The Seahawks could not have picked a prettier day to hold their first practice at their new practice facility in Renton. A 12th Man flag was flying on the northwest corner of the fields, and an eagle took the time to do a couple passes by the field for effect. (It reminded me of the movie Funny Farm, where they are trying to sell the place and Chevy Chase says, "Cue the deer.") At one point, defensive tackle Craig Terrill walks up to assistant coach John Jamison and says, "This place is crappy. I can't practice here."

The fields were pristine, though I have to say there is far different depth perception than at the facility in Kirkland, where this afternoon's practice will be held. It is way more open and not as many trees, so things look much farther away than they actually are. There were a couple hundred VIPs who got to watch practice, and then Tod Leiweke, Tim Ruskell and Mike Holmgren addressed them afterward in a tent on the lake.

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Today's practice was longer than usual because they went through the practice and then went through mock game substitutions that they usually go through on Saturday's before a game. They are leaving for Minnesota tomorrow morning and won't have time to do the mock practice.

Mike Holmgren said the decisions have been made about rotations, but he was not willing to give up that information. My guess is, as in the past, Matt Hasselbeck plays a series and then takes a seat. I don't think Walter Jones is planning on playing at all. Julius Jones said he is hoping to get more run than he got during the scrimmage. "I want to get wet," Jones said. Holmgren said once again the focus will be on evaluating players on the bubble, so keep an eye on that.

Roster-wise, the Seahawks placed Wesly Mallard on injured reserve with a knee injury and signed former UW cornerback Derrick Johnson -- who promptly injured himself and was getting his ankle iced on a cart. He didn't take part in too much of the workout. Here is his player bio at the UW.

There was a lot more team stuff today and less individual drills. On one passing drills, Ben Obomanu completely shook Kevin Hobbs and made a nice catch given that he was wide open. Hobbs redeemed himself later when he nearly picked off a pass intended for Courtney Taylor. He dropped it, but if he got it he would have gone the distance, to quote Field of Dreams.

On the bad play of the day, not only did new center Ben Claxton fail to snap the ball on time when his 10 teammates moved, but the play ended with Bryan Gilmore dropping a pass, an occurrence that happens far too often. Jordan Kent dropped two passes in some earlier drills, and Michael Bumpus, back on the field after sitting out yesterday with a hamstring injury, dropped a pass from Seneca Wallace.

During 11-on-11 drills, Owen Schmitt completely whiffed on a pass rush by David Hawthorne, allowing Hawthorne to get to the QB. Schmitt just laid on the ground pounding his fist into the turf.

The offense had some more problems in short yardage drills. On third-and-1, Matt Hasselbeck missed Jeb Putzier on a 20-yard pass, then Lofa stuffed T.J. Duckett. The next two plays were converted by Duckett up the middle.

The play of the day came during goalline drills, when Matt Hasselbeck faked a handoff to Duckett, fooled everybody and strolled untouched into the end zone on a bootleg. (Gooney bird landing on a lake.) John Carlson also had a very nice play in goal line, catching a TD pass from Seneca that just slipped past Lance Laury.

Holmgren said Jordan Babineaux and Floyd Womack are both out probably 7-10 days with their respective knee injuries.

Late in practice, special teams was practicing onside kick coverage, with Olindo Mare doing the kicking. He drills one right at Kelin Johnson, who was ready to make the play. At the last second, the ball pops up and crushes him in the facemask. I'm sure not what Bruce DeHaven had in mind.

During the mock game, both Brian Russell and Marcus Trufant had interceptions, Russell making up for the other day, when his three secondary teammates had picks and he did not. The mock game ended with a hail mary from the 40, with Deon Grant knocking it down in the end zone.

These guys head back to the Kirkland facility, but are here for good on Aug. 18, following the San Diego game.