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June 12, 2009 at 8:55 AM

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Sticky-fingered John Carlson grabbing the ball ... and attention

Posted by Danny O'Neil

The Seahawks' afternoon practice on Thursday included four speakers that were aimed at the field to simulate crowd noise. It was loud enough that one of the team's security officials resorted to ear plugs, a savvy veteran move that I will have to keep in my playbook.

One of the things I focused on in the afternoon was the tight ends and fullbacks had one-on-one coverage drills against linebackers and safeties. Those can be some of the more interesting drills because in an actual game, those are the kind of matchups that can actually decide a game. Can a safety man-up against a larger tight end? Can a fullback beat the coverage of a linebacker? That very matchup decided last year's Seahawks game at San Francisco when Leonard Weaver ran wild after a reception.

But on to the observations:

John Carlson made a ridiculous catch while being defended by linebacker Leroy Hill. It was a diving catch, in which Carlson deadened and controlled the ball with one hand -- his left hand no less -- before cradling it with two arms. Earlier in the drill, Carlson got by rookie linebacker Aaron Curry and turned on the jets.

John Owens, signed from Detroit in the offseason, matched up against Lance Laury. The two tangled feet and Owens made the reception even though his left shoe came flying off. Owens also juked safety Deon Grant pretty good.

Lofa Tatupu stayed with running back Justin Forsett, breaking up a pass before it got to him.

Rookie Cameron Morrah looked good in the drill. Morrah did not have a great deal of college production and he entered the draft before his senior season, but he's got some speed and in this drill, he showed that off. He got inside of safety Deon Grant for a reception up the middle and also beat Tony Taylor.

A highlight came later in the drill during a full-team drill when tight end Joe Newton got to the third layer of the defense to catch a ball thrown over the middle by Seneca Wallace. He caught it to a few "Oooohs," but the real story is what didn't happen because safety Deon Grant went running by Newton because this was a non-contact practice and Newton is a teammate. What would have happened if that was a full-pad game situation? We'll let Deon explain:

"I had to slow down before I even got to him," Grant said. "If I hadn't slowed down, I would have had to send some flowers to his parents."

There was also a special-teams drill, and Ben Obomanu, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Seneca Wallace were the three players fielding punts.

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Sticky-fingered John Carlson grabbing the ball ... and attention

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