Michael Bowie set to make starting debut for Seahawks

SEATTLE – Michael Bowie had no choice but to be patient during the NFL draft last spring, forced to wait until the 242nd overall pick – 13th from the bottom – before hearing his name called.

Getting his first major on-field challenge as an NFL player, though, appears as if it might come quickly.

Bowie, the last of four players the Seahawks selected in the seventh round, is in line to make his first start Sunday at Houston at right tackle if regular starter Breno Giacomini can’t play. That prospect grew more likely Thursday when Giacomini missed his second straight practice with a knee injury that was aggravated Sunday against Jacksonville.

And if Bowie does start against the Texans, he could find himself on the first snap looking straight at the reigning NFL defensive player of the year, Houston defensive end J.J. Watt.

“I’m ready to go,” Bowie said Thursday. “I live for moments like this.”

Helping boost Bowie’s confidence are the 30 snaps he received in Sunday’s 45-17 win over the Jaguars, his first career NFL action.

Seattle coaches have said that what impressed them the most is that Bowie looked like he belonged.

“It was what I expected,” Bowie said. “The guys are pretty good out there, but it wasn’t too much for me to handle.”

And Bowie has played in big-time situations before. While he spent his final season at Northeastern State, a Division II school in Tahlequah, Okla., he played in 2011 at Oklahoma State, starting five games for a team that beat Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl to finish No. 3 in the country.

Projected to be a key player in 2012, he was dismissed from the team before the season for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Listed as fully participating Thursday were DE Red Bryant, who suffered back spasms against the Jaguars, and WR Jermaine Kearse, who suffered a sprained ankle, indicating both will play Sunday.