KIRKLAND – Josh Scobey needed just two seasons to move into the Arizona Cardinals’ top five in career kickoff returns (103) and the top 10 in kickoff return yards (2,407). Suffice to say, the Cardinals give their opponents plenty of opportunities to kick the ball off.
But Scobey’s latest trick could be just as tricky. He’s being asked to give the Seattle Seahawks a legitimate return guy, which is something this team has lacked since Charlie Rogers left in 2001.
“In my opinion, it was a great catch,” special teams coach Bob Casullo said of Seattle’s decision to claim Scobey off waivers from the Cardinals this week. “We were very fortunate to get someone like that. Now, we’ll see what happens. There are no commitments. There’s nothing yet. We’ve still got to see it.”
Seahawaks running back Maurice Morris, last season’s primary kickoff returner, ranked 31st in the NFL with an average of 21.1 yards per return. The two men battling to replace him this training camp, Jerome Pathon and rookie Marquis Weeks, have combined to average 18.5 yards per return in the preseason.
“We’re still up in the air with the whole return game,” Casullo said. “We’re not satisfied with anyone yet. We haven’t really established that part of our special teams yet. It’s kind of a struggle right now. It’s very frustrating.”
Not that Scobey is necessarily the savior. After leading the NFL with 1,684 kickoff return yards in 2003, Scobey split time with Larry Croom last season and saw his average drop from 23.1 to 22.5.
The Cardinals signed J.R. Redmond, who can return both punts and kickoffs, and released Scobey on Monday.
“I’m going to try to seize the opportunity here,” Scobey said from the Seahawks’ practice facility Thursday. “This is a great organization and a great team to be a part of.”
With Morris still hobbled by a hamstring injury, Scobey should get plenty of opportunities to win the job in the final two preseason games. The speedy running back – he says he was timed at 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash during the 2002 NFL Scouting Combine – could give the Seahawks the return man they have been seeking.
“I know for a fact that they’re looking for a kick returner, and that’s something I’ve been doing since I got into the league; that’s how I got into this league,” said Scobey, whom the Cardinals selected in the sixth round of the 2002 draft. “I’m just going to try to go out and give (Seattle) the best possible, to just do what I do.”
If Scobey gets the job, he doesn’t want to get as many return opportunities as he did in Arizona. His 73 returns in 2003 are the second-most in franchise history.
“It wasn’t good for the team,” Scobey said. “But I was getting my work, and I felt like I was earning my checks.”
More return woes: Seattle’s disappointment isn’t just in its kickoff return game. The preseason hasn’t allowed many opportunities to audition punt returners, meaning Bobby Engram will probably have to fulfill that role again even though he’ll be in the starting lineup.
“In a perfect world, I would like to have someone else do it if he is our starting split end,” head coach Mike Holmgren said Thursday. “It looks right now like he is going to have to do it.”
In two games this preseason, Engram has returned one punt for 10 yards. The only other Seahawk to get a chance to return is Taco Wallace, who lost yardage on both of his opportunities.
On the bubble: The receiver position is one of the most competitive at camp, and third-year player Jerheme Urban has not helped himself.
Urban, once considered a legitimate contender to fill No. 3 receiver role, has been plagued by dropped passes all month.
“He is in a battle for his life,” Holmgren said. “… I wish he was a little more consistent. He dropped a couple balls, which is not like him. I have had it with that stuff. I have a very short fuse with that stuff now.”
Off to KC: The Seahawks are scheduled to travel to Kansas City today for Saturday’s game.
Among the players who aren’t expected to make the trip are Morris (hamstring tightness), defensive tackle Rashad Moore (shoulder soreness) and wide receiver Alex Bannister (recovering from a broken clavicle). The Seahawks are holding out hope that they’ll have all three players back for the regular season opener on Sept. 11.
Quick slants: Holmgren said he still has no timetable on Rashad Moore’s return. The defensive tackle has been in Alabama this week getting a second opinion on his surgically-repaired shoulder. Holmgren said that Moore had a minor procedure done on the shoulder and that he is expected to be available at some point. … University of Washington product Damon Huard, who will face the Seahawks as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, has a quarterback rating of just 17.0 this preseason. Huard has completed just 39.5 percent of his passes and has three interceptions and zero touchdowns.
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