After a run of hot, sunny practices, the Seahawks held a morning practice under gray skies and cool temperatures (Wasn’t it 103 degrees just a week ago? Welcome back, Seattle weather).
Seahawks coach Jim Mora said that, while he likes hotter weather for training camp, he didn’t mind a cool day to give players a rest after long practice in the sun yesterday afternoon. Of course Mora also complained that he was freezing by the end of his morning press conference, so he probably won’t be too unhappy if the sun comes out for tonight’s practice.
No new injuries today, but the same group of hurt players sat out today: WR Billy McMullen (knee), LT Walter Jones (back spasms), CB Marcus Trufant (back), LB and Tony Taylor (knee). Also, G/T Ray Willis sat out with, but that’s just part of his usual rest that he’ll get throughout camp with a sore knee.
Jones has now missed every practice but the first, and Trufant hasn’t practiced yet, meaning two of Seattle’s most important players have been all but absent from training camp. Asked about those, Mora said he isn’t worrying too much about either yet.
On Jones: “Walt is making progress, he’s been out here for the start of the practices, he’s moving around better and we hope to see him out here soon. But we’re going to take it one day at a time and make sure that he’s ready to go before we put him back out on the field.”
On Trufant: “Tru’s making progress as well. No time table yet on that, it’s day-to-day. As I’ve said before, we’re going to be probably as cautious as anybody when it comes to backs, and Marcus is an established player. You want them all to practice every day, but Marcus is a conscientious guy who knows the scheme, knows how to play football, so I’m not as concerned with him missing time than maybe I’d be with a young guy. We want to make sure he’s healthy, we’re going to make sure that he’s healthy before we put him back on the field.”
Asked if he was worried yet about Trufant not being ready for the regular season yet, Mora said:
“I’m not concerned yet. We’ve got four preseason games to go, we’ve got another week before we get to game preparation for San Diego. Like I said, he’s a veteran, knows the game, knows how to play. Even though we switched schemes, coverages don’t change that much. Techniques change a little bit, but coverages don’t change, so he’ll assimilate quickly right back in. What I think is important is that we don’t put Marcus back on the field, that we don’t put Walt back out on the field until they’re really ready to go, because we don’t want them to have a setback. That just wouldn’t serve any purpose right now.”
And Aaron Curry remains unsigned, so he wasn’t here again, making it eight practices the rookie linebacker has now missed.
Asked if Curry’s absence is starting to worry him, Mora said:
“I haven’t given it a lot of thought. My philosophy has always been to let the people that are responsible for the negotiations do the job that they’re responsible for doing, and I think our people do an excellent job, and just focus on the guys that are here. You may not believe it, but I don’t really think about him every day. I don’t go up to my office and go, ‘Oh, when’s Aaron going to get here?’ I don’t worry about it. When he gets here he gets here and we’ll go to work at whatever time that is.”
And finally, if you read our coverage online, today’s story from training camp didn’t show up on our Website until later this morning, so if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a look at the receiver battle that will be a good one to watch as camp goes on.
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