Eric D. Williams took over the Seahawks beat and Seahawks Insider blog in December. Williams has covered the Seahawks, Sonics and high school sports for The News Tribune since joining the paper in 2006. Eric lives in Tacoma with his wife and two children.
Tacoma News Tribune columnist Dave Boling also contributes to the Seahawks Insider blog.
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Another practice under cool, gray skies, though the rain held off for the most part, a few sprinkles here and there. But the practice was not affected by the weather, which hopefully will turn by the time Saturday's scrimmage at Qwest Field rolls around.
The play of the day was turned in by Howard Green, who essentially lumbered into the backfield unblocked to blow up Justin Forsett. It looked like he swallowed him on the play. Fullback Owen Schmitt also had a very nice block on linebacker Matt Castelo on a kickout run, and afterward Gil Haskell was very complimentary of Schmitt and his willingness to put his head in there and block.
Marcus Trufant continues to have a good camp, reaching over the shoulder of Nate Burleson to knock down a pass from Matt Hasselbeck. Tru is playing with great confidence and seems at ease in his spot.
The practice ended with some four-minute offense between the third offenses and defenses, with Charlie Frye leading the offense and T.J. Duckett getting a lot of the carries. On the first possession, Kevin Hobbs quickly ended it with an interception of Frye. Then, as good as the first-team defense has been, Frye shredded the third-team defense, completing some nice passes to John Carlson, Schmitt and Michael Bumpus for an eventual touchdown run by Frye around the right side.
Mike Holmgren was at times peeved in this practice, muttering some frustrations occasionally, completely stopping practice at one point and calling everybody together. Holmgren doesn't get irked at the big stuff, like a fumble, but goes crazy on the little stuff, like not knowing a formation. That's what makes him such a good coach, though, his attention to detail that can decipher one little thing that might make a play work or fail.
A few other observations:
* Bryan Gilmore dropped another pass in simple passing drills, and Holmgren was watching at the time. Gilmore has a lot of NFL experience, but he has dropped more than a few passes where no defenders were around.
* The offensive line had a few problems on successive plays, with Julian Peterson getting a sack of #8 if sacks were allowed, then Josh Wilson getting to the QB undeterred on a corner blitz. Wilson did the same thing on the next play and almost got there, slipping around Carlson.
* On a running play in the same sequence, Darryl Tapp completely stonewalled Mo Morris with a big hit. On the next play, Baraka Atkins ran down Morris in the backfield.
I spoke with Haskell for a little after practice, and he essentially said that while all the receivers have ups and downs right now, nothing will be determined until the first preseason game. Anybody can catch balls in practice, he said, but the real talent will be exposed once competitive play starts. To start handicapping that spot right now is way premature. Nothing can be said until Aug. 9.
Haskell said Duckett looks a lot better than he did over the offseason. He has lost some weight, he has good vision and he hits the hole rather than dancing around. He also likes Julius Jones, who he said ran with a lot of "pop" once he got the ball. I asked him if Jones looks different now than he did in his final months in Dallas, and he said that was tough to answer because Jones was much farther along in the regular season in his final months in Dallas than he is now. He also said he liked the way the offensive line run blocked today, and for the first time it seemed like they were not knocked back on their heels by the defensive line.
COMMENTS:
Sounds to me like our O-line is getting worked, Carlson is working with 3rd stringers, no one can return kicks, and MoMo is getting flattened and chased down in the backfield.
I'm usually a "glass half full" guy but damn... these last couple of reports have me shook.
Am I wrong for this? Someone help me out here... give me some confidence.
All of this reporting is fun, but other than injuries, doesn't mean anything.
If you read ESPN or another major sports reporter, you might believe the upcoming season isn't even worth playing because they already know who is going to perform, right? I mean, San Fran last year sure did live up to the pundits expectations, yeah?
Don't put any stock into this time of year. Lets see who is still standing at game 6 or 8.
Don’t fret just yet about the offense. The defense has two key advantages so far.
First: The defense is almost always ahead of the offence when training camp begins.
Second: The defense returned every single one of their starters.
The offense has the opposing disadvantages.
There numerous changes in the offence this year.
WR - Deon Branch is on the side lines
RB - Shawn Alexander is gone, and offence is trying to figure out the three headed monster of JuliMoDuckett
OL,C - The first and second string centers (the QB of the OL) are on the sidelines so a third stringer and a practice squad member are filling in at the center position
OL,G - There is a new guard on the left side, a guard switching from left to right getting acquainted with the right side of the line.
OL,TE - There is a rookie getting introduced to the NFL.
That's a lot of change to assimilate and embrace in the first week of training camp. If the defense, with all of their pro-bowlers, wasn't handling this offence-in-flux there would be issues. I'd warn you to watch out for a falling piece of sky, but looking up all the pieces of sky seem to be right where it belongs.
On the bright side, think of the hits that Julius Jones is dishing out. The defense is learning that they don’t just hit people so they will fall. Perhaps the defense will be better prepared this year to deliver a hit and wrap up better when they tackle the likes of the Ram’s Steven Jackson or the 49er’s Frank Gore.
i'm pretty sure that what holmgren hates is mental mistakes, more than physical mistakes. that's a common sentiment among coaches because mental mistakes are entirely the fault of the player and indicative of a lack of preparation or a lack of concentration. mental mistakes are always correctable, physical mistakes are sometimes not.
Your definition of big stuff and little stuff doesn't make sense to me.
How can not knowing a formation be little stuff?
Nice to know that they aren't going to get carried away with the catches Payne is making in camp. Sounds like he's earned a closer look in those preseason games from his performance in camp.
Also sounds like Jones is making a strong push for #1 and Duckett for #2.
The one thing that really bothers me is the receiving situation. Like the report says, it's one thing to catch passes in camp and something else to do it in the NFL. We're relying on a lot of young, untested guys to step up or our passing game is going to become as one dimensional as the running game was last year.
Like everyone above me said, injuries are the key to watch for in training camp. It is only the first week. Dropped passes, botched snaps, making fundamental mistakes (lining up in the wrong formation, running the wrong route, ie. mental stuff) are what need to be worried about. If you can't catch a pass at this point in your football career maybe the NFL isn't for you. Pure athletic ability can't be fret about too much, the offense is putting it together and the defense can just play all out. I'm excited to see our team move up to being a shut defense and be recognized as a complete unit, not just our handfull of exceptional Pro Bowlers. Our defense is going to be special this year.
I'd like to hear more about the kickers to see how things are shaking out there.
skrati: "How can not knowing a formation be little stuff?"
Yeah, he's got it backwards, at least for this time of year anyway. You're bound to get a lot of fumbles and dropped passes and things of that nature early in training camp, especially with guys who are brand new to the offense, because they are thinking too much, trying to get their assignments down. You have to work that 'little stuff' to death so that it's instinctive by the time the season starts. Then you can set your concentration to focus primarily on the physical.
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