Seahawks notes: Lewis happy to be back with Seahawks
Published 10:32 pm Wednesday, July 30, 2008
KIRKLAND — No matter how many miles separated him, and how many months flew by, D.D. Lewis always felt the pull of Seattle.
And so the former Seahawks linebacker, who was a starter on the 2005 Super Bowl team, came back after two seasons with the Denver Broncos.
“When I was away, I was looking at everything they were doing,” the 29-year-old linebacker said. “It was like a piece of me was still here.”
Lewis spent the first five years of his career with the Seahawks after making the team as an undrafted free agent. When Leroy Hill took his starting job late in the 2005 season, he became expendable and was not re-signed.
But when veteran linebackers Niko Koutouvides and Kevin Bentley left Seattle as free agents last spring, Lewis was an obvious candidate to replace them.
“He knows us. He’s comfortable with (the system),” defensive coordinator John Marshall said. “It’s really, really good to have him. He’s really an asset to us.”
This time around, Lewis is playing in the middle. The former outside linebacker moved inside during his final year with the Broncos and is now slated as Lofa Tatupu’s top backup.
“It’s fun,” Lewis said of playing middle linebacker. “There’s nothing hard about it. I see why Lofa has so much fun.”
Now that he’s back in Seattle, Lewis is having a lot of fun. He couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
“I look at what we did in 2005 and how close we were,” Lewis said. “Winning the championship game is the next step. I would’ve been very envious if they won it all last year.”
Live bullets: The Seahawks saw some of their fiercest competition of camp during Wednesday’s morning session.
It started with a 9-on-7 running drill that featured several big hits. Defensive tackle Howard Green made the best play when he slipped a blocker and dragged down running back Justin Forsett in the backfield.
A few minutes later, the coaches ran scrimmage-like drills to help make evaluations.
In the four-minute drill, which is designed to prepare the offense for protecting a lead, Julius Jones was the most effective running back to carry the ball. T.J. Duckett was effective on a short-yardage carry, but he lost his feet on several other runs and also dropped a pass in the flat.
Quarterback Charlie Frye saw his most extensive action, and completed two early throws, but he struggled when the offense got into the red zone.
Who’ll be deep? Almost a week into training camp, the Seahawks have yet to decide on a return man.
Nate Burleson handled most of the duties last season, but his role as a starting wide receiver could limit his availability. Cornerback Josh Wilson saw action returning punts and kickoffs last season and is another top candidate.
“It’s way, way too early to even speculate on anything like that,” special teams coach Bruce DeHaven said.
Several other players — cornerback Marcus Trufant, quarterback Seneca Wallace and wide receivers Bobby Engram and Ben Obomanu are among them — have also caught punts at practices this week. Forsett has experience as a return man.
But the job is most likely to fall to either Burleson or Wilson.
“Having Nate back there, that’s a great guy back there,” Wilson said. “That’s more competition for me. We’ll try to outdo each other. Now that he might not be back, I have to make sure I take care of business back there.”
Quick slants: Tight end Jeb Putzier could not finish the morning practice because of a sore hip. His status will be re-evaluated today. … Single-game tickets for regular-season games go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. Tickets will be available at www.seahawks.com and through Ticketmaster.
