Seahawks Blog

Danny O'Neil covers the Seahawks for The Seattle Times.

E-mail Danny| Seahawks forum| Subscribe | Blog Home

July 29, 2008 4:55 PM

Josh Wilson, Pick Six -- 7.29.2008 P.M. practice

Josh Wilson's biggest impact as a rookie last season came when he returned a kickoff for a touchdown in St. Louis. He didn't have much of an impact last season as the third cornerback because Jordan Babineaux served as the team's fifth defensive back in nickel packages.

Now, it's only the first week of training camp, but Wilson is making a pretty big push for more playing time in the defensive backfield. He made plays to bat down three passes on Sunday when the team began practicing in pads, and in the afternoon practice on Tuesday he made a great break, anticipating an out route and intercepting a pass Seneca Wallace intended for Trent Shelton. Now, in some cases, that's the result of a lazy throw. Not this one. Wallace zipped the pass, but Wilson made a great break, picked the ball off and he was gone the other way. It was such a good play that Mike Holmgren complimented Wilson instead of reprimanding Wallace.

As Wilson ran toward the end zone of the practice field, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck -- who was not on the field for the play -- came sprinting over as if he was going to stop Wilson before he got to the end zone. Nope. Too late. Maybe in Canada, though, where the fields are 110 yards long.

Coach Mike Holmgren said Monday that Wilson is off to a good start in training camp.

"He's really a good inside cover guy," Holmgren said. "As your nickel corner, as your third corner to move inside and work in there on the two-way guys like an Engram, that's going to be a strength of his ... That's really where he earns his money, inside."

Also worth noting that Jordan Kent was one of the players working out on kickoff return during that portion of practice. WR Michael Bumpus, CB Josh Wilson, WR Ben Obomanu and RB Justin Forsett were the others working on kickoff returns.

Punt returns were handled by Ben Obomanu and Justin Forsett and the usual trio of Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram and Seneca Wallace.

WR Courtney Taylor and LB Wesly Mallard did not practice in the afternoon. Neither did Walter Jones, Ray Willis and Chris Spencer, who are all recovering from offseason surgery.

Digg | Newsvine

Submit a comment

Posted by bp

8:01 PM, Jul 29, 2008

Thanks for the update.

The 3rd corner is one of the more under appreciated positions on a team. They are on the field some 60% of defensive snaps. It is great to hear that the hawks have depth stepping up here and challenging everyone to get better. Babs will always be a fan favorite for his timely plays but you can never have too much quality and depth in the backfield with the injuries you see through the year. I also felt that the DB were a bit safe. Perhaps most due to scheme but Wilson is definitely going to up the overall speed level out there and hopefully turn more of the pressure on the QB into picks in the backfield.

Find a Home

For sale
New Homes

Search properties for sale

Rent a home or apartment

Post your property or rental

Open Houses

Find all open houses.

Most Americans support fuel-efficiency rules; Ford hybrid sales heat up new
(The Associated Press) Fuel rules get support A Consumer Federation of America survey conducted in April found that a large majority of Americans R...
Post a comment