Feistiness has been main theme at Seahawks camp so far
Published 1:30 am Thursday, August 4, 2016
RENTON — It’s becoming a familiar scene at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
There were the Seattle Seahawks’ offense and defense Thursday morning, engaged in another physical confrontation. The entire units came together, with no shortage of pushing, shoving and shouting. Defensive end Michael Bennett had to be restrained by teammates, and rookie guard Germain Ifedi was again right in the thick of things, refusing to back down to the Pro-Bowler.
Through five practices, that feistiness is the characteristic that’s emerging at Seahawks training camp.
Ever since the team first donned shoulder pads during Monday’s Day 3, there’s been at least one physical blow-up in each practice. Monday saw the first instance of Bennett and Ifedi going after one another after the whistle had blown. On Tuesday the main bout featured center Justin Britt and rookie defensive tackle Jarran Reed.
Wednesday’s off day didn’t cool the tempers. Thursday first saw rookie guard Rees Odhiambo tussle with rookie defensive tackle Brandin Bryant during one-on-one pass-rush drills. Then during scrimmaging Bennett jumped offsides and through the offensive line, sparking an incident that drew in the entire team and eventually led to Bennett being held out of the remainder of practice.
Not that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has a problem with it.
“I see it as passion,” Carroll said. “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.
“The defensive line and the offensive line have come out to go after it,” Carroll added. “They’re getting after it, and we need to be a physical, tough football team to play the style we’ve always played and to recapture that after we come back for camp. We’re off to a really good start.”
The number of physical confrontations is up from recent training camps, and the rookies have been a big part of that. The rookies, and Ifedi in particular, have refused to back down when challenged by their more seasoned teammates.
“He knows I won’t back down, the team knows I won’t back down, that’s why they drafted me,” Ifedi said when asked about his scuffles with Bennett. “We’re just out there competing, we’re trying to make each other better and he’s trying to make me the best player I can be. Off the field he’s been a great mentor to me, we have a great relationship. But on the field he knows he’s going to give it his all to make me the best player I can be.
“You can’t be a nice guy on the field or you won’t be on the field very long.”
This is nothing new from Ifedi, who showed hints of what was to come during offseason activities. If there was a flare-up during organized team activities or minicamp, Ifedi was likely in the middle of it.
“He’s just a tough football player and I love the way he approaches the game,” Carroll said of Ifedi. “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.”
And that’s something the Seahawks don’t want to coach out of their players, even if it means there’s a few outbreaks during practice.
For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
