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07-29-2006, 01:01 AM
Friday, July 28, 2006 · Last updated 3:19 p.m. PT
Hasselbeck as Seahawks begin camp: "We're not the same team."
By GREGG BELL
AP SPORTS WRITER
Matt Hasselbeck has a message for the many, title-starved Seahawks fans who think this year's team is a favorite to return to the Super Bowl - and should be even better than last season's first-ever conference champions.
"Right now, we're worse," Seattle's Pro Bowl quarterback said.
"If we lined up today and played somebody, we'd be bad. But that's what training camp is for."
Nothing like throwing ice water on white-hot optimism.
Hasselbeck's point: The talent is still there entering the Seahawks' first training camp practice Saturday morning in Cheney, Wash. The unique camaraderie, the magic of the wondrous 2005 season, is not.
Not yet, anyway.
"It'd be silly to say we are the same time as we were in the Super Bowl. With what we've done off the field since then, we're totally different," he said recently from his pre-camp preparations at Athletes' Performance, a posh, Tempe, Ariz., center for elite athletic training.
"We haven't played together. ... But we can be a better team."
The fans' and franchise's optimism is not all that is rolling across the sun-browned plains surrounding Eastern Washington University, where the Seahawks rookies and selected veterans reported Friday.
There are questions whether the loss of All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson to Minnesota in offseason free agency will adversely affect league MVP rusher Shaun Alexander and the NFL's most prolific offense from last season.
And while the defensive front appears to have improved with the re-signing of 2005 sack leader Rocky Bernard and the additions of dynamic, multiple Pro Bowl-linebacker Julian Peterson and tackle Russell Davis, the secondary has issues.
Free safety Ken Hamlin has to prove he can withstand contact in practice - let alone a game - since he fractured his skull in a Seattle street fight last October. The Seahawks expect Hamlin to participate in the first, full-pads practice and hitting drills on Monday morning. But at last month's final minicamp, non-contact passing drills in which Hamlin participated fully, coach Mike Holmgren said Seattle's second-round draft choice in 2003 still needed doctors' clearances for contact work.
"He seems to be doing just fine," Holmgren said. "But the ultimate test will be when we put the helmets and pads on and start hitting."
At cornerback, top draft choice Kelly Jennings has to prove he can do in real games what he did against new teammates in minicamps - stay with receivers and close quickly on passes in flight.
Of course, he first has to prove willing to sign a contract. As of late Friday, he was the only Seahawks rookie not to do so.
Seattle has been trying to steady the left cornerback position since former starter Ken Lucas signed with Carolina before the 2005 season. The Seahawks tried three players there last season: Andre Dyson, Kelly Herndon and Jordan Babineaux.
Dyson was cut and signed with the New York Jets. Babineaux is set to return to his nickel back role as a passing-situation specialist. Herndon remains, but the job is Jennings' to lose beginning Saturday.
Veteran tackle-guard Floyd Womack also has a job to lose - Hutchinson's old one at left guard. Holmgren has said Womack, who lost his starting right tackle position to Sean Locklear after a training camp injury last summer, is the first option to block between Pro Bowlers Walter Jones at tackle and center Robbie Tobeck.
Versatile veteran Tom Ashworth, signed in the offseason from New England as a free agent, has been a tackle with the Patriots but can also play guard. Ashworth is insurance if Womack doesn't pan out.
The questions involving the so-called "skill positions" on offense include how Holmgren is going to find enough pass plays for three veteran starting wide receivers: Incumbents Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram, plus newly signed, former Minnesota Viking Nate Burleson. Jackson had his second knee surgery in four months after the Super Bowl but is expected back early in camp. That means the Seahawks likely will be working a lot plays out of three-receiver formations in camp.
Tight end Jerramy Stevens is the other big question on offense. He said recently that team trainers have estimated he may not begin practicing until the third week of August. He had surgery on April 25 to repair the torn meniscus cartilage in his left knee, an injury he attributed to "wear and tear."
His value went up when Ryan Hannam, the team's 2005 force as Stevens' backup and blocking specialist, signed with Dallas in the offseason.
"I have a long ways to go," Stevens said last month. "But the progress has been great."
Hasselbeck as Seahawks begin camp: "We're not the same team."
By GREGG BELL
AP SPORTS WRITER
Matt Hasselbeck has a message for the many, title-starved Seahawks fans who think this year's team is a favorite to return to the Super Bowl - and should be even better than last season's first-ever conference champions.
"Right now, we're worse," Seattle's Pro Bowl quarterback said.
"If we lined up today and played somebody, we'd be bad. But that's what training camp is for."
Nothing like throwing ice water on white-hot optimism.
Hasselbeck's point: The talent is still there entering the Seahawks' first training camp practice Saturday morning in Cheney, Wash. The unique camaraderie, the magic of the wondrous 2005 season, is not.
Not yet, anyway.
"It'd be silly to say we are the same time as we were in the Super Bowl. With what we've done off the field since then, we're totally different," he said recently from his pre-camp preparations at Athletes' Performance, a posh, Tempe, Ariz., center for elite athletic training.
"We haven't played together. ... But we can be a better team."
The fans' and franchise's optimism is not all that is rolling across the sun-browned plains surrounding Eastern Washington University, where the Seahawks rookies and selected veterans reported Friday.
There are questions whether the loss of All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson to Minnesota in offseason free agency will adversely affect league MVP rusher Shaun Alexander and the NFL's most prolific offense from last season.
And while the defensive front appears to have improved with the re-signing of 2005 sack leader Rocky Bernard and the additions of dynamic, multiple Pro Bowl-linebacker Julian Peterson and tackle Russell Davis, the secondary has issues.
Free safety Ken Hamlin has to prove he can withstand contact in practice - let alone a game - since he fractured his skull in a Seattle street fight last October. The Seahawks expect Hamlin to participate in the first, full-pads practice and hitting drills on Monday morning. But at last month's final minicamp, non-contact passing drills in which Hamlin participated fully, coach Mike Holmgren said Seattle's second-round draft choice in 2003 still needed doctors' clearances for contact work.
"He seems to be doing just fine," Holmgren said. "But the ultimate test will be when we put the helmets and pads on and start hitting."
At cornerback, top draft choice Kelly Jennings has to prove he can do in real games what he did against new teammates in minicamps - stay with receivers and close quickly on passes in flight.
Of course, he first has to prove willing to sign a contract. As of late Friday, he was the only Seahawks rookie not to do so.
Seattle has been trying to steady the left cornerback position since former starter Ken Lucas signed with Carolina before the 2005 season. The Seahawks tried three players there last season: Andre Dyson, Kelly Herndon and Jordan Babineaux.
Dyson was cut and signed with the New York Jets. Babineaux is set to return to his nickel back role as a passing-situation specialist. Herndon remains, but the job is Jennings' to lose beginning Saturday.
Veteran tackle-guard Floyd Womack also has a job to lose - Hutchinson's old one at left guard. Holmgren has said Womack, who lost his starting right tackle position to Sean Locklear after a training camp injury last summer, is the first option to block between Pro Bowlers Walter Jones at tackle and center Robbie Tobeck.
Versatile veteran Tom Ashworth, signed in the offseason from New England as a free agent, has been a tackle with the Patriots but can also play guard. Ashworth is insurance if Womack doesn't pan out.
The questions involving the so-called "skill positions" on offense include how Holmgren is going to find enough pass plays for three veteran starting wide receivers: Incumbents Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram, plus newly signed, former Minnesota Viking Nate Burleson. Jackson had his second knee surgery in four months after the Super Bowl but is expected back early in camp. That means the Seahawks likely will be working a lot plays out of three-receiver formations in camp.
Tight end Jerramy Stevens is the other big question on offense. He said recently that team trainers have estimated he may not begin practicing until the third week of August. He had surgery on April 25 to repair the torn meniscus cartilage in his left knee, an injury he attributed to "wear and tear."
His value went up when Ryan Hannam, the team's 2005 force as Stevens' backup and blocking specialist, signed with Dallas in the offseason.
"I have a long ways to go," Stevens said last month. "But the progress has been great."