Category Archives: State of the team

State of the team, Week 2: At Los Angeles

Hawks ‘have a lot of stuff to clean up’

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After Week 1, the Seahawks look like the third-best team in the NFC West. The good news is they face the fourth-best team this week.

The Rams melted down Monday night in San Francisco, which means either the 49ers are much better than we thought they would be or the Rams are much worse.

Of course, the Seahawks had their own issues – almost all on offense — in their nail-biting win over Miami, and they will need to fix those if they are going to beat the Rams in the first game in Los Angeles since 1994. (It will be Seattle’s first game vs. the Rams in L.A. since 1988.)

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Injury report, State of the team

‘How could you think’ Wilson will miss a game?

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Seahawks bandagesIf you think Russell Wilson is going to miss a game with his sprained ankle, you underestimate his moxie, his toughness, his drive, his resilience.

Remember, this is a guy who has never missed a practice or a meaningful play.

As Pete Carroll told 710 ESPN on Monday, “He will make it through. How could you think otherwise?”

Wilson himself tweeted out, “See you in L.A.”

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Injury report, State of the team

Curse of first-round linemen continues

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Seahawks bandagesIt’s no wonder John Schneider and Pete Carroll had developed an aversion toward drafting offensive linemen in the first round: They always get hurt.

After going back-to-back with first-round linemen in 2010-11, it took them five years to try again. Now it might be another five years before they do it again.

We can only hope Germain Ifedi’s high ankle sprain, which is expected to sideline him for at least three weeks, will not send him down the same injury path traveled by Russell Okung and James Carpenter.

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State of the team, Trades

Hawks make two trades, keep 12 DBs — for now

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As usual, the Seahawks made a lot of fans scratch their heads with some of their moves on cutdown day. But, as usual, some of the moves are going to be very temporary.

It was no surprise that John Schneider pulled a trade — he has made at least one in every preseason (16 total). But the surprise was that he traded for two safeties.

The Seahawks reportedly added Dewey McDonald (6 feet, 220 pounds) from Oakland and L.J. McCray (6 feet, 215 pounds) from San Francisco. The Hawks reportedly gave up conditional seventh-rounders for both (2017 seventh or McDonald, 2018 pick for McCray).

With those additions, the Seahawks made a deep secondary even deeper — keeping 12 for now. They kept undrafted rookies Tyvis Powell (not a surprise) and De’Andre Elliott (a big surprise) over young veterans Tye Smith and Marcus Burley (injured).

The Seahawks also terminated the contracts of veterans Jahri Evans and Will Tukuafu; waived DT Brandin Bryant, TE Clayton Echard, S Keenan Lambert, LB Steve Longa, WR Douglas McNeil III, WR E.Z. Nwachukwu, WR Kasen Williams, RB Troymaine Pope, G/C Will Pericak, WR Antwan Goodley, DE Tylor Harris, S Keenan Lambert, WR Kenny Lawler, LB Kache Palacio, DE Ryan Robinson and DT Tani Tupou; and waived/injured TE Joe Sommers, DT Jordan Hill, LB Eric Pinkins and OT Terry Poole.

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Preseason, State of the team

Bennett praises Carroll, McDaniel, Clark

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While Michael Bennett talked a lot Monday about the reason for his dust-up with Bradley Sowell on Sunday, the Pro Bowl end also had a lot more to say — per usual.

Among the best outtakes, he said Pete Carroll is a great coach because he “understands the moment,” Tony McDaniel brings needed “veteran wisdom,” Frank Clark is a “wild dog” who needs “tuning” and young players need to learn this is a job.

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Preseason, State of the team

Bennett needs to stay healthy, wants new guys to ‘find that line’

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Bennett at campMichael Bennett has been feistier this summer than in any other, and it has made plenty of people think he is taking out his frustrations about his contract.

But it’s probably a little more sensible than that: It’s probably about him trying to make sure he gets the extension that should be coming his way next offseason — something he can’t do if he gets hurt before the season even begins.

Speaking a day after he once again was involved in a fight — this time with Bradley Sowell — Bennett said the new players have to “find that line” while competing and learn to respect teammates and not hurt them.

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State of the team, Training camp

Rawls, Graham return to stacked position rooms

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Training camp logo2Thomas Rawls and Jimmy Graham were key players in the Seahawks’ surprising offensive evolution in 2015 — Rawls replacing injury-ravaged Marshawn Lynch and offering more speed through the hole and Graham helping the Hawks become more potent through the air.

Of course, just as the offense started to click in November, both players were lost to injuries in a three-week span.

Considering the severity of the injuries — a torn patellar tendon for Graham and a broken ankle for Rawls — it was no surprise that the Seahawks loaded up at tight end and running back this offseason.

So, as Rawls and Graham return to practice this week, they find themselves on an offense that is even more stacked than the one they helped set a team yardage record last year.

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State of the team, Training camp

Carroll, Hawks discover ‘Road to Character’

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Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images)When the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII, they were still a bunch of upstarts, misfits and castoffs who really didn’t know what to expect and were just following the Pete Carroll way: Always compete.

By the time they got back to the Super Bowl the next year, they had become seasoned veterans despite still being one of the NFL’s youngest teams.

But they were still young and immature — as so many of them proved during and after Super Bowl XLIX — and they failed to mentally or physically recover from that debacle in time for the next season. They still lacked focus and cohesion early in 2015, and it ended up costing them in the postseason.

But they have rediscovered their sense of purpose this offseason, largely because Carroll has changed the way he delivers his mantra.

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State of the team, Training camp

Cable: Gilliam on ‘pitch count,’ Webb starting from scratch

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Training camp logo2Everyone knows the offensive line is the biggest concern about this otherwise Super Bowl-ready Seahawks team, so it’s no surprise to hear Tom Cable say we are a long way from knowing how that unit is going to shape up.

After Day 4 of camp on Tuesday, the assistant head coach said he was pleasantly surprised at the retention of the spring lessons by the entire unit. But he also made it clear they are just getting going and there is a ton of work to be done as they look for new starters at all five positions.

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State of the team, Training camp

Chancellor’s renewed commitment: ‘It’s about a brotherhood’

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Training camp logo2Kam Chancellor has changed his tune — back to the original refrain — and the rest of the Seahawks are whistling along.

The once-beloved safety lost a lot of fans with his ill-fated holdout last year, and he didn’t win too many back with his average play from Week 3 on.

He made the Pro Bowl on name recognition (as so many have over the years), but the fact is he wasn’t the same hard-hitting leader who had been a major factor in each of the previous two Super Bowl runs.

On Monday, he called his 2015 play “up and down” — which probably was an overly favorable analysis.

Asked what he learned from last year, he said, “I learned that this is a business; this is the NFL. But more importantly, it’s about a brotherhood. We started a brotherhood here, and we’ve got to continue what we’ve started. That’s the most important thing.”

Continue reading Chancellor’s renewed commitment: ‘It’s about a brotherhood’ →