It wasn’t so much that coach Mike Holmgren was being kind; he rarely is when it comes to the business of football.

It was more a product of attrition. With Bobby Engram skipping camp to protest his contract; Deion Branch recovering from knee surgery; Courtney Taylor suffering an injury that kept him out of the last two days of the camp; and the rookie players back at their respective schools, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck didn’t have many options for his pass deliveries.

“We’re low on numbers,” Hasselbeck said.

The optimistic view of so many players being unable to participate is that the players who did get repetitions gained extensive experience they otherwise may not have had.

It is important at a time when the Seahawks are trying to determine who their third receiver – behind Engram and Nate Burleson – is going to be, and who will be able to step in and perform in case of injury. The competition is between Taylor, Ben Obomanu, Logan Payne and Jordan Kent.

“What great experience,” offensive coordinator Gil Haskell said. “They’re getting every play. By the time we have to play (the regular season), we’ll know who can play and who can’t.”

For that reason, Hasselbeck said it almost was an advantage that Engram skipped the camp.

“The nice thing with Bobby,” Hasselbeck said, “is I feel like I can throw to Bobby with my eyes closed. When Bobby comes back, he will be the same Bobby we all know and love. We know that he works hard when he is not here. He will be a playmaker for us like he was last year.

“But this (contract negotiation) is another side of the business. It is a job. As players, it can get personal when it is you. At the end of the day, I think we can all count on Bobby … this year.”

For his part, Hasselbeck just seemed happy that he was able to play. Last year at this time, he was recovering from shoulder surgery that kept him out of minicamp, preventing him from getting down his timing with Branch and the departed D.J. Hackett.

“The fact that I am healthy and able to do everything, be in the weight room, that is a good thing,” Hasselbeck said.

What limited Hasselbeck more this week, he said, was that starting center Chris Spencer was sidelined because he had offseason thumb and shoulder surgery. There is a slight chance, Holmgren said, that Spencer will miss the beginning of training camp. Veteran Chris Gray started at center all week, with Steve Vallos backing up the backup.

“I know for me last year, it is hard when you are not able to be out practicing and getting the reps,” Hasselbeck said. “You are in the training room or standing over there watching or running sprints while everybody else is practicing.

“For a guy who plays the center position, it is tough. He just has to do what he can and pay attention in meetings and talk to Chris Gray about different things.”

Besides Spencer, Walter Jones (shoulder), Rob Sims, who had arthroscopic knee surgery on Wednesday, and Ray Willis (knee) sat out the majority of camp.

Because of that, Floyd Womack spent much of the camp playing left tackle, while second-year player Mansfield Wrotto played right guard.

The second-string offensive line consisted of, from left to right, Kyle Williams, Pat Murray, Vallos, Wrotto and Chris White.

The team has two more scheduled minicamps, June 2-5 and June 9-12, before training camp starts in late July.

blogs.thenewstribune.com/seahawks