Coffee & Cigarettes: Seahawks links for Friday

Thank god it's TGIF you guys.

Colin Kaepernick wants you to know: He’s smarter than you may think | Audibles - SI.com
“I think the biggest part of my game that’s underestimated is the mental part of it,” he says. “Probably because it’s invisible. You can’t see the hours I put in. It is funny to me that because I can run, because I’m athletic, people tend to see that as my only asset. And that’s fine—I hope they continue to see it that way. Look, I won’t say that view is ‘racist.’ I will say it’s stereotypical. I’ve just heard it so many times before.”

Thiel: Seahawks’ special teams home for Kearse | Sportspress Northwest
Former Husky Jermaine Kearse isn’t mad he didn’t get drafted. What he has done is seize chance the Seahawks gave him on special teams, which makes Pete Carroll giddy.

The Evolution of the Hot Take: A Brief History of Bad Sports Writing
The hot take is ruining sports writing. If the hot take is a foreign phrase to you, don’t worry, you’ve read one before. They are published en masse after any seemingly scandalous sports story. They are usually written on tight deadlines with little research or reporting, and even less thought.

Gridiron Olympians: Many former Olympians have tried (and mostly failed) to make it in the NFL. This season, Bills rookie Marquise Goodwin becomes the latest athlete attempting prove his track skills translate to pro football. - SBNation.com
Many former Olympians have tried (and mostly failed) to make it in the NFL. This season, Bills rookie Marquise Goodwin becomes the latest athlete attempting prove his track skills translate to pro football.

NFL rookies ready to surprise this season - NFL.com
Third-round draft pick Tyrann Mathieu stole the show in the Arizona Cardinals' preseason opener. Which other low-round picks are poised to shock the NFL in 2013? Chris Wesseling explores.

'Brutality: The Crisis in Football': Revisiting the SI archives, 35 years later | Audibles - SI.com
Statistics showed that it was the nation's most injurious team sport, but those who despaired of the weekend casualty lists were encouraged to look at the sport's virtues, at the lives and the profit statements it enhanced. ...

NFL Draft Preparation - Kicking the tires at Tight End
All the talk the past couple seasons has been centered on the re-emergence of the “dual threat” quarterback and the questions surrounding the injection of “read option” principles into offensive schemes within professional football. Players such as Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick, and Russell Wilson appear to be redefining the quarterback position and forcing NFL scouts to rethink how to insert these talents into a traditional pocket-minded playbook.

Former NFL player describes the pressure to use human growth hormone - latimes.com
As pro football hammers out a pact on testing, Christian Fauria remembers how he almost started using HGH to gain a career edge.

Thursday practice notes: Hawks wrap up training camp | Seahawks Blog | Seattle Times
BATES GETS SOME TRIES AT FULLBACK: Among the most interesting sights today was receiver Phil Bates, who at 6-1, 220 pounds is the second-heaviest receiver outside of Chris Harper, taking some snaps at fullback. “We are trying to see what we have there,” said offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. “We put Phil in at fullback a little bit and want to see how he takes hold of that and see what we kind of have. We’ve had him here long enough that we know what we can expect from him outside. But he’s a big body and we want to see what he can do in the backfield.”

OC Bevell looking for consistency vs. Broncos | Seahawks Insider - The News Tribune
“I’d like to see us be consistent,” Bevell said. “I obviously want to see us go down the field and score points, put points on the board. Obviously, I’d like it to be a touchdown. But I want to see us consistently move the ball.”

Seattle's Earl Thomas makes Seahawks defense work - seattlepi.com
Questions like this make Earl Thomas uncomfortable.

Cliff Avril returns to practice for Seahawks | ProFootballTalk
The Seattle Seahawks saw defensive end Cliff Avril return to the practice field for the first time in over two weeks after battling a hamstring injury suffered early in training camp. Avril did not participate in team drills and only went through individual workouts for the Seahawks on Wednesday.

Best player in camp? Richard Sherman has it covered
In a training camp of heightened expectations, where many players’ efforts matched the hype, Richard Sherman stood out – and it had nothing to do with anything the All-Pro cornerback said.

Seahawks roster breakdown: Defense - 710sports.com
Danny O'Neil continues his breakdown of the Seahawks' roster with a look at the defense, where Seattle made several additions after allowing the fewest points in the NFL last year. - Blog 710 ESPN Seattle at 710sports.com

Seahawks notebook: Cliff Avril returns to practice - 710sports.com
Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril has been dealing with a hamstring injury that has caused him to miss a significant portion of training camp. - Blog 710 ESPN Seattle at 710sports.com

What drives 49ers' Colin Kaepernick - NFC West Blog - ESPN
San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh recently hit on something significant regarding quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Darrell Bevell hoping to see No. 1 offense “do a little bit better” against Denver Saturday | Seahawks Blog | Seattle Times
— On what he has seen in the battle at right guard between J.R. Sweezy and John Moffit: “There’s a battle going on there. Both guys are in different situations. (John) Moffit has played the position for a long time, and J.R. Sweezy is a guy that has been learning. J.R. has done a really nice job in terms of picking it up. What J.R. learned from last year he has been able to kind of step forward. We still need to see one of the two guys really take hold of the position. Neither one of them has really jumped ahead of the other. I’d still like to see a little bit more out of John, though.”

Patrick Peterson likened to Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson - NFL.com
Is Patrick Peterson ready to emerge as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate? Arizona Cardinals GM Steve Keim recently compared the cornerback to two of the greatest athletes in NFL history.

Video: Rang from Seahawks training camp, take two | Seahawks Insider - The News Tribune
Rob Rang, senior draft analyst with NFLDraftScout.com, offers his thoughts on the Seattle Seahawks on the final day of the team’s training camp in the video below.

Rams exec: 'Complete uniform change' might happen - NFL.com
Longtime fans of the Rams might not be happy with talk of the franchise altering its uniforms. But Rams executive Kevin Demoff says change is in the air.

Niners anxious to hit ex-mate Alex Smith on Friday - NFL.com
Alex Smith will see a cast of familiar faces when he plays the San Francisco 49ers on Friday. Considering how the 49ers are anticipating facing Smith, it might not be just another preseason game for Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The NFP's top-25 contract-year players | National Football Post
Plenty of elite talent is scheduled to hit the open market next winter. Who tops the list?

True Receiving Yards, Part I
As you guys know, Neil Paine is the man. Here’s the latest reason: he came up with a metric called True Receiving Yards, the latest in a long line of thoughts in our Wide Receiver Project. So, what are True Receiving Yards?

Feeling the Pain of the Preseason | The MMQB with Peter King
When asked to name something about working for an NFL team that people would be surprised to learn, I often describe the amount of time front offices spend on injury and medical issues. And that amount is increasing every year.

Bracing for the RG3 Backlash - The Triangle Blog - Grantland
Somewhere in the middle of the latest controversy involving Robert Griffin III, I realized that is just how it's going to be for a while. For some con

The All-22 All-Stars: Kyle Williams, the Underestimated Monster - The Triangle Blog - Grantland
The All-22 All-Star Team is an attempt to provide some insight on the NFL's 22 most underappreciated players. Some will be All-Pros who haven't fully

Cliff Avril puts on pads for the first time | Seahawks | The Seattle Times
Avril puts on pads for the first time, though he doesn’t take part in drills, an indication he could be ready for the regular season.

Seahawks’ Derrick Coleman makes his mark despite hearing disability | Seahawks | The Seattle Times
Essentially deaf since age three, the former UCLA running back has never used it as an excuse as he has tried to make it in the NFL.

Thursday Seahawks notes--Bevell looking for more consistency; Bates trying FB | HeraldNet.com - Seattle Sidelines
Thursday's practiced marked the end of Seahawks training camp, a distinction that is a lot less significant with the holding camp at its...