Clearing out the notebook following the end of Seahawks' mini-camp Thursday.
Here are three more notes from Thursday’s Seahawks minicamp:
An injury that could shake up the receiver competition.
Second-year receivere Tanner McEvoy, who was maybe the biggest surprise out of training camp last season to make the Seahawks’ 53-man roster, has been sidelined the past few weeks with what coach Pete Carroll revealed on Thursday is a toe injury that recently required surgery.
“He had to have a little bone removed in his big toe and it’s all healed and ready to go for now to get on course to get in shape again,” Carroll said. “So he had a big setback. It was a big setback for him. It bothered him some last year and it was just too aggravated and he had to get worked on.”
Appearing to take the most advantage of the absence of McEvoy is third-year WR Kasen Williams.
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On Thursday, with both Jermaine Kearse and Tyler Lockett out or limited, Williams worked with the first offense in three-receiver sets alongside Doug Baldwin and Paul Richardson.
And that made it worth remembering that Williams was considered one of the stars of the offseason a year ago at this time before suffering a hamstring injury in training camp that helped open the door for McEvoy.
But now healthy, it’s Williams who seems in a good spot to get one of the final spots on the roster, though there will obviously be a ton of competition in camp as younger WRs such as Kenny Lawler and the four rookies from this year get more comfortable.
“Really solid,” Carroll said of Williams on Thursday. “Had a great offseason. Is really focused in. Battled. Like the DBs not being able to make their plays, receivers have been able to make their plays with nobody batting the ball away. One of the best things he does is competing at the football so his strengths will show up more so when we get back into pads and all that.”
Austin Powering his way into backup QB spot
Austin Davis has been a Seahawk for roughly 10 days now after his much-discussed signing as a backup quarterback.
And the way Carroll portrayed it Thursday, he has done nothing so far to dissuade the idea he will give Trevone Boykin a legitimate run for the Seahawks’ No. 2 QB spot.
“Austin did really well,” Carroll said. “Amazingly bright football player. He blew us away with how fast he could pick stuff up. He brings more playtime experience, just in the meeting room that we treasure. He’s been there, he’s played games and all that. Trevone hasn’t had that and can’t have that yet. It’s been a good mix so far. So we brought him in and we’ll make these evaluations as we get back but I think Austin showed very well for himself. He’s got his own style. He’s a different style player than Trevone or Russell (Wilson) of course, but I kind of like what he brought us.”
Boykin has a court date coming up in July related to a March arrest for marijuana possession and public intoxication. The team has said it anticipates Boykin being available for the season though Carroll said Thursday that he simply didn’t have any other info and for now the Seahawks are simply waiting for the legal process to play out.
Carroll raving about the running back competition.
Aside from the offensive line, the position group Carroll seems to think is in the most-improved state now from this time a year ago is running back with Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise healthy, Eddie Lacy in the fold and so far making his weight goals and staying healthy, and Alex Collins in better shape.
Said Carroll: “Wow I think it’s an exciting group. We’ve never been this strong with this many guys who can compete and do things. We have a variety of different guys that have different strengths that they bring. It was incredibly beneficial for us to see C.J. make it through the whole time. He has a great scope that he fills for us. He can come out of the backfield and he can run routes as a receiver and he looked really good running the ball behind the line of scrimmage. It was like, one day after another, nobody wanted to say anything because he started to add up some days finally. Because he’s never had consistent preparation behind him. So he goes into this six weeks hugely ahead of where he’s been in years past and we have really high hopes. But he has his way, and Eddie [Lacy] has his way. Eddie’s going to run big and thick and tough and so is Thomas. Alex had by far his best work done in the last three or four weeks. He has just been so consistent for us. We didn’t get to see Chris Carson much. Mike Davis did a nice job too. I don’t know if I left anyone out there. But the group is really competitive and it’s going to be hard to come up with enough snaps with these guys to figure it out but we’ll do the best we can. And I’m really fired up about Chris Carson – I love that we picked him up. So we’ll see a lot of him in camp.”
Carroll noted specifically of Collins that he got bigger last year heading into the season thinking he needed the bulk to handle the NFL, then took some of the weight off during the season and has kept it off since then.
“If you remember he went into a mode of really working hard, adapting diet stuff, the extra conditioning and all that and he has not taken a step backwards at any time,” Carroll said. “He is in phenomenal shape. He showed it. He’s just clicking out here for us in every drill that we’ve done throughout every single day that we’ve been out here. So he’s shown really well for himself in competing and all that. He’s leaner, he’s faster, he’s quicker. He’s all of that and he knows what he’s doing now, so he’s really positioned himself well to compete for a spot.”