Seahawks training camp, Day 4: Rookie Chris Carson impresses again

RENTON – Here’s what else happened during Seahawks practice on Thursday, their fourth of training camp, aside from the fight involving Frank Clark and Germain Ifedi:

RB Chris Carson had another strong day

The rookie seventh-round pick has looked good so far, breaking loose for several long runs. He had another one Thursday and also performed well in the blitz-pickup drill, where running backs went one-on-one with linebackers. Carson won on both of his opportunities, according to my very unofficial scoring.

Blitz pickup doesn’t always come easy for rookie running backs. Knowing the assignments can be just as much if not more of of a challenge than executing them. This drill was only about execution, but Carson looked plenty capable.

Carroll developed an affinity for Carson’s rushing style while studying him leading up to the draft. He’s liked what Carson has shown so far, even if he hasn’t been able to show the full extent of his physicality.

“Well he looked pretty good. He looked pretty good,” Carroll said Thursday. “(On Tuesday) he had an excellent day. Last practice he had an excellent finish to the practice. The last four carries, he was ripping. He had a couple big runs today again. Really excited about this guy. Really have high hopes for him. We’ll see how he does. It’s really just getting started. He’s a very physical runner, which is the style that we like. You can’t tell that here because we’re not finishing the runs with the tackling. But I know it’s in his background and I keep chirping at him. We wanna see it when the time comes. Might have a real competitive guy at that spot.”

Thomas Rawls (who turned 24 years old Thursday) also gets a gold star for his performance in the blitz-pickup drill. That’s him in the video above. Bobby Wagner (not pictured) could not be blocked.

Trevone Boykin was off

During a team drill, Boykin threw an errant, off-balance pass on a scramble that was nearly intercepted. He misfired on a few other throws and appeared to commit a mental error by not getting rid of the ball on a free play, instead taking what would have been a sack if the quarterbacks were allowed to be tackled. Carroll appeared to give him an earful after that play. Boykin did drop a nice throw over a defender to Kasen Williams near the sideline, but overall, it was not a good day.

Boykin is competing with Austin Davis for the backup job he held as a rookie last season. Carroll was asked after practice if Boykin has made the progress that Seattle has been looking for. His non-answer seemed like something of an indictment when you consider that Carroll can usually find something positive to say about anyone.

“I can’t tell you, can’t tell you,” Carroll said. “He just got started. I don’t know that yet.”

Blair Walsh has been better

When Walsh missed two of the four kicks he attempted during the team portion of Seattle’s first training camp practice, it was a bit troubling given his recent history and the inconsistency he showed during the offseason.

He’s been much better since then. Walsh went 10 for 10 over the second and third practices and had another good day Thursday. He hit three times from 33 yards out, which is the distance for extra points, and also from 38. He missed wide on a 43-yarder and finished practice with another 33-yard attempt. Officials signaled it was no good but both Walsh and holder Jon Ryan looked incredulous while holding their arms in a V (the ball may have sailed over the shorter-than-usual uprights, making it hard for officials to tell if it was good).

“He’s doing fine. He’s off to a good start,” Carroll said before mentioning the move to waive long-snapper Nolan Frese on Wednesday. “You’ll notice we made a little move here with the snapper to make sure that he gets all the time with Tyler (Ott) and he’s doing fine. He’s a great worker, really a good athlete, he’s an explosive kicker, he’s got real quickness about him, really good work habits, he’s tough on himself. We think we’ve got a really good one. He kicks the hell out of the ball on kickoffs, too. He kicks the ball a mile. So it all looks good.”

Extra points

-Wide receiver Kenny Lawler limped off the field during a team period. Asked if he’s OK, Carroll said: “I don’t know. He slid and kind of like a baseball slide so something caught in the turf. I don’t know what it was. So I don’t know if it’s his knee or his ankle. He got up OK, but I don’t know.”

-Ethan Pocic replaced Ifedi at right tackle when Ifedi left practice after being punched.

-Here was Wagner picking up and throwing down an assistant coach during a tackling drill, much to defensive coordinator Kris Richard’s delight:

Tackle football with Bobby Wagner. pic.twitter.com/7m73yy9Cdz

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) August 3, 2017