It's not "game over" for Seahawks cornerback

Kevin Hobbs' second chance in Seattle arrived with a late-afternoon phone call one year ago when he was home in Florida, playing video games.

Hobbs' agent wanted to know how quick he could get to the airport. It was about 4 p.m. The plane flight left at 5:50.

"I didn't even bring any bags," Hobbs said. "I just went straight to the airport."

A year later, Hobbs is not only still here, but the cornerback is not going anywhere other than up on Seattle's depth chart considering the way he has played during the team's offseason workouts.

"You're just seeing him take big leaps," said Jim Mora, who coaches Hobbs. "It's fun to watch. You cheer for a guy like that."

Hobbs went to Auburn without a scholarship and ended up starting four games into his second season with the Tigers. He entered the NFL undrafted in 2006 and had never been west of Texas until the Seahawks signed him as a free agent. He played for Seattle during training camp, but was cut before the season began.

He spent time on the Atlanta Falcons' practice squad in 2006, but was out of work a few days after the Falcons cut him following the 2007 draft. That's when the Seahawks came calling again, and he was at the airport within a half-hour of receiving that call, determined to make the most of a second shot in Seattle.

"They're bringing me back a second time," Hobbs said. "They can't cut me a second time."

Not the way Hobbs played. He returned an interception for a touchdown in an exhibition game against Minnesota, and after beginning the season on the Seahawks' practice squad, he worked his way onto the roster for six regular-season games.

"The biggest thing for him is just getting an opportunity," said receiver Ben Obomanu, Hobbs' teammate at Auburn and now in Seattle.

This is the time of year that rookies and new free agents dominate all the attention. They're new, they're fresh and everyone is eyeing just how well players like running back Julius Jones and tight end John Carlson are fitting in. The progress of a player like Hobbs isn't as exciting or as sensational, but it can be every bit as important for a team, and every day it seems Hobbs is making another play in practice.

"He seems to be playing at a higher level of intensity than we've seen in the past," Mora said. "Kevin's issue was never athletic. It was just having the mind-set that he was going to finish plays with intensity. He's doing that."

Hobbs is 6 feet, 195 pounds, and he has the kind of speed NFL teams like in their cornerbacks. He was timed at 4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash before the 2006 draft.

He's grown quite a bit since he graduated from a technical high school in Tampa, a skinny 5-foot-9 cornerback who headed to Texas Southern. He transferred to Auburn after one year. The Tigers didn't give him a scholarship, but they did provide an opportunity to prove he belonged at that level.

"I was out to prove to everybody else — but mostly to myself — that I could play this level of football," Hobbs said. "That's what it was.

"One day, I said, 'OK, this is it. This is what I want to do. It starts now.' "

The occupational stakes are higher in the NFL. Hobbs isn't playing for a scholarship, but a salary, and he's showing signs of making a leap similar to the one that took him from Auburn walk-on to SEC starter.

"I've kind of been through that stage before," Hobbs said. "Where I had to basically be the guy who wasn't supposed to be here in everybody else's eyes."

Hobbs' second chance with Seattle is now in its second year. It took a little bit of time and a whole lot of hard work to improve his technique, which is starting to catch up to his physical tools, and that looks like a pretty promising combination.

"You combine that with that raw ability, and sometimes you find a gem," Mora said. "That's what we're hoping we found with Hobbsy."

Notes

• Coach Mike Holmgren missed a second consecutive day of practice after what the team has characterized as a minor medical procedure. Gil Haskell, offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, ran practice in Holmgren's absence.

"We're just going right about business like always like he was here," Haskell said.

• Defensive lineman Chris Cooper was absent from Tuesday's voluntary workout for personal reasons. So was linebacker Lance Laury.