matt Henshaw suffered an ankle injury today but he was walking shortly after practice. I'll check in a bit later.

The Seahawks have finished their morning practice. They worked in pads today for the second morning in a row. The afternoon session is for special teams only. That's probably a good thing given that someone stepped on QB Matt Hasselbeck's foot, and backup C Chris Spencer appeared to injure his left leg on the second-to-last play of practice. Hasselbeck said he was OK. Spencer stayed in there for the final play but he did not move well. We'll pass along an update when we know more. More notes below.

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QB Matt Hasselbeck has finished speaking with reporters following practice today. Someone stepped on his foot during practice, but Hasselbeck appeared to be OK. He met with a trainer before heading over to the interview tent in bare feet. He talked about the linebackers, receivers, tight ends and his evolving relationship with WR Nate Burleson. He also went into detail about the long TD pass he threw to Burleson behind two defenders. We have the audio here.

A daily wrap of our Seahawks-related newspaper coverage: Dave Boling checks in with Leonard Weaver, who still stands as an example of how obscure players can make it; my overview from practice (with daily camp box) is here; and this link takes you to our notebook about Lofa Tatupu's mental approach. Camp box is also below.

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