After losing three OTA practices and a draft pick for a second violation of league offseason practice rules, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll believes that they’ve finally figured out where the lines are for offseason work.
” I think we had our most compliant OTA season and really proud of that, finally,” Carroll said after the conclusion of mini-camp on Thursday. “Old dog, new tricks, man. It was hard. But we finally figured it out.”
The Seahawks lost two days of mini-camp practices in 2014 after a fight broke out between cornerback Richard Sherman and wide receiver Phil Bates and other members of the team. The incident sparked a review of Seattle’s practice habits and led to the first set of penalties imposed.
Carroll had believed the team had gotten a handle on the guidelines, but they were slapped again last year after players got injured colliding on the practice field. The second infraction cost Seattle three of their 10 OTAs and a fifth-round draft pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
Carroll is hoping the third time is a charm and thinks the team is better off for it.
“I think we’re the smartest we’ve been coming out of this camp in any of the past years,” Carroll said. “We’ve had the most situation work. We’ve had the chance to put guys in all variety of spots that they have to think and make decisions and choose how they play and fit in with us. So we just feel like we’ve made a lot of movement forward. We have a lot of stuff to get done in camp that does not fit this time of year. This is OTA football. Not real football. That will come.”