Coffee and Cigarettes: Seahawks Links for Thursday

T-Minus 2 days until Preseason Game Two baby. I'm pretty excited. Here is some stuff you can read. You should read it. Being well read is important. It makes you smarter. And helps you talk good and write good.

Seahawks Blog | Gaining a better understanding of Okung and ankles | Seattle Times Newspaper: Greg Oden is a name that fans have now posted with regard to Russell Okung. Brian Bosworth is another. There have been those who have characterized him as injury prone. I interviewed two doctors on Tuesday to get a better understanding about the injury, and specifically to find out if a high ankle sprain is an issue that tends to become chronic. No, said Erik Nilssen of The Andrews Institute in Florida. He said that usually the injury heals, and there is no recurrence. "No one is prone to this," he said.

Seahawks.com Blog | Why Jackson? ": Perhaps Pete Carroll should have laminated cards made he could hand out to explain why he is going with just-acquired Tarvaris Jackson as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback over incumbent backup Charlie Whitehurst. After the preseason opener against the Chargers last Thursday night, a reporter from San Diego asked Carroll, Jackson and Whitehurst about the "competition" and "battle" for the starting job. This morning, a radio host on a Seattle station was perplexed about the same issue after doing an interview with Carroll.

Sports Radio Interviews " Blog Archive " Philip Rivers Still Doesn’t Understand ESPN’s New Total Quarterback Rating: San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers joined XX Sports Radio in San Diego with Darren Smith to discuss ESPN’s new quarterback rating, if he has any problem with where he fell in the rankings, if too much is put into statistics, the Chargers’ turnover woes last season, why he likes flying under the radar and the feeling of getting back into game action.

17 Power, A Seattle Seahawks Blog: 8/17 Tidbits: Danny O'Neill Chat:: Yesterday's live chat with Danny O'Neill of the Seattle Times provided a few valuable nabobs, as usual. I love the smell of nabobs in the morning!

HeraldNet.com - Sports: Seahawks' Mebane changes positions: The tenacious lineman will launch into foes from the nose tackle spot this season.

Wide Receiver Grades Preseason Game 2011-1: 1) Doug Baldwin (B) UDFA Rookie This year teams were allowed to give their Undrafted Free Agent signees a total of $75,000 in signing bonus. Doug apparently got "a significant portion" of that plus a hand written letter to persuade him to join the Seahawks. THE GOOD: He showed great field awareness knowing how deep he needed to run his route in order to pick up the first down. When the QB was scrambling he didn’t give up on the play he ran back to the QB giving him a place to dump the ball turning a sack into a completion. He was a willing participant in the run block game. He responded to the Chargers kick return for a TD with a nice little return of his own setting the Seahawks offense up around midfield. THE BAD: He was a major contributor to the kickoff return for a TD. He hesitated to take on a blocker and the kick returner ran right through the hole he was supposed to fill.

Tight End Grades Preseason Game 2011-1: 1) Anthony McCoy (B+) Anthony was in the line up more than most of the players on thursday. He lined up in 47% of the teams offensive formations. THE GOOD: He did a nice job in run block duties and showed the ability to seal the edge. He was doing a nice time finding the soft spots in the zone coverage and sitting down giving the quarterback a big target and safe place to throw the ball. In the fourth quarter he kept working to get open while Josh Portis was scrambling and Josh found him in the back of the End Zone for the game tying TD. THE BAD: There really aren’t any he played a fairly clean game and didn’t have any big issues in the game.

Running Back Grades Preseason Game 2011-1: 1) Thomas Clayton (B+) Here we have a third year pro who has a total of 7 career carries looking to make an NFL roster and finally get his chance to shine. He has a ton of confidence as shown by his excessive show boating. THE GOOD:  He had 3.9 yards per carry and a rushing TD. He did a nice job recognizing the blitz and picking it up. Thomas ran hard and did a nice job keeping his legs pumping after initial contact allowing him to gain extra yardage and break tackles. He showed an outstanding stiff arm as well as the vision and speed to take the play outside. THE BAD: I already mentioned he was show boating and that is not something I value especially from a guy who has done nothing in his career and most likely will not make this football team. On one play he had an out route and although the pass was a little high he should have been able to make the catch but was unable to come close to handling it. He showed a lack of vision while running up the middle choosing the wrong hole.

Offensive Lineman Grades Preseason Game 2011-1: 1) James Carpenter (B+) Rookie He is a rookie and he made typical rookie mistakes but showed the type of player he can become and that has me pretty excited. THE GOOD: On a couple plays he really showed an ability to stuff the pass rush and he is always willing to keep blocking people in both the passing and running game. Run blocking is what he was known for coming out of college and he showed an ability to cut block, seal the edge, create push at the point of attack and even threw in a pancake block to prove his point. THE BAD: He has trouble handing blocks off to his guard so he can go make the block on a free player (i.e., on one play he had a double team and could have easily slid off the block to the free LB who was in position to make the tackle). He has a tendency to focus on one rusher in the passing game and doesn’t progress his blocking assignments from the inside out. He allowed a sack on a bull rush.

Seahawks, Rams going young on offense - NFC West Blog - ESPN: The Seahawks are heading toward the 2011 opener with left guard Robert Gallery as the only projected offensive starter older than 28. He turned 31 last month and is nearly nine years older than right tackle James Carpenter, the youngest offensive starter.

Horrible bosses -- Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown - ESPN: In this episode of "Horrible Bosses," we feature the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals, Mike Brown, and his mission to make everybody who works for him wish they had become podiatrists instead. Brown's football career peaked upon birth. He was born the son of legendary football genius Paul Brown and has done zilch to remind anybody of him since. Here's how bad it is working for Brown: His best and most honorable player, Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Palmer, is vowing to walk away from $46 million rather than work another day in Brown's prison stripes.

Mebane finding his place with Seahawks line again " Kitsap Sun: Familiarity with a franchise kept Brandon Mebane in Seattle. Familiarity with an old position could lead to big things for the defensive tackle in 2011. Mebane, one the Seahawks' top free agents after the 2010 season, re-signed with Seattle after a hectic week of free agency, in large part because he felt comfortable with the Seahawks, the only organization he has known since coming here as a third-round pick in 2007.

Chase Reynolds signs with St. Louis Rams: Three days after his release by the Seattle Seahawks, Grizzly career touchdown leader Chase Reynolds has landed with the St. Louis Rams. The Rams signed Reynolds, who scored 59 touchdowns for the University of Montana from 2008-10, on Wednesday. This is according to a Twitter post from Reynolds' agent, Marc Lillibridge.

Seahawks Blog | Position paper: Safety monitor | Seattle Times Newspaper: Marshawn Lynch tried to put the stamp on safety Earl Thomas last Saturday afternoon. "Yeah," Thomas said, "he tried." It wasn't just the fact that Thomas ran through Lynch's attempt to stiff-arm Thomas that was significant. It was Thomas' reaction.

NFL's Supplemental Draft postponed indefinitely - CBSSports.com: The NFL informed its 32 teams in an email this evening that the supplemental draft has been postponed, according to a source within the league. The draft, which had been set to take place Wednesday, has not yet been been rescheduled. The email circulated simply didn't provide a date, according to the source.

The new 2011 San Francisco 49ers Defense under Vic Fangio " thematchupszone:  Last year the San Francisco 49ers struggled under the weight of Mike Singletary’s dictatorial reign as head coach. Enter former Stanford Head Coach Jim Harbaugh. One of the biggest coaching staff changes under the new Harbaugh regime was the hiring of Vic Fangio, his former Stanford defensive coordinator. Vic Fangio spent nearly 24 years as an NFL assistant coach prior to being hired at Stanford. He has run both 4-3 (Colts) and 3-4 (Panthers, Houston) defenses and has close ties with Packers Defensive coordinator Dom Capers. One can only assume that after 16 years of working together their defenses may have some similarities.

Favre tutors McCoy, pays it forward for Holmgren - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports: In February of 1992, just about the time that Mike Holmgren was named the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, general manager Ron Wolf made a trade with the Atlanta Falcons. Wolf sent a first-round pick to Atlanta for a young quarterback named Brett Favre(notes), a move that turned out fairly well.

Need meets desire: After four seasons in the CFL, Brandon Browner wanted another shot at the NFL. The Seahawks are giving him the opportunity and the 6-foot-4 cornerback is making the most of it.

Pete Carroll’s Decision: It’s interesting that Pete Carroll will be at the University Book Store tonight at 7, signing paperback copies of his book, "Win Forever." I say it’s interesting because one of the concepts in "Win Forever" is "always compete." Carroll is big on competition, wanting players to relentlessly battle for starting spots. If you’re a starter, you want to hold off the backup. If you’re the backup, you’re doing your damndest to unseat the starter. All of these individual battles improve the team. It’s a terrific concept. What I get a kick out of is Carroll talking about this stuff like it’s unique to him when in fact, every coach at every level in every sport uses the same concept.

Small school, schmall school: Jesse Hoffman works hard to join Seahawks' roster | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune: A running back at heart, Jesse Hoffman has made a smooth transition to the physically demanding position of cornerback. And the rookie out of Eastern Washington University is in a fierce competition to earn a spot on the 53-man final roster or the practice squad on his home-state team, the Seattle Seahawks.

Oft-injured Bigby likely will be Seahawks' backup safety | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune: Looking for a veteran presence on the back end of the defense, the Seattle Seahawks signed former Green Bay safety Atari Bigby on Monday. Bigby, who turns 30 next month, spent six seasons with the Packers, starting 33 career games. However, recently he’s struggled to stay on the field, having not played a full season since 2007, missing 24 games over the past three seasons.

Why Seahawks wanted Bigby, not Milloy - NFC West Blog - ESPN: Atari Bigby's signing in Seattle gives the Seahawks experienced, hard-nosed depth at strong safety with one giant "if" to consider. Bigby Bigby has missed 24 games to injury over the past three seasons. He has value only if he can get and stay healthy. The former Green Bay Packers starter tuns 30 next month, making him considerably younger than unsigned 2010 starter Lawyer Milloy. Milloy, 37, has missed only six games since 1996. He has played all 16 games in a season 13 times.

Soaring expectations for Kolb-led Cardinals - NFC West Blog - ESPN: Kolb made a very positive impression during Clayton's recent trip to Cardinals training camp at Northern Arizona University. Kolb also impressed when I visited Cardinals camp earlier, more for his demeanor and leadership potential than for the limited snaps we've seen him take for the Cardinals during practices and the team's lone preseason game.

Landry Jones (QB, Oklahoma): further analysis " Seahawks Draft Blog: A lot of people think Landry Jones is an elite quarterback prospect. It may not be a popular opinion, but I’m going to disagree. I think he’s a system quarterback, at least as we stand here today pontificating on whether the Seahawks are going to finally draft a quarterback early next year. I also think he’s been vaulted into a position of hype based around the guy he replaced.