A limited Seahawks role so far, but don’t come at rookie Jordyn Brooks with expectations
The toughest part of his first, and condensed, NFL training camp, during a pandemic, for top rookie Jordyn Brooks?
“The police brutality...people of color just getting shot in the street,” the Seahawks’ first-round draft choice and linebacker from Texas Tech said.
“I think that’s been the biggest issue for me, me being a Black man. It’s something I kind of take personal, and something I feel obligated to talk about, something I feel obligated to help with.”
In between practices and learning the new terminology of schemes and pre-snap calls as a linebacker primarily so far next to All-Pro Bobby Wagner in Seattle’s nickel defenses, Brooks has had many chances to talk about the issues fueling the Black Lives Matter movement across the country. Racial inequality and police brutality have been as prominent of topics as zone coverages and run fits in the Seahawks’ player meetings online this spring and summer.
Some days, those real-life realities take the place of football. The lastest was Saturday. Seattle’s players chose not to practice. Instead, they ensured they are all registered to vote in the general election Nov. 3.
Coach Pete Carroll delivered a 15-minute monologue in lieu of practice that day. He demanded white Americans finally listen to Black people about inequality in the U.S.
Brooks heard his new coach’s message. He’s been hearing it since he became a Seahawks in April’s NFL draft.
“At times, you know, it gets a little bit difficult to focus on football when you see these things going on in everyday life,” he said Wednesday before the 16th practice of training camp.
On the field, Brooks’ focus so far has been on nickel packages, as the second of two linebackers on the field with five defensive backs, including new nickel Marquise Blair. It’s Carroll’s and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr.’s way of easing their rookie first-round pick into the entire defense.
Unlike every other rookie draft choice in Seahawks history, Brooks and his 2020 draft classmates did not have rookie minicamp. They did not have practices in organized team activities (OTAs) and more team-wide minicamps in May and June to learn the team’s schemes while on the field. The coronavirus pandemic closed NFL team facilities from March until training camps began in late July.
So Brooks entered Wednesday with just 15 practices to learn the defense. Actually, he’s had less than that. He missed a couple of practices with a strained groin last month. That included a less than auspicious debut: missing the team’s first practice in full pads on Aug. 17.
Carroll has said Brooks’ quickest path to starting as a rookie would be at weakside linebacker in the base 4-3 defense. That would showcase the rookie’s speed chasing down plays on the backside of offense’s formation. The thought was 10th-year veteran K.J. Wright could move from weakside to strongside linebacker, which he has played some early in his career for Carroll.
But Bruce Irvin has been the everyday strongside linebackers in training camp. Carroll has said upon Irvin’s return to the team that Seattle’s first-round pick in 2012 is the best athlete he’s had playing strongside linebacker. Wright has been the weakside backer next to Wagner.
In nickel, Irvin moves up to a hand-on-the-ground, pass-rushing end. That’s when Brooks has been with the first-team defense, as the second linebacker with Wagner in nickel. Playing in coverage and space in passing situations is what Brooks is most familiar doing. He did it as a starting linebacker for four years in the wide-open, pass-a-rama Big 12 Conference at Texas Tech.
So, in theory, the nickel role initially should make Brooks’ transition as a rookie without offseason practices easier. Brooks said Seattle’s nickel schemes are different than Texas Tech’s only in terminology, not in what he’s being asked to do in the middle of the defense and field.
A situational role may not satisfy the many who look at the Seahawks’ top draft choices the last few years and see...well, not much.
It’s hasn’t been just a lack of starts, but next to no production. Malik McDowell (out of football without ever playing) from 2017. Rashaad Penny (injured again and likely out until at least October) in 2018. L.J. Collier (still a reserve defensive lineman, five healthy scratches from games as a rookie) last year.
So fans and others expect plenty more from Brooks than a specialized role on third downs this season. And he may get there, just not in his first NFL game Sept. 13 at Atlanta.
But Brooks wants all to know what he thinks about outside suppositions for him in his rookie season.
“The expectation I have for myself is higher than anybody,” he said. “So if I’m not living up to my expectations that’s what I’m worried about.”
Carroll sees how Brooks fits the defense, physically.
“He looks the part,” the coach said last month. “He REALLY looks the part. He’s got a great body. He’s built differently than we’ve seen guys. He’s really big (in the) legs and hips and butt, and he’s really (built with) a low center of gravity. Really powerful guy. And he’s very quick and explosive.
“So he’s already shown that a number of times. He’s shown some really good instincts playing off blockers, which is not always a natural things. But he uses his hands really well. He has made a really good impression …
But Carroll wants Brooks to learn some mental sides, specifically the intensity with which the Seahawks practice each day.
“We are really trying to get him to really groove into how we practice, just so his mentality is on it every single step of every day,” Carroll said. “He doesn’t have a chance to do this unless he’s really into it — the whole time.”
