Bennett, Ifedi at center of another flare-up at Hawks camp
Published 2:27 pm Thursday, August 4, 2016
It was another feisty day at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Wednesday’s off day didn’t seem to cool any tempers as there were more physical confrontations during Thursday’s Seahawks practice.
The biggest one came during scrimmaging as defensive end Michael Bennett got into it with the offensive line after jumping offsides, with rookie Germain Ifedi once again being front and center on the other side of the conflict. Bennett had to be restrained by other members of the defense, and he didn’t not participate the remainder of practice. Afterwards coach Pete Carroll, without naming Bennett, essentially said Bennett had been kicked out of the rest of practice.
“I see it as passion,” Carroll said about the continual confrontations so far during training camp. “This is the passion coming out. They want to play this game, they’re excited about what’s coming up, they want to be ready and really at their best. You’re seeing it. Sometimes they lose a little bit of the poise that they need, we can’t play like that. You get in a skirmish you get thrown out, that’s what happens, that happened today, that’s just the way we do it. We need to take it to the heights that we can really get the most out of it. I love the way our guys are working, we need to work together really well at that as we learn.”
This was not the first time Bennett and Ifedi tussled, and camp is just five days old. And Carroll seems to like the was Ifedi, Seattle’s first-round draft pick, has stood up for himself.
“He’s just a tough football player and I love the way he approaches the game,” Carroll said. “Gauging what he can and can’t do, that’s all we’re figuring out right now. I don’t want him to change anything. I want him to keep battling, keep pushing. I want him to match the passion of the guys he sees across from him. I think he’s the real thing in terms of toughness and being physical.”
The Bennett incident wasn’t the only confrontation of the day as guard Rees Odhiambo and defensive tackle Brandin Bryant, both rookies, went at it during one-on-one pass-rushing drills.
That feistiness is becoming the main story of camp. This is my first training camp, so I have nothing to compare it to. But I’m told there’s been more physical confrontations this year than in previous years under Carroll.
