The Seahawks start their offseason workouts on Monday, which marks the first official work for the team since they were crowned Super Bowl champions.
That title and the Seahawks’ limited losses from the roster during the offseason would seem to leave the team with few concerns heading into next season. Coaches don’t get paid to say that all is well and that practice will be little more than a necessary evil, however, so it’s no surprise that quarterbacks coach Carl Smith is focused on the few negatives he saw on film from last season as the Seahawks get back to work.
“What we saw was lots of problems, regardless of the end result,” Smith said, via the team’s website. “We saw the imperfections and there’s a lot of work that we’ve still got to do. What we did get cleaned up during our playoff run were penalties and our protections. We had problems with both of those during the season and it made a lot games harder than it could have been.”
The Seahawks protected Russell Wilson much better in the second half of the season, likely because left tackle Russell Okung, center Max Unger and right tackle Breno Giacomini returned from injury and forced backups back to reserve roles. Giacomini is now with the Jets, so his replacement will have to keep things rolling but the overall concern with the line should be mitigated a great deal if everyone stays healthy this time around.
If they do, the Seahawks’ attempt to become the first team in a decade to repeat will be enhanced and Smith will have to dig a little deeper next season.