Welcome back from your vacation. A LOT of stuff happened over the weekend and if you were off the grid, read Field Gulls' stories below from the last couple of days, and then return and follow these links.
The Shutdown Corner Week 1 Preview Podcast: Greg Cosell - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports - We're very proud and pleased to announce that we have a great new addition to our in-season coverage: This is the first podcast in a weekly series in which we will be talking game matchups and strategy with Greg Cosell.
2011 NFL team age ranks at 53-man cuts - NFC West Blog - ESPN - The NFL's mandatory reduction to 53 players provides an opportunity to revisit team age rankings.
Mailbag: Underrating the NFC West? - NFC West Blog - ESPN - Greg from Spring, Texas gets tired of hearing analysts rip the NFC West. "Is it me," he writes, "or did I not watch the Seattle Seahawks beat the defending Super Bowl champs in the playoffs last year?"
The Cover 3 Awards: Golden Tate | The Matchups Zone - Golden Tate…..I pause only because I wanted to give everyone a chance to jump on the ever-expanding bandwagon. The much maligned second year player had his back against the wall, and needed to do something, anything, to show he could play at the NFL level. His coaches and teammates get to see it in practice, but the 12th Man wanted to see it during a game when it mattered (even if it is the fourth pre-season game). The "Doug Baldwin should replace Tate" cries have been heard all week, as well as the thought that he could actually be cut. So the big question was: How would he respond?
Interview: What does Carroll do for encore? | Seahawks Insider - His first season as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks was a success, as the team won an NFC West Division title and a playoff game despite going just 7-9 in the regular season. Now, the challenge to repeat has been made even tougher after an abbreviated offseason because of the NFL lockout. Add in the loss of three key veterans – quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu and safety Lawyer Milloy – and Carroll’s Seahawks will be a much different squad in this Sunday’s opener than the one that took the field last season. Carroll sat down for an interview with each of the reporters who cover the team last week. He addressed the turnover in the team’s leadership, the quarterback situation and his relationship with general manager John Schneider. We ran excerpt of that conversation in the newspaper this morning, but here’s the full version of the interview.
Seahawks Blog | Robert Gallery, Sidney Rice are uncertain in Week 1 | Seattle Times Newspaper - Left guard Robert Gallery and wide receiver Sidney Rice are question marks for the first week of the regular season. Neither participated in Seattle's practice Monday, but that's not that telling. Running back Marshawn Lynch and linebacker David Hawthorne didn't practice either. The difference is that coach Pete Carroll said Lynch and Hawthorne will be ready to go. He couldn't make any similar assurances about Gallery, who suffered a sprained knee on Friday.
Seahawks Blog | Cramped quarters | Seattle Times Newspaper - There's room for Ricardo Lockette on the Seahawks' practice squad. There's just not much room in front of his locker. He can't even stretch out his legs thanks to the guidelines laid down -- in tape -- by veteran Roy Lewis.
Seahawks.com Blog | The day in pictures: Monday " - Check out some images from Monday’s practice, brought to you by Seahawks.com photographer Rod Mar:
The right decision - who starts at right tackle? - Blog - MyNorthwest.com - The right decision? "We had two tackles and they split the game," head coach Pete Carroll said following the Seahawks 20-3 victory over the Raiders on Friday night. "You might have seen some substitutions in the offensive line up front to make sure we have on film some good stuff for evaluation so we know that what we're doing is right and we're making the right decisions in the next couple of days." Rookie James Carpenter is battling veteran Breno Giacomini for the Seahawks starting right tackle position. (AP Photo/John Froschauer) That is, the right decision as to which right tackle will start next week in the regular season opener against the 49ers.
Landry Jones and the hype machine " Seahawks Draft Blog - Landry Jones is not an elite quarterback prospect, whether that’s on a physical grade, accuracy grade or playmaking grade. He plays in a system that provides mass production and he is a product of that winning scheme. He is alongside a group of other quarterbacks like Kirk Cousins and Ryan Tannehill jostling to be the second level guys teams looks at if they don’t get a shot at the big two of Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley. Let’s not mess around here, there’s a grand canyon’s difference in talent between Luck and Barkley and the rest – including Jones.
Week one thoughts: Barkley, Moore and the rest " Seahawks Draft Blog - I’ve just completed the Boise State vs Georgia game and still have LSU vs Oregon to watch this afternoon. Tonight I’ll be watching West Virginia (Bruce Irvin) vs Marshall (Vinny Curry). I also had the opportunity to watch USC-Minnesota and have Baylor’s victory over TCU saved on tape, but you can check out Robert Griffin’s performance in the video above thanks to JMPasq. If Griffin can perform as he did in that game regularly this season, he’ll warrant greater consideration than the late ground rade I’d previously offered. Expect some thoughts on WVU vs Marshall later tonight or tomorrow.
Monday metatarsal musings - Or foornotes: A look at three things that went well in the win over the Raiders on Friday night, and three things that need work as the Seahawks prepare for Sunday's regular-season opener against the 49ers.
Appalachian State's LeGree among cut FCS players - latimes.com - Seventeen of the 21 players who were drafted out of Football Championship Subdivision schools this year have made NFL rosters after teams reached the 53-player limit over the weekend. The highest drafted player who was cut was former Appalachian State safety Mark LeGree, taken in the fifth round by the Seattle Seahawks.
Scouting The Seahawks: Tarvaris Jackson - Niners Nation - With opening day against the Seattle Seahawks only six days away, it's time to take a look at the 49ers' first opponent of the season. Let's start off with their starting quarterback, Tarvaris Jackson. I took a look at their final preseason game against the Oakland Raiders and have notes on every pass Jackson attempted in the two series he played. Before I get started, here is a brief scouting report on Tarvaris Jackson: Jackson was considered one of the best athletes in the 2006 quarterback draft class. He has a strong arm and compact release. Before the draft, his accuracy and touch on deep throws, footwork, and ability to read defenses were the question marks. Some thought that if he could improve his footwork and field awareness, he could develop into a nice west coast offense quarterback.
Seahawks Shock: 10 Holdovers Still Standing | Seattle Seahawks - After making 27 more roster moves, the Seahawks have settled — at least for this nanosecond in time — on the 53 players who will allegedly begin the 2011 season sporting Seattle togs. The latest round of roster roulette involved no surprises (well, perhaps a minor one), except maybe for the fact that the "Final 53″ includes 10 players who wore a Seattle uniform prior to the arrival of head coach Pete Carroll in January of 2010. How come so many?
Doug Baldwin's stellar preseason performance puts him on Seahawks' roster | Pensacola News Journal | pnj.com - Seated some 1,600 miles away in the current home of the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Josh Sitton had one word for the news: "Cool." And then the star offensive guard for the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers added a few more: "You said his name is Doug who?"
Steve Kelley | Seahawk Brandon Browner's long exile in Canada is over | Seattle Times Newspaper - As he slowly unspooled the tape from his hands after Friday's final exhibition game, Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner barely allowed himself a slight, satisfied smile. After all he's been through, all of the disappointments — after four seasons in the Canadian Football League; after tryouts with a half-dozen NFL teams, including an earlier trial with the Seahawks; after being told he was too tall or too slow to play cornerback in the National Football League, Browner had made it. He would start this season on the Hawks' 53-man roster and probably start at corner in the season opener Sunday in San Francisco.
Seahawks.com Blog | Monday in Hawkville " - FOCUS ON Captains. The players voted on the captains for the season today, and coach Pete Carroll couldn’t have agreed more with the selections of cornerback Marcus Trufant (defense), quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (offense) and kick returner Leon Washington and fullback Michael Robinson (special teams). "I’m real proud of those guys for taking a leadership position for us," Carroll said after the team’s bonus Labor Day practice to start preparing for Sunday’s regular-season opener against the 49ers in San Francisco. "Those are great guys to put out front. It’s been obvious to why these guys would choose those guys." Trufant, Washington and Robinson were with the team last season, but Jackson was signed in free agency and didn’t even start practicing with team until Aug. 4. So his selection was especially pleasing to Carroll. "It’s obvious that that’s who they wanted to be their leader," Carroll said. "I’m pleased with all the choices, of course."
ProFootballWeekly.com - Seahawks 2011 preview - The Seahawks have very aggressively picked up where they left off on the transactions front in Pete Carroll's first year as head coach. After making a mind-boggling 284 roster moves last season, they wasted no time becoming younger, bigger, stronger and faster this season with the free-agent additions of WR Sidney Rice, TE Zach Miller, OLG Robert Gallery and QB Tarvaris Jackson, among others.
Different paths to the same destination - After a Saturday of uncertainty as NFL teams cut their rosters to 53 players, Jeron Johnson and Steven Hauschka found themselves teammates with the Seahawks on Monday.
James Carpenter works out at guard, plus other Seahawks notes | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News - seattlepi.com - Seahawks coach Pete Carroll isn’t sure about the availability of starting left guard Robert Gallery for Sunday’s season opener at San Francisco, as Gallery sprained his knee in Seattle’s preseason finale on Friday. So to help compensate for Gallery’s loss, rookie right tackle James Carpenter did some work at left guard in Gallery’s absence at practice on Monday.
Seahawks | Lynch and Hawthorne are a go for Seahawks opener, no word on Rice or Gallery | Seattle Times Newspaper - Running back Marshawn Lynch and middle linebacker David Hawthorne are expected to be ready when Seattle begins its regular season Sunday in San Francisco. Coach Pete Carroll isn't nearly so certain about left guard Robert Gallery and wide receiver Sidney Rice, neither of whom took part in Monday's short practice.
Seahawks.com Blog | Video: Carroll Press Conference "
Gallery, Rice still uncertain for Sunday | Seahawks Insider - Two of the Seattle Seahawks major free agent acquisitions may not be ready for Sunday’s opener against San Francisco. Offensive guard Robert Gallery and receiver Sidney Rice did not practice on Monday, and head coach Pete Carroll said he’ll wait and see until later in the week if both are ready. Gallery is nursing a sprained right knee he suffered in the first half against Oakland.
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