The Seahawks began their offseason workout program with a smaller-than-usual group of players in attendance, with roughly 35 rookies and young, inexperienced players taking part. But as expected, attendance picked up this week, with 76 players in attendance for Monday's organized team activities.
Veterans of the Seahawks and several other teams announced earlier this offseason, through the NFLPA, that they planned to stay away from voluntary offseason workouts, citing COVID-19 concerns, though those veterans have been taking part in virtual team meetings throughout the offseason.
But with next week's mandatory minicamp on the horizon, much of the Seahawks' 90-man roster is back in town for this week's session of OTAs, including longtime team captains Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll expressed optimism last month that veterans would indeed begin reporting ahead of minicamp, allowing players to ramp up to the three days of on-field work next week.
"Our activities will pick up as we get closer to minicamp," Carroll said last month. "We expect pretty darn good attendance minicamp. There's a couple of guys that have some special situations, but for the most part we expect our guys to be there. The week before is a really important week as well in preparation for it, so we'll see more guys coming through as we get to the middle of June there."
And while attendance has been limited up until this week, Carroll has been impressed with the work the young players have gotten done as they learn what for most of them is a new playbook and new coaching staff.
"We're catching those guys up so that when we get to camp, those guys can hold their own," Carroll said last month. "I think you'd be surprised how sharp they are and how far along they've already come. I made the comment to them again today as we broke for the weekend that they're working really hard, they're really diligent about it. It matters to these guys, obviously, because they're putting in the time, and they're able to bring it from the meeting room to the field. So we're making good progress. So they're going to be caught up when we come together. I told the team in our Zoom meeting today that they're going to be surprised how far along these guys have come, so it's good group."
