RENTON — On Monday there were all kinds of questions regarding the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive line.
Who will start at right tackle for the Seahawks in this Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers, Bradley Sowell or Garry Gilliam?
Will left tackle George Fant, who had a rough day in this past Sunday’s 14-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, retain his spot?
Will center Justin Britt, who missed Sunday’s game because of an ankle injury, be back? Or will rookie Joey Hunt be required to make another start?
Well, on Wednesday Seahawks coach Pete Carroll put all those questions to rest in quick fashion as he addressed the media at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
“That’s easy,” Carroll responded when asked the three-part question. “You’ve got Bradley Sowell is going to start at right tackle in this game. Britt looks to be in really good shape and ready to go, he had a very good first walkthrough today so I think he’ll be all right — but he has to make it through and Joey will be ready to go. And I’m expecting George to really turn it around, I think he’ll come right back. Like I said, nobody played very well up there for us last week and we’re all determined to get that turned around.”
But can that be the configuration that allows Seattle’s offensive line to rebound from its poor performance against Tampa Bay?
Seattle’s offensive line had its worst game of the season against the Buccaneers. With three rookies in the starting lineup — Fant, Hunt and right guard Germain Ifedi — the Seahawks had all kinds of trouble in pass protection as quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked six times and constantly on the run. Gilliam was yanked from the game after only one offensive series and replaced by Sowell, who was active for the first time in more than a month because of a knee injury, and who had previously played at left tackle. Seattle was held to a season-low 245 yards of offense and put just three points on the scoreboard.
“Not good enough,” was how offensive line coach Tom Cable described the effort by his charges. “We had a stretch in the middle part of the game where it was OK, it felt like some of the run game was there and we really didn’t get to it. But protection wise, not good enough.”
Cable wasn’t harsh on all the members of the offensive line. He said Hunt, who was making his first NFL start, played well, and that he and and left guard Mark Glowinski did some good things.
But he also acknowledged Fant, an undrafted rookie and former college basketball who took over at left tackle following Sowell’s injury, had a difficult day at the office, while Ifedi, the team’s first-round draft pick, continues to be inconsistent from game to game.
Then there’s the case of Gilliam. During the offseason the Seahawks had high hopes for Gilliam, planning on moving him from right tackle, where he finished the 2015 season strong, to left tackle to protect Wilson’s blind-side. But Gilliam spent the offseason nursing a knee injury, and those plans were eventually scuttled as Gilliam moved back to the right side. Then when Sowell was nearing a return, the Seahawks announced he would compete with Gilliam at right tackle rather than return to left tackle.
In Sowell’s first game back, it only took the Seahawks three plays to make the switch from Gilliam to Sowell.
“It was pretty obvious right from when (Sowell) went in that it was a good thing, Cable said.
“I think to play on the line of scrimmage at this level (physicality) has to be part of your make-up,” Cable added about Gilliam, who he also said has had issues with consistency. “So we continue to stress that to him and work with him on it. Obviously, for every guy and everyone involved it’s up to you to do what’s asked of you and do it the best you can.”
But the Seahawks are banking that Sunday’s performance was an aberration, not the new norm. Britt, who’s been Seattle’s best performer on the offensive line this season, practiced in full Wednesday, so his return should help. Sowell is getting his full week of practices with the first unit at right tackle, so that should aid continuity. Therefore, the Seahawks are expecting better things from the offensive line this week against Carolina.
“I see (last Sunday) as a bad night at the ballgame,” Cable said. “Don’t like it, don’t want it, we’re working on it. But do I worry about it? No. Do I think we’ll continue to move forward? Absolutely.”
For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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