Fans get to see Seahawk backups in scrimmage

Published 12:13 am Sunday, August 3, 2008

SEATTLE — About 11,000 curious fans showed up at Qwest Field on Saturday morning, eager to get their first look at the 2008 Seattle Seahawks.

What they got was Seahawks Light.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was one of just a handful of starters who saw any action Saturday in the team’s annual intrasquad scrimmage, and he was just on the field for five plays.

Rather than get a good feel for how the offensive line is coming together, or how 11 returning starters might affect the defense, fans spent the 75-minute session getting to know guys like Justin Forsett, John Carlson and Logan Payne.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said that the purpose of the scrimmage was to evaluate some of the players fighting for roster spots.

Rather than watch Hasselbeck throw passes to Bobby Engram, or spend another day watching Walter Jones dominate defensive linemen, Holmgren opted to give the youngsters and fringe veterans show their stuff.

“We wanted to get a good look at the guys who are competitively going at it for the depth positions,” Holmgren said.

The biggest play of the day was turned in by second-year wide receiver Jordan Kent, a speedster who caught a 52-yard pass from Charlie Frye on a fly pattern.

“I was just focusing on my technique,” Kent said of what he was thinking as the ball sailed in the air. “I was saying, ‘I’ve got this one,’ and it felt good to go out and make a play.”

Kent is battling three other Seahawks receivers for playing time behind Bobby Engram, Nate Burleson and Deion Branch. With Branch rehabilitating a knee injury, there is a very real chance that someone amo ng the group of Kent, Logan Payne, Ben Obomanu and Courtney Taylor could open the season as the Seahawks’ No. 3 receiver.

Taylor was sidelined by a hamstring injury Saturday, while the other three made the most of their opportunities.

Payne caught several passes early in practice, showing the fans why he has become one of Hasselbeck’s favorite targets at training camp practices. Obomanu caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Seneca Wallace. Not to be outdone, Kent streaked downfield for the longest catch of the day.

“All of us wanted to go out and show the coaches that we could make plays in a real, game-like environment,” Obomanu said. “It’s still not the real thing, but all of us wanted to go out and show what we could do in a live-action situation.”

The only other competition that was on display Saturday was at kicker. Veteran Olindo Mare and rookie Brandon Coutu matched each other kick-for-kick, including Coutu’s 56-yarder to en d the scrimmage.

Through a week of training camp and one scrimmage, both kickers appear to be on level ground in the competition.

“There are a lot of good field goal kickers out there,” Mare said. “There are certain things that separate them in the games, and we haven’t even gotten to the games yet. We haven’t had to make pressure kicks in practice, and for that matter we haven’t really kicked off either. There’s a long way to go.”

Said Holmgren of the kicking battle: “That’s going to go right down to the wire.”

While Frye may have had the prettiest pass of the day — his throw to Kent traveled more than 40 yards in the air — he struggled at times. Another veteran who failed to establish himself was 254-pound running back T.J. Duckett, who made a nifty catch-and-run for a 10-yard touchdown but got stopped twice in short-yardage situations.

Duckett is not expected to be a factor in the battle for a starting spot, so his best chance to make the team is as a short-yardage specialist.

“It’s always frustrating any time you get stopped, whether it’s first down or third down,” said Duckett, who was running behind backup linemen on both plays. “You want to move the chains. That’s something we have to focus on.”

On the opposite end of the bulk scale, the 5-foot-8, 194-pound Forsett looked pretty good running the ball. The Cal rookie broke off a 32-yard run and added nifty nine-yarder after breaking two tackles in the backfield. Carlson, a rookie tight end from Notre Dame, also got plenty of opportunities and made some key short-yardage receptions on play-action fakes.

And rookie wide receiver Michael Bumpus, a Washington State University product, scored a touchdown after breaking a tackle at the 4.

“I didn’t get thrown the ball a lot today, but you have t o make the most out of your opportunities,” Bumpus said.

The only significant injury was suffered by cornerback DeMichael Dizer, an undrafted rookie from Grambling. Holmgren said that Dizer “hurt his knee pretty good,” but did not have any specific details about the nature of the injury.

Score is not kept in the annual scrimmage, which is basically a glorified practice. The team ran plays in game-like situations like short yardage and red zone.