RENTON — The fact that Marshawn Lynch skipped some voluntary workouts last week was hardly cause for panic. Even so, plenty of Seahawks fans expressed concern that the team’s Pro Bowl running back was the only healthy player not present last week.
Well after a week away, Lynch was back with his teammates for this week’s round of voluntary organized team activities, and looked like his usual self while running with the first-team offense.
Lynch has always been a player who marches to the beat of his own drum, so to speak, and he is a veteran who plays one of the most physically demanding positions in his sport, so it’s highly unlikely any of his teammates were worried about No. 24’s absence from a May workout. All things being equal, however, a team with big goals in 2013 was no-doubt happy to have Lynch back in action.
Neither head coach Pete Carroll nor Lynch was made available to the media Tuesday, but it’s safe to assume Carroll was happy to have his leading rusher back in action with the rest of the team. When Lynch was a no-show last week, Carroll reiterated that these workouts are in fact voluntary, but he also admitted that he’d prefer to have everyone participating.
“This is voluntary,” Carroll said last week. “That’s what the rules and guidelines are all set up to be. … We miss him and we’d like him to be here. This is a lot of fun and there is a lot of good stuff happening here. He’s in very good shape, he came in ten days ago and he’s in very good shape. He’s working in a very intense program in his area and he’s benefitting from it. We’d love to see everyone here.”
While Lynch was back in action, guard John Moffitt was absent Tuesday because of a court appearance in Bellevue District Court. Moffitt is facing a pair of misdemeanor charges stemming from an incident last June: obstructing a law enforcement officer and criminal trespass in the first degree.
It was expected coming into this season that Moffitt will compete with J.R. Sweezy for a starting job at guard, though Sweezy worked with the first team during last week’s open-to-the-media workout when Moffitt was present.
Player meeting
After defensive end Bruce Irvin became the fifth Seahawk since 2010 to be suspended under the league’s policy on performance enhancing drugs, some of the team’s veteran leaders decided it was time for an honest conversation. Following a meeting with players and staff, fullback Michael Robinson led a player’s only meeting in which several veterans talked about accountability.
“Basically a few of the veterans had a meeting to talk to the guys, and we just talked to the guys about making the same mistakes over and over,” said safety Kam Chancellor, who has only played three seasons, but has emerged as a leader of Seattle’s defense. “At some point in time you have to mature and grow up and not make the same mistakes over and over. We’ve got to protect the team.
“It comes with accountability. We all hold each other accountable. We want to see each other do well. If this person does good, and that person does good, then the whole team does good. It is all about being accountable and holding your teammates accountable and to a higher standard.”
Chancellor hopes that having that message come from teammates and not a coach or member of the front offices will contribute to players taking it to heart.
“I think it touched everybody more hearing it from the players, and hearing what the players had to say, and what was deep on their heart,” Chancellor said. “I think everybody felt it, took it in, and I think everybody learned from that meeting.”
McCoy waived/injured
A week after Anthony McCoy tore his Achilles in an OTA workout, the Seahawks waived/injured the tight end. That move is mostly a procedural one made to get McCoy onto injured reserve, presuming he clears waivers, which is very likely given the severity of the injury.
McCoy, a sixth-round pick in 2010, was coming off of his best season, catching 18 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns in 2012. He will be a free agent after the 2013 season.
To fill the open roster spot, the Seahawks signed tackle Jake Bscherer, an undrafted rookie who earlier this month participated in Seattle’s rookie minicamp as a tryout player. Bscherer, who is listed at 6-foot-6, 305 pounds, played three seasons at Wisconsin before transferring to Minnesota-Duluth for his senior season.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
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