Renton – John Carlson is at it again.

During the Seattle Seahawks’ minicamp practice Thursday, the second-year tight end hauled in a one-handed grab near the sideline with linebacker Leroy Hill draped on his back, drawing cheers from his teammates and causing offensive coordinator Greg Knapp to mimic the ESPN SportsCenter highlight theme music.

Carlson has picked up where he left off after setting franchise records for catches and receiving yards for a tight end during his rookie season.

But Knapp says Carlson has barely scratched the surface of his ability, and should be even more effective playing alongside free-agent pickup T.J. Houshmandzadeh and veteran receivers Deion Branch and Nate Burleson.

“I’m very excited about using him,” Knapp said. “I fortunately have been around some good tight ends during my coaching career. … He brings those same kinds of attributes as a pass-catching tight end to our offense. So you can kind of game-plan and maybe not always line him up in the traditional tight end spot. You can move him around.”

Knapp knows a thing or two about getting the ball to the tight end. Alge Crumpler averaged 56 catches and six touchdowns a year for the Atlanta Falcons during Knapp’s time as offensive coordinator there. Crumpler made the Pro Bowl all three years Knapp was in Atlanta.

And young tight end Zach Miller put up similar numbers in Oakland, averaging 50 catches and a couple of touchdowns per season during his first two years in the league.

Carlson led the Seahawks in receptions (55) and receiving yards (627) last season, becoming quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s go-to option in critical situations.

Hasselbeck expects that relationship to continue to blossom come the 2009 season.

“They’re asking a lot more of him this year than they did last year,” Hasselbeck said. “Last year he came in and we said, ‘Well, maybe he could be the starting tight end. We’ll see.’ This year, on third down, he’s not on the sideline, he’s on the field. There are a lot of situations where in the past we’ve had a wide receiver out there, but now we’re treating him as a threat in the passing game, and we’re giving him opportunities to make plays, and he’s done a great job.”

Knapp has lined up Carlson in the backfield, brought him in motion and split him out wide in order to free him up.

And Carlson said he’s worked hard in the weight room to get stronger so he’s an asset in the team’s new run scheme. Knapp said Carlson’s run-blocking technique has improved, and the switch to the zone-blocking scheme should help Carlson become an every-down tight end in the league.

“We’re doing a lot of zone blocking, which I think is nice for me,” Carlson said. “I’m not a real powerful guy where I can dominate a defensive end one-on-one, at least not very often. So a lot of combination blocks, a lot of outside zone blocks where there’s a double-team on the end that plays out to the linebacker, I think that works in my favor.”

Curry the pass rusher?

Come September, the NFL could see a lot of Aaron Curry coming off the edge of the defense out of a three-point stance, as the rookie linebacker out of Wake Forest has looked good so far in pass-rushing drills, something draft experts thought was a weakness for Curry.

Mora said it’s early, and Curry is not working in pads, but that he has looked impressive going against the team’s offensive lineman in practice.

“I say this with reservation because it’s not padded practices and it’s not live, but he has an aspect of pass rush that we didn’t see on the college film, because they didn’t ask him to do it,” Mora said. “And we’ve asked him to do that a little more here, and it looks like he’s a guy who athletically can do that.

“Now, we have to wait to see when we get the pads on and it’s live. But he looks like a guy who can do that, and if he can, then that’s a bonus for us.”

Camp practices open

For the first time in three years, the Seahawks will open training camp practices to the public, the team announced Thursday.

Fans interested in viewing practices at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center must register at the team’s Web site (www.seahawks.com) beginning at 10 a.m. July 16. Open practices will begin on Monday, Aug. 3, and conclude on Thursday, Aug. 20.

Practice times will be listed on the team’s Web site starting in mid-July.

Tentatively the Seahawks are scheduled to begin training camp on July 31.

Eric D. Williams: 253-597-8437

eric.williams@thenewstribune.com

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