Seahawks Day Three training camp , intensity and a slow start by the defense.

The Seattle Seahawks’ third day of training camp saw the defense start out strong during the scrimmage but ultimately dominate the day.  Friday’s practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center featured numerous extracurricular activities during the team scrimmage portion.

TIME TO PLAY FOOTBALL

All of this is to be expected by the players. After playing three days of touch football, the players are ready to don the pads and get to hitting each other. That will happen on Monday. The Seahawks will practice on Saturday, rest on Sunday, and then return on Monday for the team’s first training camp practice with pads on.

OFFENSIVE LINE  UREGENCY

The messaging from Mike Macdonald is to trust the process when finding the best offensive line combination.

That is a fair statement, but common sense dictates that the sooner the team can identify its best five upfront, the sooner it can build some cohesion.  The tackle positions look to be set with Abe Lucas at right and Charles Cross at left.  The other penciled-in starter is number one draft pick Grey Zabel at  left guard. From there, things get interesting. Macdonald revealed that Olu  Oluwatimi and  Jalen  Sundell are in a neck-and-neck battle with Christian Haynes in the rotation . Haynes is also a tight competition for the right guard position with  Anthony Bradford, according to Macdonald.

 “I’d say he’s in the mix. We started giving him some reps (at center) toward the end of the spring. So yeah, keep the competition open and see what happens.’’

As for the overall competition on the offensive line, Macdonald has been keeping a watchful eye on the offensive line drills as part of the practice routine.

“Yeah, we just settle into a little rotation there and I’m catching some of the coaching points that we’re talking about and see the guys do it. Good stuff. We talked earlier in the offseason about what makes a great drill and, if you guys stand over there, it’s very apparent after standing there for 15, 20 seconds what the expectation is, what makes a great rep, immediate feedback. Really simple, clear, that’s what’s going on. It’s fun to be over there.”

INTENSITY RAMPED  UP

 The intensity of the offense was noticeable from the beginning of practice while the defense was slow to react. The defense did rule the day but the lack of energy from the first snap of practice was something  Macdonald pointed out to the defense.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of confidence. We didn’t start great today, and they had to hear about it from the coaches and the vets did a good job of kind of kicking them back into gear. Those are the things that we’re trying to take to the next level. Let’s do it every rep all the time. When we catch when we’re off base ‘Hey, let’s recalibrate and, you know, get the standard back to where we need it to be’. Again, great day, but there’s stuff that’s sticking in the back of your mind of, ‘Okay, you know, this is some areas where we need to look at.’

• Seahawks’ Pre-Draft Strategy: Emphasizing Talent and Depth
• Mariners continue to battle against adversity on and off the field
• Seattle Storm Faces Major Setback with Ezi Magbegor’s Injury
• Mariners get a gem from Bryan Woo and clinch Rangers series
• Mariners finally show some signs of life and beat Rangers 7-3