The Sports Xchange

RENTON, Wash. — The one big question mark for the Seattle Seahawks entering the season — the offensive line — might have only gotten bigger after the team’s preseason-opening loss to Denver.

The Seahawks gave up seven sacks, with two during the two series played by the starters, one of which resulted in a sack of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and a lost fumble.

The team reacted to the performance on Monday by making some significant changes along the front, moving starting right tackle Justin Britt to left guard, backup left tackle Garry Gilliam to right tackle and starting left guard Alvin Bailey to backup left tackle.

Seattle coaches portrayed it as mostly another attempt to get the right starting five up front rather than judgments on the players involved. Still, it seemed a rather significant move.

“We’re just trying to see how much flexibility we have,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “Garry (Gilliam) has played well at camp and he did a real nice job in the game. We want to take a look, I am sure if you talked to (offensive line coach Tom Cable), we’re trying to get our best five and see what’s the right combination.

“When you get down to nine guys or eight guys sometimes during the season, guys have to be flexible. So we’re going to take this time. We can’t wait much longer to do this, so we need to do it now.”

The team knew it had two spots to fill after the losses in the offseason of left guard James Carpenter (signed with the New York Jets as a free agent) and center Max Unger (traded to New Orleans as part of the Jimmy Graham deal).

The team thought Bailey might be able to take the left guard spot and run with it. But that hasn’t happened, forcing what has been a revolving door at that spot throughout camp.

Center has become a two-man battle between veteran Lemuel Jeanpierre and Drew Nowak, a third-year player who spent last season on the practice squad. Coaches portray that one as pretty much a dead heat at the moment.

The move of Britt is more surprising.

He started all 16 regular-season games at right tackle last season as a rookie after being taken in the second round out of Missouri, regarded as a possible fixture at that spot for years to come.

But he has struggled in pass protection, in particular, and was beaten bad for a sack by Denver’s Von Miller on the second play of Friday’s game.

The team wants to see now if Britt might be a better fit at guard, especially with the emergence of Gilliam, who is better suited for the outside.

Gilliam is a former tight end at Penn State who shifted to tackle his senior year and made the Seattle roster last season as an undrafted free agent. His main claim to fame was catching a touchdown pass on a fake field goal attempt in the NFC Championship game against Green Bay. But he also saw some action as a lineman and as an extra tight end in jumbo sets.

Carroll said he hopes the team can soon settle on a starting offensive line so the group can work together to get ready for the season opener Sept. 13 against a St. Louis team that some think features as good a defense as there is outside of Seattle.

Carroll said, though, that the tinkering so far has not been unexpected.

“No, really, I think it’s a process we have to go through,” he said. “It’s not like it’s a surprise we knew that some young guys were going to play, so we’re competing to figure it out. The expectations of all of the younger guys playing together at the same time out there, to expect those guys to function at a high level is a lot right now because there’s nobody that’s been there, there’s nobody that can really communicate to them. So they’re all kind of looking at one another trying to figure out their calls and all that.

“That’s going to make them hesitant a little bit and it’s going to look a little bit behind I think until we can get them comfortable. So that’s why this week is so important for them, and this game is so important for them, so they can settle down and play like they’re capable. We’re just going to have to wait and see how it turns out. Like I said, it’s going to take a whole camp — for sure.”

–It’s unclear yet if the Seahawks need to be in the hunt for a backup quarterback. Tarvaris Jackson suffered a high ankle sprain that the team hopes will only keep him out a couple of weeks. If so, then the Seahawks might be able to get by without bringing in anyone else, other than maybe as a camp arm. But if the injury lingers, then it will become more important to assess what the team has in third-teamer R.J. Archer. The 27-year-old is a former Arena League standout who saw his first Seattle action against Denver and threw a late touchdown pass but also had some struggles early. Last year’s No.3 quarterback, B.J. Daniels, is now being used as a receiver and returner, though he could take some snaps at quarterback and be an emergency quarterback, if needed.

–The team remains uncertain when strong safety Kam Chancellor might end his holdout. Chancellor missed his 13th practice on Monday and can now be fined more than $1.05 million by the Seahawks, per rules of the NFL CBA (though fines are at team discretion and often not enforced). Without Chancellor, the Seahawks have been using DeShawn Shead and second-year former undrafted free agent Dion Bailey at strong safety. Shead started against Denver, but Bailey worked with the first team on Monday in practice.