Seahawks are all wet

Published 10:41 pm Sunday, July 29, 2007

KIRKLAND – It was 80 degrees and sunny in Cheney on Sunday morning.

Too bad the Seattle Seahawks couldn’t enjoy the weather.

While their former summer home of Eastern Washington University was blanketed in sunshine, the Seahawks opened training camp under clouds and a steady drizzle Sunday at their Eastside practice facility.

“You have to get used to the elements anyway,” linebacker Julian Peterson said, shrugging off the rainfall. “That’s how it’s going to be in the games. It’s not going to be a perfect day where it’s always sunny, so you have to get used to it.”

The far-from-perfect conditions nearly claimed a casualty during the first of two Sunday practices, with defensive back Jordan Babineaux hurting his right leg after slipping on the slick natural grass. Babineaux and wide receiver Ben Obomanu got tangled up on a long pass play, and Babineaux limped off the field before being assisted by team trainers.

Babineaux had X-rays taken before the afternoon practice and then walked out to watch the afternoon session without any signs of serious injury.

It was no wonder that head coach Mike Holmgren admitted that a piece of him wished the camp was being held in Cheney.

“I liked Cheney,” Holmgren said. “The university and the people there were wonderful. When I signed autographs in the afternoon, the people in eastern Washington used to thank me for bringing the team over there. It was one of the few times they were able to see the (players).

“It was more than just the weather (that made Cheney desirable).”

Most of the players are happy to be on this side of the state, where they are closer to family, friends and the other comforts of home. While they do stay in the dorms at Northwest University, the players aren’t as homesick as they could be at EWU.

“I love being closer to my family,” fullback Mack Strong said, “not having them have to go over there (to Cheney) and be away from the familiarity of their own beds.”

The first day of training camp also brought optimism in that participation was up from previous seasons. As opposed to the 13 players who were missing from the first practice of the 2006 training camp, only one – defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs – was not on the field for the start of Sunday’s morning session. Tubbs has yet to pass his physical following offseason knee surgery but is expected to be available sometime in August.

Several players, including defensive end Patrick Kerney and safeties Babineaux, Michael Boulware and Mike Green, saw their first extensive practice time since the end of the 2006 regular season.

Kerney, who was inactive for most of the summer following November surgery on his pectoral muscle, was happy to be back in action.

“It feels great to be playing football again,” he said. “I still have some rust to knock off, but everybody has some at training camp, so I’m looking forward to it. It feels great. You wouldn’t even notice there was ever any damage.”

Of the other players who participated, there were plenty who stood out. Three rookies – linebacker Will Herring and cornerbacks Josh Wilson and Patrick Ghee – made impressive catches on interceptions at the morning practice.

Wilson’s play drew the most attention. He made a reaching, one-handed catch while lying on the grass, then got up and returned it into the end zone.

The catch was so improbable that many of the players on the field didn’t realize he’d even made the catch.

“People were saying things, but I’m telling you: I caught the ball,” Wilson said. “I was surprised myself. I caught it with one hand and rolled over, so everybody thought I didn’t catch it. But I caught it and then got up.

“I had to get used to not being in college. You can get up now, so I got up and ran into the end zone.”

Running back Shaun Alexander also made a nice cutback run in the morning practice – he later received some heated words of motivation from Holmgren – and cornerback Kelly Jennings broke up a long pass in the afternoon.

All in all, the Seahawks were relieved to be back on the practice field, regardless of the conditions.

Still, Holmgren couldn’t help wondering how things will go without the seclusion that Cheney provided his team. He lectured his team about the importance of staying focused while practicing on this side of the state.

“It is training camp,” he told reporters after Sunday’s first practice, “and if I saw someone taking advantage of the situation, I told them I would have them in meetings all day and all night. None of them want that; I don’t want that.”

Not unless the Seattle weather continues to rain down on the Seahawks, anyway.

“I know we’ll have our hot days here, too,” Strong said after an afternoon practice that took place under cloudy skies but drier conditions, “but I don’t miss those dry, hot days over there (in Cheney). There were some days where you hated being over there. But that’s football.”

And on Sunday morning, it was certainly football weather.