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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He looked crisp running routes and caught the ball with confidence. But mostly Seneca Wallace looked like he belonged in his first full practice at wide receiver.
Because of Seattle's injuries to its top four wide outs, back-up quarterback Seneca Wallace worked out with the receivers and it appears he will see considerable time at the position, and perhaps start on Sunday.
Along with Wallace, newcomers Billy McMullen and Samie Parker saw their first reps with the Seahawks, as Seattle looks to fill in the gaps left by injured veterans Deion Branch, Bobby Engram and Nate Burleson.
"I think for the first day it went pretty well," Wallace said. "It felt good. You know it’s different. You’ve been working at quarterback all of your life and then you go over there and do some drills. But I felt pretty good.”
Listen to Wallace and Parker talk here and here.
Along with the two new receivers, punter Jon Ryan also got his first work at practice, replacing Ryan Plackemeier on the roster. Ryan held for Olindo Mare during field goal work in the special teams period.
And the Seahawks appear to have got some good news/bad knews on two players it released in Jordan Kent and Justin Forsett. Kent cleared waivers and practiced with the team on Thursday and is back on the practice squad, with receivers coach Keith Gilbertson telling Kent it was nice for him to join the team as he ran onto the field midway through practice. While Justin Forsett apparently did not make it through waivers and reportedly was picked up by Indianapolis.
Kent said he received some inquiries through his agent from other teams but ultimately no one claimed him.
“Obviously with the numbers and everything like that, you don’t know what they’re going to do," said Kent about still being in Seattle. "But you know they obviously had to bring in some veteran help because we were a depleted core. And we were young. So they made a decision that they felt was going to help the team win on Sunday.
“And for me to help the team win on Sunday is to go out there and do the best I can on the practice squad. So I’m going to do all I can in my control to help them win. Sometimes you can’t try to understand the reason. You’ve just got to say it’s out of my control, it’s
their decision, just keep doing what you’re doing."
McMillen is tall (6-4, 215) and has pretty good hands. McMillen said he already feels comfortable in the offense because of his experience in the West Coast offense in both Philadelphia and Washington.
“I wouldn’t say it’s slow, and I wouldn’t say they’re throwing it at me," McMillen said about the extent the Seahawks are throwing the playbook at him. "But pretty much every time they put me out there I knew what I was doing."
Parker said he brings big-play ability.
"Being in the Pacific Northwest guys have seen me play at Oregon and know what I’m capable of doing," he said. "So I’m just going to try and translate that to the NFL level and do it here.”
Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack worked at right guard during team drills and said after practice he's ready to go.
Veteran receiver Bobby Engram said it's difficult to watch and not be able to contribute, but he wants to make sure he's fully healed before he takes the field, which means he probably will not come back until after the bye week.
"I'm just trying to keep my conditioning at a high level so when I come back I won't miss a beat," Engram said. "Everything in me wants to be out there for this game. But I don't think that would be a smart decision for me personally or for my team."
COMMENTS:
Yo Jim Mora, take the Husky job. Don't go down with Numbskull as your GM.
On the PLUS side... we got a big Jordan Kent "type". 6'4" with better hands than Kent and has been fairly productive w/o a QB as good as Hasselbeck. Also we picked up Parker who has good speed.
I think the most interesting comment of the day was when Holmgren said that we may be making moves this week regarding Coutu. Hmmm... Does this mean we are trying to trade him to a team for a vet WR?
Well... it can only get better from here!!! Go Seahawks!!
Glad they're doing it, desperate times and all . . .
They don't mind letting the public know about him out taking WR reps because it takes the focus off of our WR depth troubles and gives our opponents something to game plan for.
Anytime you can steer an opponent's thinking it's a good thing - as long as you can consistently prove them wrong. Sometimes that doesn't matter either though.
Let's hope Matt can spread it around and Holmy leaves Putz-ier on the bench in favor of Carlson.
I hope Deion and Bobby are sleeping in hypoveric chambers.
Good Luck Forsett, sorry you never had a chance here but you were 5th on the depth chart.
My god you guys are by far the least football smart people in the entire world. What is there to like about guys that can't even make a team?!!! Samie Parker has been on how many teams, including KC- one of the worst teams ever? And why is that? Because he can't catch a football, you rube!!!! Why was McMullen selling sausage at a mall kiosk last week? Because he's even slower than Logan Payne!!!! Open your eyes and take in some reality, goofballs. This team is abysmal.
you're one of the least football smart people in the world if you're going to write off a team as "abysmal" after one game. why don't you jump on someone's bandwagon...
Even if Seneca is just running a regular route- the defense will think there is a possibility of trickery every time he walks on the field. They will be slightly less aggressive. I love it! Hopefully he stays healthy for us. But- if you have a bullet you might as well shoot it in a shoot-out. Don't want to die with a full chamber!
Fired up- this should be interesting. How about if the Hawks just run all over the niners. Would be great. Hopefully Pork Chop doesn't get hurt. I wonder if he'll be a better RG than LG. We all remember how that went! That Detroit game was brutal.
I like that riddle. Seneca also knows this playbook and how routes need to be run- like the back of his hand. His knowledge of the playbook is second only to Hasselbeck. It'll be fun to see him do his thang.
Re the contrast between Seneca and Kent, it seems pretty clear to me that Seneca has better small area quickness, and elusiveness once he gets the ball.
The reaction of the blog is pretty interesting these days. For those that say we are overreacting, read the press clippings: Sando cannot remember one position being decimated like this on any team that he can remember in his time covering football, Mike Holmgren has said he has never seen anything like it in his 17 years of coaching. This is bad people. The way we respond to this crisis will determine the outcome of our season. I hope we have the kind of character that will allow us to survive this, but we will see.
Apparently, Ruskell thinks the rest of the league watches as little of the other teams as he does. He can't see the value of having an electric returner, ala Devon Hester; and he thinks no one else saw Forsett in the preseason.
The rest of the league knows field position is key and a momentum changer. Sure, even Hester makes some dumb choices at times, but he also breaks bigs ones and I'm sure Forsett will be in that same category.
I never said these guys were TO and Steve Smith, but they are clearly an upgrade over what we had.
Well, that puts him a cut above Courtney Taylor.
For those whining about Wallace as receiver being reported, I guess you missed Holmgren's press conference. This isn't the Official Secrets Act we're dealing with here people. And I doubt it would come as a surprise to the opponent even if they put a Manhatten Project secrecy on it. Get a grip.
Womack is injury prone? Branch and Burleson tore an ACL without being touched, Sims and our former punter tore Pectoral muscles (how does that happen?). Spencer was injured all camp (unfortunately he healed enough to start on Sunday). Tatupu seems to always have some sort of ding, as does Hasselbeck (although with porous interior o-line play the last two years-thanks for that, Timmay!, and Sunday, I'm surprised he can even walk). Isn't Locklear injured? Engram cracks a bone in his shoulder in practice, the rookie LS comes down with a bad back...
Even the airheads on KJR today were asking shouldn't Vallos be starting at center, when they weren't whining about the 15 yard penalty at the end of the Husky game for the 1,000th time. But they also thought Spencer should be moved to right guard. Apparently they too have never seen him play there.
I actually see some hope though for rest of the season, for one reason. The real root source of our offensive woes the last two years, and Sunday, has been putrid play by the interior offensive line. One step was taken this off season in the signing of Mike Wahle. But for whatever reason, despite all evidence that they are not starting caliber players, Chris Spencer and Rob Sims continued to start, and suck, at center and right guard. That problem has been taken out of the FO/coaches hands by the injury to Sims. Say what you want about Womack's injury history, this is a huge upgrade at right guard. If only they'd bench Spencer for Vallos. But with a lot better right guard play, we may actually see RB's with holes to run through and a quarterback with time to throw. So IF the Special Teams (now that presumably we have a punter who won't kick 22 and 31 yard punts) can actually stay in their lanes this week, and figure out if a guy splits out wide on a punt or field goal attempt that you cover him, and IF the defense can mount a pass rush so that Kelly Jennings doesn't have to do something he's incapable of, i.e. actually cover a receiver, and IF someone besides Carlson actually catches passes, we can win some games. Because if the performance in Buffalo is a bellweather of what the 2008 Seahawks are going to do against good teams, especially on the road, we're looking at 5-11 or 6-10 and wondering how Ruskell is going to blow a top 10 or 12 draft pick.
How many times is that one game B.S. going to be repeated? Sunday was a continuation of the 2007 season, which was a continuation of the 2006 season. That is, once again, a parade of porous offensive line woes that kept the running game from ever running, kept Hasselbeck one step away from IR, and kept the team from performing well and getting very far in the playoffs. It's also a continuation of the inability to win consistently on the road, or to beat good teams on the road. In fact, the game Sunday was the Seahawks fourth consecutive road loss. So you "it's just one" mantra chanters need to put the Kool Aid down, pull your heads out of whatever orifice you keep them in, and get a hard dose of reality.
Of more important consequence, WE CAN NOT WIN A ROAD GAME AGAINST A WINNING TEAM. hard to be a Sperbowl Champion when you only beat cream puffs and only win at home.
And you guys poo pooing the loss of Forsett, WE WILL REGRET LOSING HIM AS HE WILL BE A SOLID CONTRIBUTOR FOR YEARS AND WE HEPT A BUNCH OF BACKUPS AND HAS BEENS at RB.
The offensive line is not playing well at all, they are not as talented as the defensive fronts they play against in the NFL (this is the fault of Tim Ruskell).
The Wide Receivers are all hurt... Seneca Wallace is now the best one we got and he's a Quarterback, so there you have it (this is the fault of unforseen injuries to Engram and Burleson not Ruskell).
Running backs are overpaid and not as talented as we were duped into believing... Jones looks like a one-trick pony and incapbable of gaining yards after contact and Duckett is a bust, Forsett added some lightining, but he was not given any run... now he's been released (this is the fault of Tim Ruskell and Mike Holmgren).
Defense, I give a pass to this week - but without Bernard occupying double teams and pushing the pocket, they looked like they are incapable of generating a pass rush, so that is a concern. Kelly Jennings played poorly, but he is better than that and Lee Evans is a tough matchup. Jennings is not known as a speedburner - Coach Mora should have had Trufant follow him or try Wilson on the right side, either way - Jennings can't man up on guys with that much speed.
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