Coffee & Cigarettes: Seahawks links for Saturday

Happy Weekend!

Russell Wilson's time is now for Seahawks | Football | Sports | Toronto Sun
Trestman was a coach at North Carolina State when, one day, the baseball coach Elliott Avent walked over during their off-season workouts and introduced him to a teenage infielder to whom they had just given a scholarship. "He wants to play baseball and football," Avent said. "If he’s good enough to play both, we’ll do it," said the head football coach, Chuck Amato, not necessarily believing it was going to be possible. So Trestman walked the infielder out to the football field, uncertain as to what to expect. He had done this so many times before. Just never like this one.

Some thoughts on Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown " Seahawks Draft Blog
In my last mock draft, I had Arthur Brown (LB, Kansas State) going to the Seahawks. He’s a sideline-to-sideline linebacker who will clock a time in the 4.4′s or 4.5′s at the combine. And I think he’s ideal for the teams WILL position.

Seahawks plan to keep feeding the ball to Marshawn Lynch | Seahawks | The Seattle Times
"I just kept bugging John and bugging John," Carroll said. "John probably called them back 10 times to get this done." "My hopes were that (Lynch) could be the lead, marquee back for you — that we would get an attitude guy as well as a big-play guy. So we went after him ... and he has done everything we could ask."

Where Seahawks stand after beefing up pass rush - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
"We've played solid and we've been a little bit inconsistent on [getting to] the quarterback I think at times, even though we are in the top 10 in sacks per attempt," defensive line coach Todd Wash told Bob Stelton, Dave Grosby and Dave Wyman during "The Huddle" on Thursday. "We've got to do a better job of getting after the quarterback."

Seahawks’ desire for speed helps LB Malcolm Smith | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune
"When he had the chance he really locked in and became focused, and then he started to make plays in practice and it showed up on the field," Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said about Smith. "As coaches, that’s always something that you have to be leery of is not giving guys credit, and when they get their chances you’re skeptical of how they’re going to do, but then they go in and do just fine. "I think that’s the big thing for him is that he has to know that he’s going to play a lot, then his focus is right, and then he has a tendency to play better."

Anthony McCoy on Seahawks' offensive turnaround - Seahawks Weekly at KIRORadio.com
Seahawks tight end Anthony McCoy joins "Seahawks Weekly" discusses why the Seahawks' offense has improved so much in the last few weeks. He also talks about the big game he had last week against the Cardinals and previews the Buffalo Bills' defense.

Sports Radio Interviews " Blog Archive " Darnell Dockett Says He Wants to Play Somewhere Where He is Wanted
Darnell Dockett joined XTRA 910 in Phoenix with Bickley and MJ to talk about how he is feeling now heading into Sunday’s game against Detroit, what his initial reaction was to his fine he received from the Cardinals, what he makes of his future in Arizona, what he was thinking on the play when he was asked to let the opposing offense score, how it felt to be benched for the start of the Seattle game and what his relationship is like with Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt right now.

The real McCoy
Anthony McCoy had a career day against the Cardinals, becoming the first Seahawk this season with a 100-yard receiving game. But he’s already focusing on the next challenge: The Bills on Sunday.

Seahawks.com Blog | Friday in Hawkville: Thurmond out, so Maxwell and Lane are in
"He’s not going to make it. Unfortunately he’s not going to be there," coach Pete Carroll said after today’s practice when asked about Thurmond. "We’ll play those guys in rotation – that would be Jeremy Lane and Bryon."

Thurmond ruled out of game Sunday vs. Bills; Rice listed as probable, Martin to go on IR | Seahawks Blog | The Seattle Times
Here is the final injury report going into Sunday's game in Toronto:

Rice back to full speed | Seahawks Insider
"(Rice) did fine today and made it through practice," coach Pete Carroll said. "He’s fine, he went full speed today. He’s got a sore foot but he’s fine, I don’t think there’s any issue with that at all." Rice was in a protective boot in Wednesday’s practice.

Robert Griffin III doesn't take Redskins' first-team reps - NFL.com
Robert Griffin III participated in Washington Redskins practice this week, but Kirk Cousins has taken all first-team reps, Jay Glazer reports. What does this mean for RG3's status for Sunday?

The Shutdown Corner Week 15 NFL Preview Podcast With Greg Cosell | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
Once again, it's time to gear up for this week's slate of NFL games with analysis from the best in the business -- Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN's "NFL Matchup." Greg gives you a sense of the week's upcoming games you won't get anywhere else, based on his conversations with players and coaches past and present, and his OCD-level evaluation of coach's tape. Since the podcast was recorded early Friday morning, we started by reviewing the Cincinnati Bengals' Thursday night win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

NFP looks at prospects playing in the Rose Bowl. | National Football Post
Russ Lande breaks down a handful of prospects playing in the Rose Bowl.

NFP Friday Buzz: Bowles, Saban & more | National Football Post
A lot of the credit for drafting Russell Wilson should be given to Seahawks general manager John Schneider. He had conviction about Wilson early in the process, and was determined to take him no matter what. However, head coach Pete Carroll also became a fan and supported pulling the trigger on Wilson in the third round. Having the general manager and head coach on the same page on draft day helps to create a stable and fast track development environment for any player.

Peek at the Week: Can Niners hang with Pats? Not likely in New England - NFL - CBSSports.com News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Fantasy
Beating Tom Brady and the Patriots at home in December? It's the NFL's mission impossible. Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers tackle the assignment on Sunday night and Clark Judge says we'll learn just how good they are.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Under Pressure: Getting Deep with DPOY
It’s not often that this can be said, but the race for the Defensive Player of the Year award this season seems even more fascinating than the Most Valuable Player chase. With Aldon Smith leading the league with 19.5 sacks and J.J. Watt and Von Miller both on pace to finish with nearly 20 sacks themselves, it’s a great year for pass rushers.

Checkdowns: Elo-Ratings for NFL teams
Just a quick Friday night checkdown post. By now, you’re very familiar with the Simple Rating System. I used the SRS to create college football ratings every week this season and used the SRS to grade NFL teams earlier this year. Pro-Football-Reference.com calculates SRS ratings every week and they are always available on their Standings page.

From the Colorado School of Mines to the NFL
Unless you follow Division II football, you probably aren’t familiar with the name Bob Stitt. He’s the head coach at the Colorado School of Mines, and here is what Bruce Feldman wrote about him in the summer of 2011 in connection with the One-Back Clinic, an annual meeting of a few of the sharpest minds in college football: