Thursday in Hawkville

Published on September 29, 2011 by Seahawks.Com News (Feed)     

A recap of the day’s activities at Virginia Mason Athletic Center:

FOCUS ON

No-huddle offense. The Seahawks have used it at times in their first three games, and never more successfully than during the 14-play, 72-yard drive to their only touchdown in last week’s 13-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Will we see more of it in Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons at CenturyLink Field?

“I’d say there’s a chance you’ll see more of it, but it’s something that will be determined by game plan, by game, by opponent and seeing if it’s something that will help us,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. “Then there’s also times when there may be something to it because you’re not doing much and you want to change the tempo. So there are a lot of different scenarios when you’d go to it.”

Whatever the situation, or scenario, quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is all for it.

“It’s been good for us, so whatever works I’m down for it,” Jackson said. “It’s been useful for us. We’ve been able to move the ball a little bit with it. If we keep doing it, I’m fine with it.”

Jackson definitely was fine during the TD drive against the Cardinals, when he completed six of eight passes for 53 yards and then ran the final 11 yards for the score.

“You can kind of catch them off-guard,” Jackson said of the affect the no-huddle can have on the defense. “For whatever reason, defenses are more vanilla. They’re not doing as much when you go no-huddle because they’ve got to communicate as well.

“Our communicating is probably a little bit better, as far as the offense in no-huddle goes. So we can set the tempo.”

So what’s the drawback? “You can run three plays in 40 seconds and now you’ve put your defense back out there,” Bevell said. “So you need to be successful with it, as well.”

PLAYER WATCH

Walter Thurmond. It was impossible to not notice the second-year cornerback during practice today. Thurmond was making plays here, there and seemingly everywhere. He intercepted two passes on “Turnover Thursday” and broke up two others. He even had a “sack” during the two-minute drill that concluded the 110-minute session.

I’m in? Thurmond was all in, and all over the field.

“He was flying around,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “We compete in all our team sessions and we had a great third-down session. We keep track of it and how we’re doing. Those guys, I’m telling you, we try to get them to act like vets off the field and act like rookies on the field, where they’re flying around and having fun.”

Thurmond was doing both.

IN ’N OUT

Linebacker Matt McCoy returned to practice after sitting out Wednesday because of shoulder and head injuries he got against the Cardinals.

Strong safety Kam Chancellor, the team’s leading tackler, sat out for the second consecutive day to rest of quad contusion. Still sidelined: guard Robert Gallery (groin), who already has been ruled out for this game; and cornerback Byron Maxwell (ankle), who Carroll said will not play against the Falcons either.

For the Falcons, tackle Sam Baker (ankle) returned to practice after sitting out Wednesday and linebacker Curtis Lofton (foot) participated fully after being limited on Wednesday. Five players did not practice: leading receiver Roddy White (thigh), defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux (knee), linebacker Stephen Nicholas (calf), running back Jason Snelling (concussion) and defensive end Cliff Matthews (knee).

KEN NORTON, SQUARED

There were two Ken Nortons on the practice field today – Ken Norton, Jr., who coaches the team’s linebacker; and Ken Norton, Sr., his father and a former heavyweight boxer who won the WBC title while compiling a 42-7-1 record with 33 knockouts from 1967-81.

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Tags: Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Center Focus, Cornerback, Darrell Bevell, Drawback, Game Plan, Huddle, Little Bit, offensive coordinator, Opponent, Scenarios, Score, Seahawks, Tarvaris Jackson, Three Games, Three Plays, Thurmond, Touchdown, Virginia Mason