Seahawks dancing O-line shuffle again

Published on September 14, 2011 by Tacoma News Tribune (Feed)     

The Seattle Seahawks could not make it through the first week of the regular season without making changes to the starting offensive line.

What seemed like dabbling on Monday became more solidified on Wednesday, when rookie James Carpenter took most of his repetitions with the first unit at left guard for a second day in place of an injured Robert Gallery.

Gallery, the Oakland Raiders veteran, suffered a sprained knee playing against his former team in Seattle’s last exhibition game and has not practiced this week.

With Carpenter working at left guard, fourth-year pro Breno Giacomini has been working at right tackle with the first unit.

The Seahawks used 10 different starting offensive line combinations last season, and they appear headed down a similar path. Second-year pro Russell Okung missed most of the exhibition season with a sprained left ankle suffered in the first series of Seattle’s exhibition opener at San Diego, but he now appears fully healthy and was a full participant in practice Wednesday alongside Carpenter.

“We’re just trying to figure it out and see what’s best for us,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “Breno has done really well in preseason. We’re really excited about him. If that’s the way we go, we feel good about him playing right tackle. It just depends on how James goes.

“But he’s (Carpenter) very much at home at that side. We’re lucky in that regard that we have a chance to have this option possible. We’ll see what happens.”

The left-handed Carpenter played left tackle in college at Alabama, so he’s comfortable playing on the left side of the offensive line. One of the reasons Seattle drafted him was his ability to play all positions on the line except center. Some draft analysts projected Carpenter as an NFL guard because of his ability to run block.

Center Max Unger, the veteran on Seattle’s offensive line in only his third season, said change is just something the guys up front have to deal with.

via Seahawks dancing O-line shuffle again | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

Tags: Breno Giacomini, Center Max, coach pete carroll, Exhibition Game, Exhibition Opener, Exhibition Season, Former Team, Heading, James Carpenter, Left Ankle, Line Combinations, Line Shuffle, Nfl, Oakland Raiders, Offensive Line, Participant, Regard, Repetitions, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, Third Season, Veteran