FanPost

Tuesday's (8/5) Training Camp Observations/Thoughts


My final day on the berm. Seems as though some of the initial excitement might be wearing thin, As we waited in line for the bus one of the Staff members was chatting away after having stopped the line before the bag check. The bag check line eventually emptied and the cheery fellows were waving our line forward. The line didn't move and the people in the back began to complain and move forward themselves. The staff member told everyone to, "Settle down. I can hold you here all day if I want to." My wife actually laughed out loud as we walked by.

The Big Bowie controversy seemed to finally settle when the players came out. Apparently his jersey won't be retired as a Seahawk, Eric Winston was wearing it. Well, if it was Bowie's actual jersey, we know Winston has a hell of a tailor as it fit well.

Players I noticed out and not participating were: JPL, Scott, Staten, Wagner, Shead, Malcolm Smith, Auguste and Toomer. I looked for but never noticed Irvin or Norwood.

Offensive Linemen

It was good to see Okung and Carpenter back participating, though neither one manned the line during scrimmage drills, they both seemed to participate fully otherwise. Unger was similarly in and out. The first unit linemen for the day from left to right were Bailey, Hauptmann, Jeannpierre (so much fun to write that as a football name), Sweezy, and Britt. The quarterbacks didn't seem under such constant pressure today, though I couldn't say if that was from better blocking or designed less rush intensity. One new drill I saw the big guys do today (I think it was Turnover Tuesday) was to slap a fumbled ball out of bounds while on the move. They also worked early on run blocking, engaging their man and driving him backwards.

Special Teams

This was the first day I've seen the team practice kick off and coverage. Britt and Sweezy spent part of the time as the final two blockers protecting the kick returner. I enjoyed watching them hold hands as they moved forward preparing to destroy. Hauschka boomed his kick offs and I believe made every field goal he attempted.

Not nearly as much work on punt and coverage. Though I did make out Kiero Small on the punt team today. He was the first lineman down on one of the snaps. At an earlier practice I'd seen him on the punt return team lining up over the ball.

They practiced a fake field goal today! Ryan rolled out to his right after getting the snap and tried to throw across the field to a streaking? Hauschka in the left corner of the end zone. I was shocked to see it picked. On a manly side-note. Jon Ryan is ripped! I pointed him out to my wife before practice began when he wasn't wearing his jersey. Her response, "I know. I've watched him at the other practices."

Wide Receivers

The more I watch the more I think Percy Harvin is going to blow defenses apart this season. He caught a couple in the flat today that looked like he would have taken to the house. He also shrugged off Jeremy Lane's attempt to jam him in the slot, slid by and past him. Lane worked hard to close ground and never saw the ball land just past his head as Percy pulled it in for a long score. Harvin let Lane run never reacting to the incoming ball until the last second so that Lane wouldn't turn his head.

Richardson was bad and good. He dropped a couple and was stripped once by Jefferson, but he also blew past Wolfe in the slot for a long score. He looked more involved today on shorter routes.

Chris Mathews had his best play that I've seen. Running down the left sideline and well covered he used his length to high point the ball and fight it into his hands for a long reception.

Kevin Smith also made most of a nice red line play on the other side, stopping short and cutting across the body of the defender but the ball broke loose from his grip for an incompletion.

Tight Ends

I didn't notice much other than a pretty seam route for a touchdown by Helfet.

Running Backs

More of a focus on passing today, it seemed to me. Marshawn participated about evenly with Turbin and Michael. I am really excited to see how the middle opens up when Russell fakes the fly sweep to Harvin and hands off to one of these three up the gut.

Coleman had a sweet shoe-string catch in the flat for a short yardage touchdown. I think he's going to beat out Small because he does so many things well. Or I could be surprised and Ware gets cut and Coleman and Small both stick.

Linebackers

I focused for some time on a drill involving the running backs and linebackers. The back would come across the line from the backfield on a pass route and the linebacker would contact him trying to control his movement enough to stay with him as the RB broke either left or right. The running backs generally broke free for separation and the catch. Many of the linebackers either hit too hard and lost contact or maintained too much distance and the back ran free. I saw Brock Coyle try to undercut a route, miss and get scolded. I noticed some significant separation most of the time.

K. J. Wright really stood out here as he used his long arms to kind of corral the running back and shepherd him along without quite holding him. Wright had a stellar day. He batted one pass down in 7 on 7's and later had two interceptions, both of which he might have been returned for touchdowns in a game. He played all over today, sometimes in the middle with Wagner out.

I don't remember Heath Farwell playing much. He was the first player to come out for practice so he wasn't hurt. I wonder if this is like last year when it seemed like Bradford would take his spot but never did. But it can't be good for him that he doesn't even get much practice time when Wagner is out.

Quarterbacks

After watching four practices it really is clear to me how hard it is to make a mark as a back end quarterback. B.J. Daniels gets almost no rep.'s in 7 on 7 or 11 on 11. I imagine he will play in two days against Denver but he has had almost no snaps in the practices I've seen. The other positions get to rotate in. I've seen every other healthy player rotate through, but I've seen almost nothing from Daniels.

I'm not really sure how well the QB's threw today as I was trying to watch other things.

I didn't really focus much on the Defensive Backs or the Defensive Linemen today.

Final Thoughts

I'd never attended Training Camp before and was fortunate enough to go four times this year. I really enjoyed it and I know it will make the pre-season games a lot more interesting to watch. My wife says she wants to go again next year too (hopefully not just to see John Ryan). It's really something that the Seahawks don't charge other than the shuttle fee. It would be easy to gouge a rabid fan base. The days were pretty low key, but interesting. I know we were lucky because each day was warm and the setting is beautiful.

I've appreciated the opportunity to write these fan posts after each practice and think it's great the Field Gulls community encourages that. Go Hawks!