Seahawks Insider
where there is no offseason

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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Seahawks Insider
Thursday, September 11th, 2008
Posted by Frank Hughes @ 04:05:41 pm

Defensive back Marcus Trufant appeared to injure his hand when he collided with linebacker Lofa Tatupu during a team defensive drill. After taking a look at it, he walked inside with trainers and did not return. He is likely to be listed as limited participation in practice when the injury report comes out in an hour or so. I did not see Trufant in the locker room and did not get a chance to talk to him.

The team signed Yvenson Bernard to the practice squad, releasing defensive tackle Kevin Brown. Benson practiced with the scout team on Thursday.

It was a big day for interceptions, with Kelly Jennings, Deon Grant, and Brian Russell all picking off Charlie Frye, who was running scout team stuff.

[More:]

The intensity at practice seemed ramped up a little bit, with Holmgren jumping on the offense several times about their execution. It was not as intense as it was before the San Francisco game last year, but he definitely is letting players know that another dud is not acceptable.

Deion Branch once again went through the full practice. He is not close to running full speed yet, the reason Holmgren said on Wednesday that he is likely not ready to come back until after the bye week. It looks like he is doing things just to get comfortable while he is wearing full pads.

I don't know if Eric blogged this yesterday, but T.J. Duckett has changed his jersey number to 42 from 45. I also read somewhere that the league is making players pay for the leftover jerseys that aren't sold when a player decides to change his number. I asked Julian Peterson about it, and he said he applied to change to No. 98 last year. They told him he would have to pay for the spare jerseys. He said he would pay for 100. But when the jerseys came out, he had 59. Then this year, they gave him No. 98 and he didn't have to pay anything. He never tried to get an explanation.

John Marshall said San Francisco has a new look because Mike Martz has put in a new offensive system. He said they are using Frank Gore much more in the passing offense. I asked him if they thought they had figured out Gore last year. He said they never feel like they have a player figured out, but they do know they have to gang-tackle him to bring him down. Marshall said he thought they did some good things last week, but he was upset that they didn't get any turnovers and they got very little pressure on the QB. Peterson said if he learned one thing from last week, it was that he has to tackle and go for the ball rather than just laying a good hit on somebody.

Matt Hasselbeck met with the media but was uncharacteristically subdued. Not super enlightening. He said they have been working all week on a bunch of stuff and will continue to work on a bunch of stuff, but they don't really know what to expect. He said the one thing he would like to improve is his completion percentage -- though, to be fair, if the dropped passes were caught he would have been over 50 percent. Not great, but better than 17-for-41.

Julius Jones said he is excited about the chance to be the No. 1 back at Qwest Field, which was part of the reason that he signed here. He said the new turf actually makes things a little slower but it will get broken in soon.

Categories: Notes from practice 41 comments

COMMENTS:

ChromeCW @ 16:20 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Frank, it is Yvenson BERNARD
Frank Hughes @ 16:26 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Righty-o, ChromeCW
Fredline @ 16:30 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
OMG, now Trufant...I hate to say the sky is falling, but damn...this is getting ridiculous.
BobbyK @ 16:35 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Not a good sign when the leader of this team is subdued because his offensive line and WRs suck so bad.

I think fans are a bit subdued (i.e. p!ssed off) at all of the offensive "talent" that Matt has at his disposal, too (and if the WRs were all healthy, we'd still have a piss poor offensive line thanks to RG/C).

Now is the time for the Ruskell Cult to talk about Lofa, Mebane, and Hill...
LoafOfTattooedPoo @ 16:37 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Ya Frank,
There's no way these guys on here would know who you were talking about unless his name is spelled correctly. Considering Bernard played for OSU all the way out in the Pac-10 against teams like the Huskies, Cougs and Ducks. Wait a second??

Welcome to the world of petty bloggers Frank.
I know you will, but please keep us posted on Trufant's hand.
BobbyK @ 16:41 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
It's funny when followers blindly follow their leaders like Ruskell is worshipped/followed by his Clan. Maybe those of us who are willing to call him out should give his organization a name. Timmy's Blind Children, Cult Timmy 101, Tamplanta Followers, or what?
MightyTiki @ 16:52 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Umm..LofaOfTattoedPoo. There is a difference between misspelling a name and having the name completely wrong. I don't think it was out of line to make the correction. Carry on.
chewy724 @ 17:20 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Matt is not subdued, he's freakin depressed. Wouldn't you be if you had to throw to a bunch of rejects for the next 2 weeks.

Oh great, Julian is already making excuses about why he won't be running for over 100 yards this weekend. He must of saw Forsett slowed by the turf in Chicago game.
nighthawk2 @ 17:31 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Uh, that's Julius, since we're in the name correcting thread.
bigsmoothy @ 17:40 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
So the Hawks have weaknesses at Oline and WR. I can't think of many teams in the league that don't have a couple sore spots. Does that make every GM in the league crap? Give it a rest about Ruskell. It's tough in today's NFL to have depth at any position and to hit on every draft pick. To claim that Ruskell is a failure is fair weather crap and it's tiresome. BobbyK...stop pretending it takes balls or even matters that you are "willing" to call Ruskell out. I'm not "willing" to call Ruskell out because I recognize that he has a tough freakin job and his squad has won 4 division titles in a row.
BobbyK @ 18:04 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
You're right, he's personally won those 4 division titles with ALL of his own players (Matt, Walt, Hutch, Bobby, Rocky, Trufant, Locklear, etc...).

He was lucky to take over a franchise already on the brink. He's not the reason they were on the brink of great things. He did a great job of tweaking the '05 squad with the additions like JoeJoe and drafting the LBs (cough Jamie Sharper). He did not reform it.

That's like saying some stupid democrat or republican president of the last 30 years is personally responsible we live in such a great country - without thanking our Founding Fathers.
BobbyK @ 18:43 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
THE CASE FOR RUSKELL...

It is clear my thoughts about Tim Ruskell...

However, there's always two sides to every story so I'll try to be polite to him.

1. I truly appreciate the fact that he is a guy who only brings in good "character" people. It's more fun to root for your team when you also know they are decent human beings.

With that being said, I wish he would go out on a limb every once in awhile. If you have a team of basically good people --- then when you bring in a talented, yet troubled player, it will be easier for that person to conform to the culture of the team. I am not saying to gamble on first and second round picks or draft like the Bengals... I'm just saying that when a guy like KoRo becomes available, that you be able to take the risk. It doesn't cost the organization a draft pick, nor does it cost a large signing bonus that will screw your cap. Anyone with a brain knows that KoRo would be a better fit than either of the clowns we brought in this week. Whatever is best for the team is what Ruskell should want. You can tell Holmgren would want KoRo and he wants to win. I know Ruskell also wants to win, but you have to question it a bit when it comes down to allowing a guy like KoRo to remain a FA when he could have helped this team.

2. I think he's a better than average GM when it comes to the draft. I know Spencer sucks, David Greene was a bust, and his CBs aren't exactly Pro Bowlers, but everyone hits/misses on picks and I think he's done a decent job with guys like Lofa, Hill, Willis, Mebane, Bryant, and Carlson, along with a few others.

He's not the total moron I make him out to be. It's kind of like being married and your spouse cheats on you. You try to forgive them and move on in life but you always have this hurt gnawing at you. Kind of like when he told Holmgren that he would franchise Hutch and then lied about it and all of a sudden we lose the best left side of any line I've ever seen in my life. And then he has the nerve to say it wasn't a mistake! AND then you find out the reason Hutch wanted out so bad is because he was an ass to him, lied about negotiations, etc. I would have a lot more respect for Timmy if he would have just come out and said --- "My bad" or something like that.

nidhighe @ 19:10 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
As I said before, Ruskell is better at evaluating defensive talent than offensive talent. If you look at Tampa Bay when he was there and his mentor Rich McKay was the GM, they always struggled at putting together an offense.

I don't think Ruskell is the worst GM ever, but he has some blind spots that are hurting the team.
nighthawk2 @ 19:26 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
"To claim that Ruskell is a failure is fair weather crap and it's tiresome."

What's tiresome is that "fairweather" crap by some bozos that think they have a monoply of what 'fan' is and can't tolerate deserved criticism. Fan is short for fanatic by the way.
Orogenic @ 19:50 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Frank,
you pointed out how practice was ramped up and how Holmgren was jumping on the offense over execution. Then you wonder why Hasselbeck was uncharacteristically subdued. Haha.

I think you somehow backwardly answered your own inquiry. I am guessing Matt was a little frustrated and a little tired. Breaking in new wide receivers with the coach, the living legend himself, yelling at you is not really the most exciting and uplifting experience in the world.

Its all good though, when Matt and the rest of the Hawks hear us on Sunday everything will be all fine and good in the world.
YeeHaawks @ 20:40 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
All this whining after one game! WOW!
BobbyK @ 20:42 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
And I bet the Patriot fans are just as happy... AFTER JUST ONE GAME...
dkord @ 20:53 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Yvenson Bernard? Looks like a Forsett clone to me.
JustaFan @ 21:14 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Whining about somebody in a blog isn't calling them out. Calling them out is a face to face thing that takes a lot more guts than using an anonymous keyboard.

Fan stands for fanatic, but it doesn't stand for purveyor of intelligent discussion or behavior.

First piece of evidence: Oakland Raider followers. Second: Cleveland's Dog Pound. Third: Anyone who wears a wedge of cheddar on their head. Fourth: Ruskell haters who were Ruskell lovers until Sunday.

I would love to see the Seahawks 15 and 1 in January and then double check how some of the first week doomsayers are blogging then.

I'm hoping for a score of 38-9 on Sunday (Seahawks winning of course.) Not only am I JustaFan, it's also JustaGame. Have a good evening.
dman1080 @ 21:41 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
15 and 1 is a BIG stretch....justa dreamah
johneerocket @ 22:36 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
As a fan, I just want to be entertained, exhilarated and proud of my home town team. I can't describe the great feeling I had when we beat Carolina and were headed to the Super Bowl. Or the frustration a few weeks earlier when I was convinced we were going to lose in overtime to the Giants. 12 and 4, 13 and 3, whatever, I will still be watching and cheering them on. I don't do this blindly, but I don't also have such an obsession that I rant about the idiocy of the organization every day, every time something goes wrong. I wish Forsett had cleared waivers, and we didn't lose Hutch, but we did. Make that lemonade.
Seahawkman76 @ 22:41 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Come on....no one is hating on Ruskell, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that he is a defensive GM, and the mistakes he continues to make are on offense. Hutch, J. Brown, D. Greene, Forsett, Kent....

It is becoming obvious why Holmgren has talked about quitting since he has been there, but not committing to retirement.

Someone said earlier that he took a team on the brink and tweaked the defense = a super bowl team. But since then, our offense get's worse every year and our defense supposedly is the best ever now.

DO THE MATH!
Chris de Lemos @ 22:49 - Thursday, September 11th, 2008 Email
Josh Brown is not on Ruskell. Placekickers are not worth that kind of drama.

Can't we got a day without someone bringing up Hutch? It seems to me that even with an elite RB, Hutch, some behemoths on the OL in Minnesota - they still can't seem to win the games they're supposed to.
Birdfeeder @ 00:57 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
I found some dirt on Yvenson Bernard, it sounds like he has a fixer-upper knee:

29 APR 08: Apparently the Rams have a soft spot for Oregon State running backs. On Monday, they agreed to terms with Yvenson Bernard, who succeeded Steven Jackson as the Beavers' primary ball-carrier.

Bernard was one of 13 undrafted rookies who agreed to terms with the Rams, supplementing their eight draft picks. Among those selections was Oregon State guard Roy Schuening, in the fifth round.

"We've got Oregon State East here, I guess," coach Scott Linehan quipped.

Bernard, whose first name is pronounced EVAN-son, was the only running back added.

Stephen Jackson, a first-round draftee in 2004, left Oregon State as the No. 2 rusher in school history, with 3,625 yards. Bernard passed him last year, when he piled up 1,214 yards to push his career total to 3,862, sixth in Pacific 10 Conference annals.

Bernard was named offensive MVP at the Emerald Bowl after he ran for 177 yards on 38 carries in the Beavers' 21-14 victory over Maryland on Dec. 28. That performance came just 38 days after he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery.

Jackson posted his totals in three seasons, compared with four for Bernard. He also averaged 4.9 yards a carry to Bernard's 4.4.

"I learned from (Jackson)," Bernard said. "I watched the way he read the zone offense we ran at Oregon State. Everybody can run the ball pretty much; it's doing the little things that make you a starter."

At 5 feet 8 and 204 pounds, Bernard is considerably smaller than Jackson (6-2, 231). And he doesn't have Jackson's speed or elusiveness. Bernard was timed at 4.8 seconds for 40 yards at the NFL Scouting Combine, although he reportedly ran a 4.6 at Oregon State's pro day.

"He doesn't have the home-run speed, but ... the guy just knows how to get yards," Linehan said. "I wouldn't bet against the kid."

An outfielder, Bernard was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 33rd round of the 2003 draft. He never was tempted to pursue a baseball career, though. "My heart is in football," he said. "Baseball ain't cutting it for me (on the) excitement level."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/0B367A359EF7FB528625743A001436D1?OpenDocument


10 MAY 08: Failed physical with the Rams according to:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/634F5C3E49972F1786257445000CCA32?OpenDocument


BobbyK @ 05:36 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
I wouldn't say Brown is totally on Ruskell.
nighthawk2 @ 06:57 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
"Fan stands for fanatic, but it doesn't stand for purveyor of intelligent discussion or behavior."

Obviously being justafan isn't either. Dude, we'd all love for the team to go 15-1, judgemental clowns with a superiority complex don't have a monopoly on that. Some of us recognize there isn't a chance in hell of that happening with this year's team and some of us know why and we're tired of seeing it year after year. It's justagame in high school, when someone is getting tens of millions of dollars to play it in a publicly funded stadium that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, it's big business, a local big business that is part of the 'circus' part of "bread and circuses" doled out to pacify the masses. When an executive fails to perform well, or only does a 50% good job, we expect them to be held accountable. Players are, coaches are. When an exec responsible for hiring has many of the employees he's hired fail miserably and hurt the company, he should be held accountable. Saying "gee boss, I really thought this guy was going to be great" or "yeah, that employee was very good, even outstanding, and yeah he's now he's doing really well down the street with a competitor, but hey, he wasn't someone I brought it in" wouldn't cut it in the real world. And exactly what makes you think that someone who doesn't like Ruskell's methods or results is going to like him on Sunday, even if the team wins? Frankly I think the wins this team gets come in spite of him rather than because of him.

And yes, Josh Brown is on Ruskell. Ask the Colts whether they think having a good, reliable kicker is an issue or not.
JacDG @ 07:21 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
I think we are going to miss Justin Forsett, i loved that dude
ElPerroGrandeIII @ 07:58 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
Justin Forsett not being on this squad is just another reconfirmation that Ruskell is a complete moron ...
Canfan @ 07:59 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
The Seahawks fan:

Hate Shaun Alexander after amassing almost 10,000 yards, one league MVP and one rushing title.

Love Justin Forsett after gaining more than 100 yards in a meaningless preseason game.
Kuya @ 08:05 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
Seattle Times reports that Tru is okay with his hand collision with Tatupu.

No more injuries please!
BobbyK @ 09:12 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
No GM can just put someone on a practice squad (or want to put them on) and make them "untouchable."

IDHawkman @ 09:19 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
Any player can be signed off anyone else's practice squad but "IF" they are actually on the practice squad they have to be signed to the active 53 man roster. You can't sign a guy from someone else's practice squad to your practice squad.
jasong96 @ 09:48 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
Tim Ruskell may have inherited a team on the brink of a Super Bowl; although, some would argue that you actually have to win a playoff game before you even start thinking about the Super Bowl. However, many seem to forget he also inherited two key O-linemen -- Tobeck and Gray -- on the brink of retirement.

For all the criticism thrown at Ruskell for drafting Spencer and Sims, let's not forget that the previous GMs (Holmgren and Ferguson) missed on Floyd Wedderburn, Chris McIntosh, Wayne Hunter, and to some degree, Pork Chop Womack. In theory, had any of those guys developed into stud players (or even serviceable players), we might not be discussing the O-line issues today.

And before you respond with "but Hutch and Locklear are starters," try to remember that this: It still took time for the O-line to jell with the lineup of Jones, Hutchinson, Tobeck, Gray, and Terry. Locklear stepped in nicely for Terry, but by then the Hawks were a playoff team.

Now I'm not going to argue that Sims and Spencer aren't cutting it -- at least not yet -- but when it comes to the O-line, I think a lot of you underestimate the importance of continuity. Maybe these guys suck, or maybe they just need more time and better coaching. Now that Spencer has veteran guards starting next to him, I expect him to start showing significant improvement.
mindnbrad @ 10:08 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
I'm tired of hearing about Ruskell.
jibo1 @ 10:13 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
I too I'm not a fan of Ruskell,but I did pick up some respect for him with the draft.Some of the other things that have happened I wonder a little bit now.
This thing about only sainted players I think is wrong.
Who got rid of Forcett Ruskell,or Holmgren,or both?Are there other people that have a say in who goes an who stays?Who Has the final word?Does anyone know?
BobbyK I think you are right about KORO should have taken him!!
jasong96 @ 10:36 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
There's a part of me that thinks the Seahawks should have brought back Koren Robinson. Still, you have to ask yourself why none of the other 31 teams has signed him either. Based on his last NFL stint, I have no doubt that Koren is more talented than many No. 4 and 5 WRs, and perhaps even a few No. 3s in this league.

Are his personal issues that much of a concern to every GM?
BrianBlades @ 10:48 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
I think Koren is a tough call. So many chances...

And then I'm sure it falls into the Ruskell vs Holmgren thing which seems to be ensuring that none of the correct decisions can get made.

Who got rid of Forcett Ruskell,or Holmgren,or both? Good question. I wonder when the KJR guys will ask that...hahaha, right.

You can't sign a guy from someone else's practice squad to your practice squad Thanks IDHAWK - did not know that.
BrianBlades @ 11:09 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
Forsett fans might want to check out the "fanatics" over on the Colts board. Looks like some Hawks fans have already gone over there.

http://forum.colts.com/showthread.php?t=33166&page=13
JoeHawk51 @ 11:16 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
In most cases Defense wins games and one of the reasons we did not win SB40 was lack of talent and depth at DB. The last couple of years has the MGMT picking mostly defense over offense. Yes we could have more depth and targets for Matt to work with, but we would not have the depth or talent on Defense. You dont get to have it both ways.
BrianBlades @ 11:41 - Friday, September 12th, 2008 Email
I think you can have it both ways, it's just rare and requires talent and some luck.

Look at the Pats. The colts finally got both sides of the ball working and won a superbowl. Dallas looks tough this year.

How does Dallas afford all those big name guys??
thedude @ 12:50 - Friday, September 12th, 2008
tired of the ruskell talk, please give it a rest. it's so easy to look back and criticize, and so hard to listen to you guys (nighthawk/bobby) bitch and whine.

why doesn't someone talk about the game coming up and how we're going to scheme/attack SF?

winning solves a lot of problems...

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