The Seahawks kicked off their final week of OTAs Monday, here’s a bit of what we saw and heard…
—Terrelle Pryor, who is competing for the backup QB job, has been inconsistent early on (at least in the sessions open the media) and while he looked better Monday, there were still some up and down moments. The most obvious example came during red-zone drills when, moments after threading a nice pass to Percy Harvin in the back of the end zone—Harvin made a heck of a leaping catch on his end—Pryor followed things up by over-throwing a wide-open Anthony McCoy in the end zone.
—Rookie WR Paul Richardson was held out with a sore shoulder—Pete Carroll said it was precautionary after Richardson fell on it last week—but while the Seahawks’ top draft pick was out, the other receiver they drafted, Kevin Norwood, stood out, making several contested catches, including one in the end zone when the team practiced Hail Mary passes. Richardson had another nice touchdown catch on a pass from Pryor in the aforementioned red-zone portion of practice.
—Second-year DT Jordan Hill flashed at times, including a batted down pass at the line of scrimmage, and showing the ability to get into the backfield as an interior pass rusher at times.
—Rookie Eric Pinkins, who the Seahawks said they drafted to play corner, was once again at his college position of safety. It’s obviously too soon to say the CB experiment is a failure, but as defensive coordinator Dan Quinn noted, they’re trying to put Pinkins in a position where he’s more comfortable for now.
—Bobby Wagner had a pick-six off of a ball tipped at the line of scrimmage by Michael Bennett.
—Rookie Justin Britt saw significant time with the first team at right tackle—Michael Bowie is working his way back from a sore shoulder, so while he practiced, he only took about 1/3 of the reps, according to Carroll. Britt has had plenty of good moments early on, but it’s worth noting he had a bit of trouble with Cliff Avril’s speed at times. Then again, so have plenty of seasoned NFL veterans, so that’s hardly a knock on Britt.
—Carroll continues to rave about LB Korey Toomer, who missed all of last year with a knee injury. After calling Toomer the hottest guy in camp during last week’s town hall, Carroll called him, “the brightest guy in the whole camp,” on Monday.
—Carroll noted that RB Robert Turbin had his knee cleaned up in the offseason, though that must have happened early on, because he has participated in all of the OTAs that have been open to the media.
—On LB Bruce Irvin’s hip surgery, Carroll said, “He’s doing great, the surgery went fine. Gets back in town today. We’re expecting really good things out of it. He’s dealt with it for a long time, and it just to a point where we thought it was better we have a chance to get him back by the start of the season, which is a possibility. So we’ll see what happens.”
That’s a bit less optimistic sounding that what Irvin Tweeted about his surgery last week—that he’ll be back for the start of training camp—though it still sounds like he’ll be back sooner than later.
—QB Tarvaris Jackson wasn’t there Monday, with Carroll saying it was a family issue.
—DC Dan Quinn said the play of DT Jesse Williams has been “really encouraging” and noted that Williams is healthier now than he was at any point last offseason/preseason. Williams, who took part in some of training camp before having season-ending knee surgery, has had not setbacks and is showing good quickness, according to Quinn.
—Quinn mentioned undrafted rookie Dion Bailey as somebody “who’s caught our eye” and said Bailey is in the running for the backup free safety job, as is Terrance Parks, a defensive back who spent last year in the CFL.
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