The Sports Xchange

RENTON, Wash. – Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said he fully expected his offensive line to be a work in progress this season. The Seahawks have two new starters in Drew Nowak at center and Garry Gilliam at right tackle. In addition, Justin Britt has moved to left guard after spending all of last season at right tackle.

Through the first three games of the season, the line has had its struggles. Quarterback Russell Wilson has been sacked 12 times, tied for second most in the league.

“We knew that they were not going to be a finished product as we started the season off,” Carroll said. “We do like their approach and their toughness and their mentality about learning and the discipline that they’re trying to generate in their play. They’ve got all the right stuff to make up a good group.”

Nowak, a converted former defensive lineman, and Gilliam, a tight end for most of his college career, are getting their first starting opportunities in the NFL. They are still learning their roles and positions and getting more comfortable on a weekly basis.

“They’re growing. They’re working at it hard. Their confidence is gaining and we’re going to see them continue to improve,” Carroll said.

Carroll said it may take another 4-5 weeks until around midseason to know what the true potential of the unit can be.

–For just the second time in his career, Wilson has attempted at least 30 passes in a game in three consecutive games.

Wilson attempted a career-high 41 passes in the team’s season opening 34-31 overtime loss to the St. Louis Rams. He’s attempted 30 passes a piece in each of the last two games against Green Bay and Chicago.

The Seahawks have always been a run-first attack with Marshawn Lynch and Wilson in the backfield. Ultimately, Bevell said the fact they trailed in both St. Louis and Green Bay forced them to throw the ball a bit more frequently. But against Chicago, they wanted to open up the passing attack.

“In this last game, we wanted to come out and throw it a little bit early,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. “We wanted to throw the ball a little bit. We never come out and say ‘we want to do this. We want to do that.’ We try different things every now and then.”

Seattle managed just 125 yards of total offense in the first half and Wilson was just 9-of-14 for 95 yards. After halftime, the Seahawks offense had 246 yards with Wilson completing 11-of-16 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. The running game also set up their play-action attack as Thomas Rawls had 98 of his 104 rushing yards in the second half.

“We would love to be our identity and we’d love to be able to run the ball and it sets up everything,” Bevell said. “If you look at that second half, you saw kind of the style we were able to get to in that second half. We feel like that’s us and that’s kind of when we came to life.”

Bevell said that he believes Wilson, now in his fourth season as the team’s starting quarterback, is having his best year so far as a pocket passer.

Notes: Running back Marshawn Lynch (hamstring) did not practice after being sidelined for the second half of last week’s game against the Bears. Carroll said it will take all week for them to figure out if Lynch will be able to play Monday. … Defensive tackle Brandon Mebane (groin) did not practice after leaving in the first quarter of last week’s game. Carroll said Mebane is also going to need the whole week to determine his availability.