The new-look Seattle Seahawks make their practice debut this morning, when Jim Mora’s team takes part in its first veteran minicamp.
The Seahawks will show off more than just a few new players and a mostly revamped coaching staff; they’ll also begin the process of building a defensive identity.
Mora, who spent the past two years as Seattle’s defensive backs coach and has worked as a defensive coordinator in the past, has spent a good part of the past three months getting input from several new assistants as to how to fix the Seahawks’ underachieving defense.
“We’re starting from scratch,” said defensive backs coach Tim Lewis, one of three new defensive assistants who will have input in how the Seahawks unit looks this season.
As chain-of-commands go, Mora is at the top of Seattle’s chart. But new defensive coordinator Casey “Gus” Bradley and defensive line coach Dan Quinn could have just as much say about how the Seahawks do things on defense this season.
Bradley said he will bring elements of the so-called “Tampa-2” system, which involves a lot of deep help in coverage, from his days as a Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant. Quinn ran a 3-4 system with the New York Jets, a 4-3 scheme while working under Mora in San Francisco and a hybrid of both as a Miami Dolphins assistant.
While the Seahawks are likely to employ a 4-3 front again this year, the rest of the defensive philosophy is somewhat shrouded in mystery.
“I think there are some things that you’ll probably be able to look at on the field and see as far as coverage and fronts that are recognizable from last year,” Bradley said a few weeks ago, “and there are other things that are going to be different.”
Two obvious differences will be at defensive tackle and linebacker, where longtime starters Rocky Bernard and Julian Peterson, respectively, have moved on. Bernard signed a free-agent deal with the New York Giants in early March, and the Seahawks were quick to find a replacement in former Green Bay backup Colin Cole. Peterson, who was traded to Detroit for defensive tackle Cory Redding, could be replaced by veteran D.D. Lewis or a rookie selected in the draft later this month.
The rest of Seattle’s starters are back, although it is unclear whether Pro Bowl defensive end Patrick Kerney will be available to practice after undergoing shoulder surgery in December.
On offense, the Seahawks have a new coordinator (Greg Knapp) and a new feature receiver (T.J. Houshmandzadeh).
The Seahawks’ camp will last just three days. Mora decided to have a pre-draft camp so that the veterans could learn new systems on either side of the ball.
Mora replaces longtime head coach Mike Holmgren, who went into semi-retirement in January.
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