JOHN CLAYTON

Clayton: The good and bad from first 5 days of Seahawks training camp

Aug 1, 2019, 2:34 AM

russell wilson, seahawks...

For the first time, the Seahawks held their mock game offsite in Bothell. (Getty)

(Getty)

How time flies.

Brock Huard brought up an interesting point on 710 ESPN Seattle Wednesday morning: even though the Seahawks didn’t have training camp practice on Saturday and Wednesday, 20 percent of the camp is over. Wow. Things are moving to next week’s preseason opener against the Denver Broncos.

Huard: Seahawks shouldn’t look outside for DE help — at least not yet

There has been plenty of good, and some bad, in camp so far. Let’s review:

• The best part of camp has been the offense. Russell Wilson is having his best offseason. His throws and movement have been spectacular. Receivers look fast and have been great catching the ball and the running backs and tight ends have looked good as well. The offense scored 26.8 points a game last year and averaged 30 points a game over the final eight games of the season. This offense has a chance to be one of the best in franchise history.

• Will Dissly continues to do amazing things. The former Washington Husky tight end returned to the practice field at the beginning of camp, nine months after patellar tendon surgery. He’s in competition for the starting tight end job, something nobody expected months ago.

• Rashaad Penny is having a great camp. Penny thought he needed to improve his whole game after his rookie season. He wanted to be a better pro. He’s worked out better, and he’s studied the offense more. The one-two running punch of Chris Carson and Penny is looking even better than expected.

• Cornerback Tre Flowers spent the offseason working with his hands on press coverage. In college, even though he was a safety, he studied the footwork of Richard Sherman to help him in case he needed to play at cornerback. Flowers had a good season last year — even though he gave himself a low grade because he wants to get better.

• On the bad side, there are still concerns about the defensive line and the pass rush. It was devastating blow to lose L.J. Collier to an ankle injury Tuesday. If Collier has a high-ankle sprain, he could be out six to eight weeks. He’s only had two padded practices, and was injured in the second padded practice. There could have been a chance for Collier to compete for a starting job. Chances of that are remote if he has a high-ankle sprain. The six-game suspension of Jarran Reed and Collier’s injury add more to the question marks along the line.

• On the positive side, second-year defensive end Rasheem Green is starting to show some good things. He came to camp thinner and in great shape. He could be an end who could save things for the pass rush.

• It was a little scary seeing guard Mike Iupati in a walking boot Tuesday after the first padded practice. Iupati has been a big addition to the offensive line but he has a history of injuries and he had foot problems in the offseason. The first-team offensive line looked dominating in the first padded practice. The Seahawks need to maintain their starting offensive line for as many games as possible.

• One of the bad sides of the dominating performance by the offensive line is that the defensive line had trouble winning the line of scrimmage battle on Monday and Tuesday. Of course, that could take some time.

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