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Seahawks.com Blog | Camp Carroll: Day 14 ": FOCUS ON The opener. The players had a short walk-thru this morning in the indoor practice facility at Virginia Mason Athletic Center before the team flew to San Diego for its nationally televised preseason opener against the Chargers. This kickoff weekend will be a ready-or-not adventure for all NFL teams after the 136-day lockout, but the clock is running even faster for the Seahawks because they play on Thursday night. "The first thing we’re looking for is seeing us play hard," coach Pete Carroll said. "I want to see the guys run around and hit and get back to football with as many guys as we’re going to play. We’re going to try and play everybody that travels with us. "The hope here is that we see a team that’s ready to play football and go out and run around the field and make this first step." Ready, but prepared? Or at least prepared well enough after the lockout cancelled the spring minicamps and OTA sessions. "We have no idea what’s going to happen," Carroll said. "Fortunately, it’s preseason. So we have a chance to figure it out. That’s most important right now."
Ready or not, Seahawks begin preseason tonight " Kitsap Sun: Are you ready for some sloppy football? Because tonight in San Diego, the Seahawks will kick off their preseason in what figures to be a less-than-stellar display of football. For teams around the league, it has been a scramble to get ready for the season after the lockout wiped out an offseason worth of minicamps and organized team activities.
Seahawks at Chargers: 5 things to watch | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News - seattlepi.com: 1. Cohesion is a question This can be said for just about every team in the league – the length of the lockout assured as much – though it’s going to be especially interesting to watch for a Seahawks team that has so many newcomers at crucial positions. Let’s go ahead and start at quarterback. Tarvaris Jackson has only been practicing with the team since Aug. 4. How much can be expected of him as he makes his first preseason start? Well, likely more than any other newly-signed free agents on this team. Jackson spent five years playing for offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell in Minnesota, the primary reason why the Seahawks were so intent on signing him. That familiarity, coach Pete Carroll says, gave Jackson an immediate edge over backup Charlie Whitehurst.
2011 NFL Preseason: Thursday Night Rookie Debuts - Mocking The Draft: James Carpenter- OL- Seahawks- With their first selection, Seattle went with James Carpenter out of Alabama. The pick has been looked down upon as many feel that Carpenter didn't warrant a 1st round selection. Thursday's game will be Carpenter's first chance at proving the doubters wrong. He will be facing a good Chargers defense with some solid pass rushers.
Free Agency 2011 – 10 Key Additions | ProFootballFocus.com: Seattle Seahawks, Tight End From: John Carlson To: Zach Miller 2010 Grade: From -12.7 (Carlson) to +7.4 (Miller) The Upgrade: As much as Seahawk fans may never admit it, John Carlson just hasn’t lived up to expectations. He came onto the scene in a blaze of fire but failed to deliver, struggling in all facets of the game in recent years. The same can’t be said of Miller, who is coming off a strong year. The former Raider is the kind of every-down tight end the Seahawks were craving for last year, taking a weakness of the field and making it a strength. . Seattle Seahawks, Wide Receiver From: Ben Obomanu To: Sidney Rice 2010 Grade: Receiving Grade, from +4.1 (Obamanu) to +1.6 (Rice) The Upgrade: While Rice had a tough year, you can blame a lot of it on missed time and injury. Compare that to 2009, where he was our top ranked receiver, and you see what kind of impact he can make. Rice is the kind of deep threat that makes his quarterback look like a better player by coming down with balls he doesn’t appear to have any right to. Whoever is playing quarterback figures to benefit from chucking it up to a healthy Rice.
Sports Radio Interviews " Blog Archive " Mike Sims-Walker Looks to Move Forward in St. Louis After His Roughest Season of His Career: After having a breakout season in 2009, Mike Sims-Walker suffered through a frustrating 2010 campaign. Sims-Walker not only dealt with shaky quarterback play at times, but he also was hampered by a high-ankle injury that affected him for most of the season. Sims-Walker gutted through the injury and played in all but two games, but he also showed a tendency to disappear at times, drop balls, and he never emerged as the number one wide receiver that the Jaguars were hoping he would be after showing signs in 2009. Jacksonville decided to let him walk in free agency and he landed in St. Louis. Despite showing signs of improvement last year, the Rams dealt with a myriad of injuries at wide receiver and the group as a whole was one of the least talented in the NFL.
Sam Bradford and the offense were able to mask some of those weaknesses last year, but the Rams need as many weapons for their young quarterback as they can get. Sims-Walker seems to be a bit of a one-year wonder at this point and he is coming off a frustrating season, but the with the receivers the Rams have on the roster and their propensity for getting injured, St. Louis needed an insurance policy with big upside and Mike Sims-Walker fits the bill at a cheap price. Mike Sims-Walker joined ESPN 101 in St. Louis with the Fast Lane to talk about why he picked St. Louis in free agency, how he has been fitting in so far and what he expects in his first season with the Rams, how tough it was for him this past season in Jacksonville dealing with injury, how he thinks the lockout affected him, and what he has seen from Sam Bradford so far.
Will we see 'sloppy' football this preseason? | National Football Post: Throughout the lockout and the first couple of weeks of the NFL preseason, there has been plenty of talk about the possibility of "sloppy" football this August. No offseason, limited contact in camp, etc. The exact reason I would push my starters for more playing time in the preseason when we look at this from a coaching perspective. But how do you judge the level of play starting Thursday night and heading into the weekend? To make it simple, here are two things to keep an eye on: because they both center on technique and conditioning.
Dave Krieg's Strike Beard: Preface: Thursday night, the 2011 Seattle Seahawks will cross the threshold from theory to practice- We will finally get to see them clash with another NFL team in anger, and it will be a glorious evening. Keep in mind that the level of play is likely to be embarrassingly awful, and that the only unambiguously positive outcome of the game would be a lack of serious Seahawks injuries... Even with those caveats, I can't remember ever being this excited for a preseason opener before in my 28 years rooting for the Seahawks.
A few minutes with Richard Sherman | Seahawks Insider: From receiver to cornerback A Stanford graduate, Richard Sherman played three years at receiver before switching over to defense his senior year, showing enough in 2010 to get drafted in the fifth round by the Seattle Seahawks. Sherman, 21, has been as good as advertised in camp so far, and is in a competitive battle among a young group of corners for a spot on the final roster.
Seattle native Isaiah Stanback giving it another go with Seahawks | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News - seattlepi.com: This season has already been better for Isaiah Stanback than the last. That’s because the Seahawks receiver actually has a chance to see the field. He’ll have to fight for that opportunity, sure. Seattle’s roster still lists 10 other receivers, a handful of which have all-but-assured spots on the team’s 53-man roster.
Seahawks Blog | Video: Pete Carroll on the exhibition opener | Seattle Times Newspaper
Seahawks Blog | Camp Carroll 2.0, Day 11 | Seattle Times Newspaper: Byron Maxwell looked pretty comfortable when the Seahawks tried him as a nickel linebacker during practice Tuesday. Apparently, looks can be deceiving. "I don't feel comfortable," he said afterward, laughing. Well, he did a pretty good job fooling everyone watching as he picked off a pass from starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson during a drill, his second interception in the portion of practice.
Seahawks.com Blog | Camp Carroll: Day 13 ": TAKE THAT Payback can be sweet. Just ask Leon Washington. The 5-foot-8, 203-pound running back made a textbook block to drop blitzing linebacker Malcolm Smith, a 6-foot, 226-pound rookie linebacker, setting off a raucous celebration by his offensive teammates. "Honestly, Malcolm got me a few times earlier in camp," Washington said with a smile. "I’ve been gunning for him, trying to get him back. I finally got a chance." Just another "tool" in Washington’s already impressive ace-of-many-trades repertoire. He returned three kickoffs for touchdowns last season and also had an 84-yard punt return. This season, he’s expected to get more plays at running back. "Leon had a spectacular block on Malcolm Smith today," Carroll said. "Malcolm has made a bunch of plays in camp, so this was a little payback for the offense because they got him once today. It kind of raised the level of the whole practice on that one hit. It was a fantastic block by Leon."
Seahawks.com Blog | The day in pictures "
Seattle Seahawks Blog - Hawk Blogger: 2011 Seahawks Training Camp: August 9th News & Notes: This is the fourth in a series of four training camp visits I will be making this year.
Pete Carroll: A very 'unusual' start - Blog - MyNorthwest.com: Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll addressed the media after practice on Tuesday to discuss the game plan for the team's first preseason game Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers. "Well, the first thing we’re looking for is seeing us play hard," said Carroll. "I want to see the guys run around and hit and get back to football with as many guys as we’re going to play.
What to expect from Tarvaris Jackson - NFC West Blog - ESPN: Charlie from St. Louis wants my thoughts on Tarvaris Jackson's potential impact in Seattle."The way I see it," Charlie wrote, "he already had the opportunity to play with Sidney Rice in the exact same offensive scheme under Darrell Bevell when all three were in Minnesota. Not only did they work together in the pass-friendly confines of the Metrodome, but they enjoyed the presence of the game's best running back in Adrian Peterson. What makes you think that a regression is not imminent?"
Seahawks' Stanback looking to defy odds " Kitsap Sun: When Isaiah Stanback ruptured his Achilles tendon in training camp last year, he had only one question for team doctors. Back when he was a quarterback at the University of Washington, Stanback went down with another serious injury, a Lisfranc sprain that required season-ending foot surgery and was considered career-threatening. So all he needed to hear last August was that this wouldn't be any worse.
Former Wolverine Alan Branch gets chance to start with Seahawks | Detroit Free Press | freep.com: "I’m just a little bit more aggressive," Branch said. "That’s the main thing. I’m still kind of reading, but mostly it’s just aggression. I’m just trying to get in the backfield as much as possible in this defense. That’s the way I kind of like it." Branch played 37 games at Michigan in 2004-06. He recorded 61 tackles and was named U-M's top defensive lineman in 2005.
NFL Preseason Preview - Seattle (0-0) at San Diego (0-0) - Football Wires - MiamiHerald.com: When the Seattle Seahawks kick off their 2011 preseason schedule with a visit to Qualcomm Stadium to take on the San Diego Chargers, they'll be doing so with a new quarterback under center for the first time in a decade. After entering every offseason since 2001 with Matt Hasselbeck as their primary field general, the Seahawks opted to go in another direction at the position and the established veteran signed a free-agent contract with Tennessee as a result. The favorite to fill Hasselbeck's shoes will be former Viking Tarvaris Jackson, inked to a two-year deal by Seattle during the early portion of the signing period.
Seahawks expect a Golden improvement | | The Bulletin: The NFL is adding game-day testing for performance-enhancing substances — but not recreational drugs — this season under the new collective bargaining agreement. The league’s senior vice president of law and labor policy, Adolpho Birch, said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters that tests weren’t conducted in the past on days there were games "because of logistical issues involved, much more so than any philosophical issues."
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