Coffee And Cigarettes: Seahawks Links for Monday

Seattle Seahawks news, rumors, links, info, interviews, analysis, and more!

Polumbus steps back in: Tyler Polumbus has been here before. That’s why there was no panic alone the Seahawks’ sideline or in the huddle on Thursday night when left tackle Russell Okung went out with a sprained left ankle on the fourth play of the Seahawks’ preseason opener against the Chargers in San Diego. That’s because Polumbus stepped in for Okung last season – not once, but twice – when the first-round draft choice got high sprains of both ankles. Okung’s latest injury isn’t as serious as the previous two, and coach Pete Carroll is talking about getting him back for the regular-season opener against the 49ers in San Francisco on Sept. 11. But until then, it’s back to Polumbus. "We’ve been down this road a little bit last year," Polumbus said Sunday between on-field sessions at the team’s training camp. "Unfortunately, it’s a little bit of déjà vu for Russ.

Former Nevada RB Vai Taua Signed by Seahawks: Former Wolf Pack running back Vai Taua has signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. Taua was at his first practice on Sunday, wearing number 47. He was released by the Buffalo Bills on August 5th. He had signed with the Bills as an undrafted rookie free agent. Taua was named to the All-WAC first team last season, rushing for 1,610 yards and 19 touchdowns. He ranks second all-time in school history with 4,588 rushing yards and 45 TD's. His 53 total touchdowns are the 4th most ever by a Nevada player.

Big, bad Browner looking for spot with Seahawks " Kitsap Sun: It's not that Brandon Browner has anything against Canada. Well, maybe the weather. It's just that the former Canadian Football League star is ready to leave it behind and make a name for himself at the game's highest level. "I'm 27 years old and I won't get any younger," said Browner, who is hoping to make the Seattle Seahawks' roster as a cornerback. "So I feel this is my last go-around at it."

Seahawks | Seahawks quarterback Charlie Whitehurst remains a mystery | Seattle Times Newspaper: It has been said the backup quarterback is the most popular player among fans. That just hasn't been said in Seattle. At least not since Charlie Whitehurst arrived last year. That's not to say there aren't people who believe in him. The crowd chanted his name after he scrambled for a touchdown in a fourth-quarter relief appearance during the Seahawks' home loss to Atlanta on Dec. 19. But there are others in town who insist they saw everything they needed to in his six games last season to be convinced he's not a long-term option.

Next step: NFC West improvement areas - NFC West Blog - ESPN: Seattle Seahawks Area of focus: The first-team offense lacked rhythm against San Diego. Tarvaris Jackson was without his top three wide receivers. Seattle lost its left tackle to injury early in the game. Jackson faced too much pressure and relied on his mobility to buy time. Jackson enters his second week of practices with the team seeking to build a rapport with his top targets. He completed 3 of 5 passes for 13 yards against the Chargers. Reasonable expectation next week: A few timing passes to receiver Sidney Rice and tight end Zach Miller would stand as something for the offense to build around. Upcoming opponent note: The Seahawks are home against Minnesota. The game carries added interest for Jackson, Rice and former Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. The Vikings scored three points, collected only one sack and allowed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Tennessee Titans rookie Jake Locker during their opener.

2011 Seattle Seahawks preseason preview - NFL - CBSSports.com Football: THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT. WHAT ABOUT THE PRESENT? It's easy to look at the Seahawks' offensive line and predict big things for the future. The more immediate question, however, is how a young line will come together in the short term. The Seahawks used their first two draft picks on players they expect to start this season -- RT James Carpenter and RG John Moffitt -- but even if that combo has a big future, it will be tough for them to jell right off the bat. Of Seattle's projected starting five -- LT Russell Okung, LG Robert Gallery, C Max Unger, RG Moffitt, RT Carpenter -- no two have ever played a regular-season down together, so growing pains seem inevitable. Gallery, 31, who played for OL coach Tom Cable in Oakland, will provide leadership to an otherwise very inexperienced group.

Kids came to play in Seahawks' exhibition-opening victory | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune: Rookie quarterback Josh Portis admitted to having some butterflies Thursday in his first action as pro. "I got the little jitters out," Portis said. "But once I settled in, I was ready to go." After a few hiccups, the Seahawks third-string quarterback got comfortable quickly, helping to engineer two touchdown-scoring drives in the final quarter of Seattle’s 24-17 win over San Diego.

Quick hitters after Sat. practice | Seahawks Insider: The Seahawks just wrapped up Saturday practice, which was probably the most spirited of training camp. Of course, any practice with Ken Norton coaching in it is going to have its moments. Safety Earl Thomas brought much of the energy on Saturday, as he several times got into some mock taunting with running backs that he hit (Mike Robinson and then Marshawn Lynch).

Seahawks.com Blog | Look at me now ": Thursday on the Pete Carroll calendar is "Turnover Thursday." But last Thursday turned out to be "Redemption Thursday" for Charlie Whitehurst. The quarterback who was acquired in a trade with the Chargers last year returned to San Diego and turned in an impressive performance to jumpstart the Seahawks’ 24-17 victory in their preseason opener at Qualcomm Stadium.

Seahawks.com Blog | Camp Carroll: Day 17 ": FOCUS ON Russell Okung. No crutches. No boot. Able to do toe-raises while watching practice. All the signs today where more positive than it appeared after the team’s left tackle limped off the field on Thursday night during the first series of the Seahawks’ preseason opener against the Chargers in San Diego. Yes, Okung has a sprained left ankle. But it is not as severe as the high sprains of both ankles that forced him to miss six regular-season games last season.

Seahawks.com Blog | The day in pictures ": Check out some images from Saturday’s practice, brought to you by Seahawks.com photographer Rod Mar:

17 Power, A Seattle Seahawks Blog: Three Seahawks Vulnerable to Trade: I wrote "vulnerable" because a) it's a unique word that oughta grab attention from the Google bots, and b) because it hopefully makes clear that this piece is laid-back speculation, not whisper-driven rumor. Nobody, including myself, has any inkling of these trades actually being imminent.

Thirty Acre Fortress - A Seahawks Blog: Pre-season Week 1 - Game Wrap-up (Offense Edition): Well, it wasn't always pretty, but the Seahawks first preseason game is over and it ended with a victory, whatever that's worth. Obviously, the primary concern is that Russell Okung appears to have suffered his third high ankle sprain in twelve months, but more on that in another post. I'm going to break it down the easiest way I know how, player by player (of those who stood out to me).  

A few minutes with Jimmy Wilkerson | Seahawks Insider: Versatile performer Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Jimmy Wilkerson already knows a thing or two about the team’s defensive scheme, having played for defensive line coach Todd Wash in Tampa Bay two years ago. Wilkerson played last season in New Orleans. The Seahawks like the versatility of the 6-foot-2, 270-pound 30-year-old, and he flashed his pass-rush skills against San Diego on Thursday with a sack in the first half. Seattle likes Wilkerson’s ability to play both defensive end and defensive tackle.

HeraldNet.com - Sports: Seahawks' Unger returns to the center: Max Unger, grizzled vet? Well, not quite. But on a Seahawks' offensive line made up mostly of talented but inexperienced players, Unger, who by all normal measures is young and inexperienced himself, practically qualifies as an elder statesman. If not for left guard Robert Gallery, who the Seahawks signed to add experience, the 25-year-old Unger would be the oldest member of the Seahawks' starting five.

Carroll's latest thoughts on Aaron Curry - NFL Nation Blog - ESPN: Coach Pete Carroll offered his latest thinking on Curry when speaking with reporters Saturday: "We know how to utilize him now. I think we understand it. Last year, we tried to figure out how much we should pass-rush him and move him around in pass-rush situations. He’s really an outside linebacker and he does a really good job of doing that. He’s playing first-team in the nickel package right now, and that’s something as a linebacker that he didn’t do before. That’s a good upgrade for him. He’s comfortable with the passing game. He’s just having a fantastic camp. He really seems like a different kid out here."

Carroll: Russell Okung’s ankle ‘not nearly as bad’ as it looked | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News - seattlepi.com: Russell Okung in a backwards baseball cap is not a sight to which any Seahawks fan wants to become accustomed. That was Okung’s attire at Saturday’s practice, at which he wore no pads and could only watch after spraining his ankle during Thursday’s preseason opener. But coach Pete Carroll said the injury, Okung’s third ankle-related problem in his short career, doesn’t appear to be quite as bad as the two high ankle sprains that hampered Okung during last year’s rookie campaign. Okung walked with a slight limp, but didn’t need a walking boot.

Hawks' Okung might be OK in time for opener | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune: Russell Okung could be back in action sooner than anticipated for the Seattle Seahawks. The second-year offensive tackle limped off the field with a left ankle injury after the fifth play of the game against San Diego on Thursday. After being evaluated by trainers, Okung had to be carted to the locker room. But at practice Saturday, Okung watched from the sideline in a jersey and shorts, with no protective boot. Okung simulated pass drops while watching teammates go through individual work.

Sudden separation: While the offensive players were watching video of practice the other day, Doug Baldwin suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere to be on the receiving end of a completion. "Somebody from the back of the room yelled, ‘That’s not separation; that’s a divorce,’ " quarterback Charlie Whitehurst offered through a smile on Saturday between on-field sessions at the Seahawks’ training camp. "He was so wide open. That’s because he’s got a lot of suddenness and gets a lot of separation."

Young quarterbacks struggle and survive in preseason’s first day - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports: Another Portis tries to bank on NFL success Finally, Seattle Seahawks undrafted free agent Josh Portis(notes) from Cal (Pa.) showed some good stuff in his team's 24-17 comeback win over the San Diego Chargers. Portis, a natural running quarterback with some pro-style experience, looked pretty good with play-action and hit tight end Anthony McCoy(notes) in the back of the end zone in the fourth quarter through a decent-sized window. Portis' athleticism is his X-factor; it's when he's allowed to display his quarterback acumen against a starting defense that we'll see where he really is on the journey.

Defensive Line Techniques - The Prototypes | ProFootballFocus.com: The NFL is as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. At its heart, it’s still a game of blocking and tackling. The offense tries to move the ball 10 yards, and 11 guys on defense try to stop them, and over and over we go. So how do we get from that to Cover 1, 2, 3, quarters, man or zone, stunts, blitzes and A-gaps, 3-technique tackles and nickel backs? Well, coaches get involved. . Coaches have spent the past 80+ years implementing various tweaks to try and put their players in the best situations to succeed. It’s not that often you get your hands on a superstar – the guy so talented he can execute any assignment and can change games from any alignment – so the rest of the time, you’ve got to scheme around the players you do have. . And so we come to defensive line techniques.

First Impressions - Cardinals @ Raiders | ProFootballFocus.com: Cardinals – Two Things of Note ●   Let’s start with Kevin Kolb who seems to have identified his surroundings pretty quickly. He realizes his best bet in succeeding is to either chuck it towards Larry Fitzgerald, or run for the hills. He threw a nice ball on a hitch route, and connected on a deep pass that owed more to Fitzgerald than any particularly good throw. That he went for the same pass (a poorly thrown ball) on the next play shows how much of a safety blanket Fitzgerald will be for him. Teams will shade their safety over Kolb’s top target at this rate. ●   Watching Levi Brown can’t help but leave you shaking your head. Watch the giant left tackle on the first two plays of the game. He completely misses a block on Matt Shaughnessy who can make a quick fire tackle, and then lets the same player breeze past him inside to get a pressure on the QB. The rest of the half is pretty poor stuff from Brown who struggled with Shaughnessy just putting a bit of effort in. At times Brown didn’t even seem like he was trying, hiding behind Todd Heap as he made a block with 6:56 left in the first quarter.

Hey rookie, you ready to cover kicks tonight? | National Football Post: This morning, I broke down how to grade rookie QBs this preseason—a position we will all watch closely this August. Easy to do with players such as Cam Newton, Jake Locker and Colin Kaepernick. But for most of the rookies in camp, there is no such thing as a guaranteed roster spot this season. And making the final cut is all about what you can do on special teams. In fact, it was the only way I made the opening day roster as a rookie with the Rams in 2000.

Seahawks Blog | White hot opinions over Whitehurst | Seattle Times Newspaper: Charlie Whitehurst is a quarterback who hasn't played all that much in the NFL. This -- more than anything else -- is why the depth of feeling about his merits as a starter is so fundamentally puzzling to me. This vehemence is two-sided, split between those who very much believe he is the more viable starter, and those who would rather he be released entirely after just one season is town.

The Brewery | Concern over Russell Okung's bad ankles | Seattle Times Newspaper: I drive an oversized Caddy SUV. I call it my Tony Soprano mobile, and much like the television character, I have a love/hate relationship with the thing. It's a wonderful car: Dependable, stylish, even imposing. But it has a slow leak in one of the tires, and about once a month, I have to roll down to the gas station, throw a dollar's worth of quarters into a machine, and temporarily fix my bad wheel. Just my luck, the tire always seems to need air on rainy days. Russell Okung reminds me of my SUV.

Portis sharp in NFL debut - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: It's not every day that the Mon Valley is focused on a Seattle Seahawks preseason football game, but that's what happened Thursday night. Former Cal U quarterback Josh Portis made his debut for the Seahawks, and a rather impressive debut it was. Portis, signed as an undrafted, rookie free agent, led the his team to two late touchdowns to lift Seattle to a 24-17 win over the San Diego Chargers.

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