When Josh Brown sent a game-winning field goal through the uprights as time expired Thursday night, there were a few smiles and high-fives but not much celebration.
That’s because that was the preseason. This is something entirely different.
The Seattle Seahawks officially begin preparing for the regular season today, when they will take the field at their Kirkland practice facility. While training camp and the preseason were about a number of objectives, now the entire focus will be on next Sunday’s game at New Orleans.
“It’s definitely going to pick up a notch,” outside linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski said. “The rookies are going to see that in that first game; you see a marked difference in intensity and speed. There shouldn’t be, but there is. I didn’t believe it when I was a rookie, but you can definitely feel it.”
The Seahawks closed out their preseason with three wins in four games, then took Friday off to rest. Today they’ll start working toward the first of 16 regular-season games and – if all goes according to plan – maybe two or three more.
“Guys will be focused because it’s for real now. Wins and losses count,” fullback Mack Strong said. “It’s the first step on the journey, and hopefully we’ll end up in the playoffs.”
Not all of the players will be there for the rest of the journey. The Seahawks still have to make 23 cuts – and a 24th when holdout offensive tackle Walter Jones reports – over the next two days. If a player wanted to give the coaching staff one final reason to keep him around, Thursday was his last chance.
“There’s nothing we can do about it,” said Jordan Babineaux, a rookie free agent who is trying to make the team as a cornerback. “The coaches are going to make a real tough decision, and I’m sure they’re going to be just in whatever decision they make. I just put it in God’s hands and see what happens.”
Running back Kerry Carter, who was on the team last season, is using a similar philosophy. He was one of six running backs kept at the beginning of the 2003 season, and it seems unlikely that this year’s roster will be able to accommodate all six.
“It’s out of my hands,” Carter said. “I try not to worry myself with things I can’t control, and that’s one of those things I can’t control. I control what happens on the field, and then it’s not up to me. … I tried to make the most of my opportunity, and hopefully I showed enough.”
The running back position won’t be the only tough cut. Seattle has nine wide receivers, including four – Darrell Jackson, Koren Robinson, Bobby Engram and possibly Alex Bannister – who are locks. The other five combined for 20 receptions in Thursday’s win over Minnesota, all of them engaging in an evening of can-you-top-this.
Jason Willis, Antoine Burns, Jerheme Urban, Taco Wallace and D.J. Hackett all showed Thursday that they are deserving of a roster spot. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough spots to go around.
Jackson, who watched from the sideline while the five young receivers put on a show, has a solution.
“Nine receivers, man,” he said. “We can air it out all day long. We don’t need any running backs.”
The decisions won’t just pertain to roster cuts. The coaching staff must pick two starting linebackers in the next few days, and the candidates are extremely close.
Kacyvenski and Tracy White are battling to hold down Chad Brown’s starting spot for at least four weeks, while three middle linebackers are in the mix to start inside.
No one among the trio of Orlando Huff, Solomon Bates and Niko Koutouvides stood head and shoulders above the others during training camp or the preseason.
“Everybody’s played well,” Bates said. “We did what we had to do. I’m sure it might be a tough decision. That’s up to (the coaches). Whatever they decide.”
By the end of the weekend, the Seahawks will have 53 players on their active roster and a few new starters. Roster spots and starting jobs can no longer be a concern, so now the Seahawks will only think about the New Orleans Saints.
“These games have more meaning,” linebacker Anthony Simmons said. “Now we can concentrate on that road of trying to get to the Super Bowl.”
Quick snaps: Jones isn’t expected to be at today’s practice, but his agent said he’ll report sometime next week. Roosevelt Barnes said Jones was still in Alabama on Friday afternoon, with plans to sign the one-year tender after skipping camp for the third consecutive year. “Same old, same old,” Barnes said. “We dance by whatever music they play.” … Defensive end Grant Wistrom made his preseason debut Thursday, albeit for just nine plays. “It was awesome to get back out on the field,” he said afterward. “It’s been way too long. I’ve got to go out there and start earning that money.” In March, Wistrom signed a six-year, $33 million contract that included a $14 million signing bonus.
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