The Seahawks made several changes to their offensive line this summer, adding free agents Luke Joeckel and Oday Aboushi and drafting second-rounder Ethan Pocic. While offensive line coach Tom Cable is generally bullish about this unit prior to training camp, he was especially happy with the organization’s offseason additions.
“I’d like to get to camp, but I’m the most excited coach on the staff right now,” Cable told ESPN.com’s Sheil Kapadia. “That’s what I’ve told coach [Pete Carroll] and John [Schneider, Seahawks general manager]. I appreciate them putting this together in a year’s time and doing a fantastic job. Our personnel guys nailed this, so it’s just a matter of getting them in the right spots and going and playing ball.”
Let’s take a look at some other notes from around the NFL…
- Following news that Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman had been holding a grudge against both quarterback Russell Wilson and Carroll over the past two seasons, the veteran was quick to dismiss the story. “He asked a few questions to a few cowardly people,” Sherman said of USA Today writer Seth Wickersham (via, ironically, Liz Mathews of USA Today). “And I’ll be calling you cowards if you’re afraid to put your name on it. If you have a comment, if you’ve got something to say, you’ve got something to ask or something and you’re not willing to put your name on it, you’re kind of a coward. But maybe they’re not cowards and maybe these people never existed. Because who knows? You don’t even have to exist. You don’t have to prove anything in this world anymore…And that’s what I mean when I say there are a lot of TMZ-like media going on because guys like this — nobody is going to ever question him if they come to find out, hey, he could have fabricated this whole story and, I mean, outside of him saying there was an interaction at practice, none of the rest of it was true. But heck, what did he have to lose? I think it’s really unfortunate that’s it’s come to that.”
- Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva is currently without a contract ahead of the Steelers upcoming mandatory minicamp. When asked by ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler whether he’ll be in attendance, the 28-year-old indicated that he might be willing to hold out. “I’m obviously trying to be a Steeler but it’s something that my agent and the front office will work to sort out,” said Villanueva. The former Army standout didn’t sign his ERFA tender this offseason, although he did ink a waiver/agreement that allowed him to participate in OTAs.
- Jaguars safety Peyton Thompson has been cut six times during his career, including twice by Jacksonville. However, considering the injuries to the team’s secondary, Ryan O’Halloran of Jacksonville.com believes the 26-year-old finally has a chance to earn a more significant defensive role. The former undrafted free agent has played in 30 games for the Jaguars over the past two seasons, compiling 27 tackles.