RENTON – After the completion of his first 90-minute practice in pads, James Carpenter worked through individual drills with offensive line coach Tom Cable for another 15 minutes while the rest of his teammates filed into the locker room.
Monday was Carpenter’s first time on the practice field since his ACL knee surgery last December.
Carpenter was limited to mostly individual drills as he tries to work his way back in shape.
“It felt great,” Carpenter said. “Like I said, I’ve been waiting for 10 months to be back, so I’m happy.”
Carpenter spent all of training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list rehabbing his knee. But Seattle head coach Pete Carroll decided to put him on the active roster to begin the season because the organization thinks he’s close to getting back on the field.
Now it’s up to Cable to get Carpenter ready.
“There’s a process that’s just starting,” Cable said. “So when you talk about playing the game and all of that, first you’ve got to figure out where he’s at. He’s been approved from the medical standpoint, but he hasn’t played any football. So there’s six weeks that the players have had, but he’s had none of that. And so that process has now started for him.
“So it’s a matter of getting him back in the playbook and back into drills. And getting his confidence to where we know he’s ready to play football again. That’s really what the plan is right now.”
Although Carroll has said that Carpenter will move from offensive tackle to guard this season, Cable said he’s more concerned about getting last year’s first-round pick ready to play than finding a specific position for him.
“The first thing we need to do is kind of get him back in the offense,” Cable said. “Get his brain back into doing it – the communication and understanding (of) what’s being asked of him. And then we’ll kind of solve that as we go.”
For his part, Carpenter said he’s fine with moving inside.
“I’m happy playing guard,” Carpenter said. “I feel like that is where I should be playing.”
TE MOORE READY
New Seahawks tight end Evan Moore made his first appearance at practice on Monday, and looked pretty explosive while getting some snaps with the first unit.
Moore is wearing No. 82, the same number Kellen Winslow Jr. wore while he was with Seattle.
The Seahawks surprisingly parted ways with Winslow during final roster cuts in an apparent cost-cutting move.
Moore said he arrived in Seattle on Sunday morning, and has been working ever since to learn the playbook so he can be ready to play next Sunday against Arizona.
“I went through camp, just like all of these guys did,” said Moore, who was released by Cleveland last week. “So I’m ready to go. Considering these guys just went through camp together, I’m kind of a new guy. You almost feel like a rookie. You walk into the building, and everybody’s looking at you like, ‘Who’s this guy?’
“There is a learning curve. But fortunately there’s a lot of translation between what we did in Cleveland and what we’re doing here – both terminology and schematically in X’s and O’s and all of that.”
Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said that Moore will not necessarily be a replacement for the departed Winslow, and that fellow tight ends Zach Miller and Anthony McCoy also will be helping to fill that role.
“I think we’ll use all the guys,” Bevell said. “With Zach and Anthony, and then throughout this week (we) will continue to find out exactly what Evan will bring for us, and then we’ll fit him in accordingly.”
Bevell echoed Carroll’s sentiment that McCoy has made a leap in his development during training camp.
“He’s done a great job,” Bevell said. “He’s really showed up in the preseason, made the big plays when he had the opportunity to make them. And that’s all we’re asking guys to do, is just do their job, make their plays. They don’t have to make anything special. And I think you’ve seen him do that and become a more consistent player.”
EXTRA POINTS
Seattle receiver Golden Tate, who injured his knee in the second half of Seattle’s final exhibition against Oakland, did not practice on Monday. Braylon Edwards worked at split end in place of Tate with the starters. Carroll did not talk to reporters on Monday, and the team does not have to release an injury report until Wednesday, so no injury status was given for Tate. … The Seahawks made some changes to the practice squad. University of Washington and Lakes High product Jermaine Kearse was added to the practice squad, and tight end Sean McGrath was released. Kearse joins fellow receiver Ricardo Lockette, offensive linemen Rishaw Johnson and Edawn Coughman, quarterback Josh Portis, safety DeShawn Shead and linebackers Korey Toomer and Allen Bradford. ... Running back Vai Taua, tight end Cameron Morrah, defensive end Dexter Davis and linebackers Jameson Konz and Matt McCoy have been placed on the team’s injured reserve list. And cornerback Walter Thurmond (leg) remains on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
eric.williams@thenewstribune.com253-597-8437
blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks/
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