Seahawks Training Camp Notes for Friday: Baldwin out, McKissic stepping up

Today was my third and final day of Seahawks’ training camp coverage. Before I begin, the news of the Ezekiel Elliott suspension and then the trades of Sammy Watkins, Jordan Matthews, and Ronald Darby were on the minds of many the reporters I spoke to. While none that really affects Seattle, it was still pretty big news and was a huge talking point on the field for a lot of people.

Anyways, since I spent time with the receivers and quarterbacks yesterday, I watched a fair bit of defensive line and linebackers today along with the usual team scrimmage. Here are my notes:

Training Camp Observations

• Russell Wilson looked great again. I feel like a broken record at this point, but he had touch on sideline passes and gave his receivers a chance to make plays. In the morning team session, he went 4/4 with a great fade route to Kasen Williams down the sideline.
• Speaking of Kasen Williams, he is catching the eyes of the coaching staff. He had a good day of practice and made a great diving catch on the sideline. I don’t think he’ll make the active roster to start the season, but he will probably be stashed on the practice squad.
• Trevone Boykin had a mixed day. He was accurate on short and medium throws, but his touch on deep throws was off. He sailed two deep passes far passed his targets. Also, he held on the ball too long. For the three days I’ve been at camp, I thought he’s played decent, but reading reports from the earlier training camp days are definitely not encouraging. In my opinion he still has the back-up job over Austin Davis, but it’s his to lose on Sunday versus the Los Angeles Chargers and the other preseason matches.
• Oday Aboushi and Mark Glowinski continue to compete for the starting right guard spot. Aboushi had more snaps with the first team today.
• Chris Carson continues to show good burst and hands. It’s still too early to claim if he’s going to make the active roster, but he’s definitely threatening for the fourth RB spot if they carry another one behind Thomas Rawls, Eddie Lacy, and C.J. Prosise.
• Doug Baldwin came to practice a bit later. He was held out for precautionary reasons and according to Pete Carroll they are not worried about him. Jeremy Lane and Luke Willson were also held out of practice today.
• Frank Clark was once again a full participant. According to Pete Carroll, he apologized to the entire team after the incident with Germain Ifedi.
• Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett both had a veteran’s day off today. They were joking around and watching the younger guys practice. At one point, Michael Bennett borrowed one of the Seahawks’ reporters cameras and started taking pictures of everybody around him.

• Since the backfield is crowded, J.D. McKissic keeps getting more practice time at wide receiver and special teams. He looks good in space and made an awesome diving catch. I honestly think he’ll make the team before Chris Carson does, but that’s just my speculation.
• In wide receiver versus defensive back drills, Paul Richardson made a good move on a pivot route schooling Pierre Desir for a short pass.
• After practice, I interviewed Cassius Marsh. That discussion will be on Field Gulls later today along with some photos and videos I took.
• During the press conferences, Cliff Avril was given a donation of $50,000 from the United Way to support his foundation. According to him, “Sacks for Haiti” is still on for another season!

As a personal note, I had a really great experience over the past few days. Met a lot of great people who are definitely inspirations in my personal career development!

You can follow me on Twitter @SamuelRGold.