SEATTLE — For a few hours Thursday morning, Aaron Curry didn’t feel locked out.
Being around teammates, even a few guys from other NFL teams, provided a bit of normalcy in an otherwise abnormal NFL offseason.
“Workouts like this today are helping me get over the fact we’re not pl
aying football,” Curry said. “It’s just tough without doing it.”
Curry and about 35 or so players gathered inside the University of Washington’s indoor practice facility on Thursday morning for a planned, but informal workout. It was spearheaded by Seattle running back Justin Forsett, but the mix of players was far from Seahawks specific.
There were those under contract and likely to be key players for the Seahawks whenever the season begins: Curry, Forsett, quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, cornerback Marcus Trufant, linebacker David Hawthorne and offensive lineman Max Unger.
There were a handful of college kids, including former Washington linebacker Mason Foster — drafted by Tampa Bay — and safety Nate Williams.
Then there was arguably the largest group — the free agents, most of whom were connected with the Seahawks a year ago but face an uncertain future. At the top of the list was quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, but others like offensive linemen Sean Locklear and Chris Spencer, safety Lawyer Milloy, defensive tackle Craig Terrill and defensive back Jordan Babineaux also took part.
Seattle has 27 players from its final 53-man roster that faced Chicago in the NFC divisional playoffs or injured reserve who are not under contract for the 2011 season.
“I think it was more, ‘We’re all locked out,'” Whitehurst said. “It was just get together, get some work and try to get better.”
Whitehurst’s presence was notable considering he is the only Seattle quarterback under contract for the 2011 season. He flew in from Atlanta to participate in the largest gathering so far of Seahawks or Seattle-based players, although the workouts have been going on informally for a couple of months.
Hasselbeck’s been the leader at many of those since he lives year-round in the Seattle area, even though his future with the Seahawks is unknown.
“I’m always looking for a chance to get together with the guys I’m going to throw to,” Whitehurst said. “I don’t know if it matters what position you play, but the guys who came felt it was important. Quarterbacks, obviously every opportunity we get, we’re going to take it.”
The workouts are likely to continue at a time when the Seahawks would normally be in the midst of minicamp and prepping for their final month of rest before training camp in late July. No one has a good sense of when the lockout might end, with Unger saying he’s heard a resolution could come in two weeks and in the same breath saying they could miss the entire season.
“It’s just weird not playing football right now,” Unger said. “We’d normally have just less than a month of offseason and then we’d be off till fall camp. … I don’t really know man, that stuff is up in the air. There is a lot of red tape to cut through.”
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