Seahawks tinkering with Justin Britt at LG, Garry Gilliam at RT

The Seahawks made at least one notable change in practice Monday morning, taking a look at Justin Britt inside at the left guard position. As Pete Carroll said after practice, "We couldn't wait much longer to do this...we have to get better."

Britt, who started all 16 games for the Seahawks last year at right tackle, got the preseason started off on a bad note on Friday, getting beat around the edge on Seattle's first pass play. He lined up against Von Miller, who swatted away Britt's block easily before getting the strip-sack on Russell Wilson, resulting in a turnover.

Consequently, Seattle is tinkering with Garry Gilliam at right tackle, and have moved Britt to the left guard spot with the first-team unit. Alvin Bailey, who got the start at left guard on Friday, was playing with the second-team at left tackle on Monday, backing up Russell Okung.

Offensive line coach Tom Cable spoke to reporters about the move(s), and when asked if the switch to guard for Britt is permanent, replied:

"We'll see. We feel like we need to do a little more mixing and matching to kind of figure all this out. So, we're just kind of figuring it out. Garry Gilliam played really well the other night. Justin (Britt) did well, except for a play. We're just trying to get the best guys out there, so we're just mixing and matching.

"As Garry has improved, it's about finding a way to get your next best player on the field. [Britt] played left tackle in college, center in college. So he's feeling pretty comfortable."

Video here from Greg Bell:

Video: #Seahawks OL coach Tom Cable explaining switching starters after subpar preseason opener 1 of 2 pic.twitter.com/eMmdmhTESY

— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) August 17, 2015

Video of OL coach Tom Cable explaining changes to starters after subpar preseason opener #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/KdouVCZDni

— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) August 17, 2015

The Seahawks ultimately want to land on the five best players on their offensive line, wherever those five best players fit. Cable said that he'll be making a decision on the starting five next week. That gives everyone one more game to make an impression.

Cable also said that they have thought about playing Justin Britt at guard for as long as back at the Draft. This jibes with things he said on Draft day:

"[Britt will] compete at right tackle with Mike Bowie. Right from the beginning he'll have the ability to play either guard spot. He played left tackle in the SEC this year. Was a right a year ago as a junior. But he is our kind of guy. He's competitive. 45-0 as a heavyweight champion wrestler champion in high school. He's an ornery, mean guy that plays the game the right way. Obviously with his background and that number of starts in that league against that competition, that's important."

Carroll said the same thing in his presser, noting that they have considered him inside at guard, and at center as well.

We'll see how this develops.