With the Seahawks' starters unlikely to receive much more play time in Saturday's preseason game against the San Diego Chargers, here's six things we saw from a first half of play that has the Seahawks up 10-6.
1. Marshawn Lynch Touched The Football
Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch received his first snaps and touches of the 2015 preseason. After not playing the past two weeks against the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs, "Beast Mode" was involved on each of Seattle's first three plays from scrimmage in San Diego. He carried for six yards on 1st-and-10, caught a 3-yard pass on a check-down from Russell Wilson on second down, and was stuffed for no gain on 3rd-and-1. Backups Robert Turbin and Christine Michael were the first to sub for No. 24.Â
2. Tyler Lockett Dazzles ... Again
We once again were witness as to why the Seahawks traded up in the 2015 NFL Draft to select wide receiver Tyler Lockett. The rookie out of Kansas State returned a second-quarter Chargers punt 67 yards for a touchdown, zig-zagging his way in and out of traffic and from one side of the field to the other, outrunning the San Diego coverage unit to the end zone. Lockett's latest 'how-did-he-do-that' effort comes two weeks after he returned a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown against the Broncos and one week after he recorded a game-high 43 yards receiving against the Chiefs.
3. Welcome Back...
As expected, cornerbacks Richard Sherman (hip) and Will Blackmon (groin) also saw their first action of preseason. The pair had been held out the past two weeks, but head coach Pete Carroll said they could have gone last week in Kansas City if needed. Starting on the left side, Sherman finished the half with two tackles, while Blackmon made three tackles working as the nickel corner.
4. Alvin Bailey Starts at Left Tackle
The Seahawks announced pregame that left tackle Russell Okung was one of the players not expected to play against the Chargers. He was held out for precautionary reasons as he nurses a shoulder injury. Alvin Bailey, a candidate to earn the starting left guard job in the early stages of training camp, worked at left tackle with the No. 1 unit in Okung's place.
5. K.J. Wright Leaves with Injury
Linebacker K.J. Wright went down with a yet-to-be-announced injury in the game's first quarter and did not return. Mike Morgan and Kevin Pierre-Louis each saw play time in place of Wright.Â
6. Dirty Laundry
The Seahawks were flagged 11 times for 105 yards last week against the Chiefs and 10 times for 71 yards the week prior against the Broncos. Carroll said it was an area they were hoping to clean up this week in San Diego, but the team collected three penalties for 28 wrong-way yards in the first quarter and finished the half with four flags for minus 33 yards.
