Tag Archives: Earl Thomas

Different year but same opponent and problems

October 18, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Almost a year ago, the Seahawks were in the exact position they are in now — struggling to find themselves as they prepared to face the Carolina Panthers.

The Seahawks have many of the same problems they had last year at this time: Their defense has had trouble against tight ends as Greg Olsen comes to town; their interception total is uncommonly low; Bobby Wagner is hurt; Marshawn Lynch is a story; the offense is in transition; and Derrick Coleman won’t play again.

Continue reading Different year but same opponent and problems →

CHAWK LINES, Week 5: At Cincinnati

October 8, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks are not making any changes on the O-line at this point, hoping the unit will get better as constituted.

John Boyle of Seahawks.com reviews the first quarter of the season.

The Seahawks are still the No. 3 betting favorite, at 6-1, to win the Super Bowl. Like us, Vegas knows better than to panic.

Here’s a good look at how the Seahawks always turn it on in the second half of the season.

The Seahawks have flipped the script on penalties this season, Bob Condotta writes.

That’s ironic, considering the rest of the NFL is on pace to set a record for penalties.

Russell Wilson said he feels just fine despite being sacked 18 times — a pace for a team record.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 2: At Green Bay

September 18, 2015 cc Leave a comment

In good news for the Seahawks, Packers OT Bryan Bulaga will miss the game with a knee injury suffered Thursday.

Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman both said poor communication led to all of the big plays by the Rams. They also both call it easily fixable.

Communication was the biggest focus this week, per Bob Condotta.

Sherman and Michael Bennett — Seattle’s two most outspoken and controversial players — both chimed in about the Black Lives Matter movement.

Larry Stone points out what we have noticed: Sherman has mellowed out from attention-getting trash talker to thoughtful social commenter.

Bob Condotta of the Times says Jimmy Graham’s debut could be a nice preview of things to come.

Graham apparently stayed in to block 36.9 percent of the time vs. the Rams. Last year with the Saints, he blocked 30.5 percent of the time.

Marshawn Lynch’s mom made it clear she was not speaking for Lynch when she called for Darrell Bevell to be fired.

Marcus Trufant reflects on playing his entire football career in the state of Washington.

CHAWK LINES, Week 1: At St. Louis

September 12, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Seattle’s reshaped offensive line faces a Ram-tough challenge in the opener.

Rob Rang offers three key matchups, and two of them are up front.

An insider’s look at the Rams, plus the matchup in a nutshell.

Earl Thomas tries to bait the Rams into throwing his way.

Why is it no surprise that Tharold Simon suddenly appeared on the injury report?

There will be plenty of room at Edward Jones Dome for Seahawks fans on Sunday as the Rams apparently are losing support amid owner Stan Kroenke’s attempt to move the team to L.A.

Linebacker Nick Moody was signed to the practice squad — for now. Mike Morgan might return next week; so, if the Hawks are considering adding Moody to the 53-man roster, the top candidates for release appear to be David King, Kristjan Sokoli, Will Tukuafu and Steven Terrell.

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Injury report, State of the team

Jackson a possible fill-in for injured Turbin

September 1, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The reason for Fred Jackson’s visit became clear when Pete Carroll talked to media Tuesday: Robert Turbin suffered a “significant” high ankle sprain in San Diego.

Carroll said he did not know how long Turbin will be out, but it obviously will be a while (short-term IR?).

Carroll said Jackson is in just for a meeting and physical and the team had not yet decided whether to sign him.

“This is a visit for us,” Carroll said. “This isn’t a signing. This is a visit for us. We have tremendous respect for this player. He’s got obviously a wealth of background. He’s tough, he’s smart. He’s sharp. So we need to see where he is right now at 34 years old and see what he looks like. He’s got a big physical coming up today and we’ll talk to him later. But … we have not made that decision at all at this point. We love that he’s here and we are trying to get our ducks in a row for what may be necessary later on.”

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Preseason, State of the team, The roster

Preseason status report & projections: Defense

August 28, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The secondary is one of the Seahawks’ most competitive spots this summer, but most of the competition has been missing the past week or so thanks to a
legion of boo-boos.

In Kansas City, the Hawks were without seven of their 11 cornerbacks and had only four safeties available. It was so bad that DeShawn Shead moved from safety to start at corner and fifth-round rookie Tye Smith played almost the entire game.

Shead and Smith both took advantage of their chances, drawing praise from coach Pete Carroll after playing tight coverage throughout the game.

Now it’s time for the rest of the corners to get their chances when the Seahawks play the Chargers in San Diego on Saturday night. Richard Sherman, Will Blackmon and Tharold Simon all are expected to play — with Blackmon needing to nail down the nickel job and Simon needing to prove he should be on the team (forget about starting).

Meanwhile, safety Earl Thomas apparently is on track to be ready for the opener in St. Louis on Sept. 13.

“Earl got a lot of work this week. He’s getting ready to be in shape to play for the opener,” Carroll said. “His timing is getting down, his calls, you can see him fitting in, his intensity that he brings is starting to show up. That’s important.”

The Seahawks have to cut the roster from 90 to 75 by Tuesday and then to 53 four days later.

Here’s a look at the defense heading into the third preseason game:

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CHAWK LINES, Training camp

August 19, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Some observations from Day 14 of camp from those who were there (and other features):

Earl Thomas returned to the field in pads for the first time since the Super Bowl.

“Just don’t go feelin’ sorry for me, people!” Nate Boyer said after the Hawks released him Tuesday.

Boyer was cut because the Hawks needed to add a quarterback: Tyler Lockett’s Kansas State QB, Jake Waters.

Anthony McCoy, who in the preseason opener showed his old habit of dropping easy catches, tried to make up for it in practice with a couple of great catches.

Field Gulls broke down all of Frank Clark’s big plays from Friday — and there were a lot of them.

Undrafted DT T.Y. McGill played well vs. Denver and remains motivated to keep impressing Pete Carroll and the coaches.

USA Today goes over old territory on the Chancellor holdout: the price of success, Kam still being a team player, etc.

The Sporting News ranks John Schneider as the best general manager in the NFL.

Jimmy Staten, waived by Seattle because of depth problems at cornerback, was picked up by the New York Giants.

Injury report, State of the team, Training camp

In secondary, even replacements are hurt

August 18, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Just over two weeks into camp, the Seahawks have even fewer cornerbacks than they started with — as impossible as that might seem.

They were so thin at the position in the first 10 days that they traded for Mohammed Seisay and converted Doug McNeil from wide receiver. And now those guys are hurt — Seisay with a groin and McNeil with an ankle, joining Richard Sherman (hip), Will Blackmon (groin), Jeremy Lane (ACL, arm) and Tharold Simon (shoulder).

With only Cary Williams, Marcus Burley, Tye Smith and Triston Wade healthy, the Hawks needed some bodies at the position, so they added two guys just to get through practice.

“We need legs at corner right now, so we’ll give these guys a chance,” Pete Carroll said of Jeremy Crayton and Keelan Johnson. “We’re a little bit behind with Sherm not being able to make it back and Will not making it back right away and Seisay gone, too, so we just need them for legs right now. But they’ll get a chance. They got tested today pretty good.”

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Injury report, Training camp

Thomas, Simon still a couple of weeks away

August 8, 2015 cc Leave a comment

A week into camp, it’s a good time to assess the Seahawks’ injury situation. Pete Carroll provided updates after the scrimmage today:

FS Earl Thomas (shoulder), who came off PUP this week, is still a couple of weeks away from practicing with the team. The Hawks removed him from PUP so he could participate in walk-through practices.

Carroll said, “He can get in there and get all of his reps there. There’s 50-something snaps in walk-through that he wasn’t able to get under the conditions of the PUP. So now he’s back and at least he’s getting half the time. It’s still a couple weeks away, but we’re getting closer and we’re trying to get him involved so that he can continue to progress too.”

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CHAWK LINES, Training camp

August 8, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Some observations from Day 7 of camp from those who were there (and other features):

Kam Chancellor is still very plugged in to the Seahawks, coaching DeShawn Shead from afar, Gregg Bell of The News Tribune writes.

Larry Stone of The Seattle Times wonders how Chancellor and the Seahawks can both come out of this without looking bad.

Earl Thomas and Jesse Williams still have not participated in team drills, per Brady Henderson of 710 ESPN.

Kevin Norwood and Dion Bailey stood out to John Boyle of Seahawks.com.

Mohammed Seisay’s response to being traded from Detroit to Seattle: “What? Me? Traded?”

Good news from Justin Britt: “It’s just night and day compared to last year.”