Offense gives head coach headache

As his frustration increased, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren kicked at the grass, evoking an image of former Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella in the middle of a tirade.

This was no Piniella-sized meltdown or even a Mt. Holmgren eruption, but the veteran coach had seen enough false starts, turnovers, blown assignments and shoddy execution to warrant voicing his concerns.

So, at separate portions of Wednesday’s morning practice, Holmgren brought the special teams together, the offense together and the entire team together twice for pointed reminders of his expectations.

“My mood is usually the way it is because of how the offense does that particular day,” Holmgren said. “I’ve never hidden that and the defensive guys tease me about it.”

Asked to assess the offense’s performance, Holmgren said, “I thought our defense did a great job and the offense took one on the chin.”

The defense had the upper hand in the 2-minute drill, holding the first-team offense without a first down and shutting down the second string when Oliver Celestin made a diving interception.

Kelly Herndon added an interception and then the second-team offense gave up the ball on a bungled center-quarterback exchange.

The offense continued to struggle in the first scrimmage situation of camp with live tackling. Linebacker Lofa Tatupu had the hit of the day when he leveled Jimmy Dixon after a screen pass in the right flat. Finally, the No. 1 and No. 2 offenses produced touchdowns near the end of practice.

“Training camp is very much an ebb-and-flow type of situation,” Holmgren said. “One day you’re happy with one group, one day you’re happy with the other.”

Unfair catch

An annual rite of camp is the punt-catching competition, with this year’s version featuring five offensive and defensive linemen trying to successfully catch four punts to earn the team an extra hour before curfew.

Alex Guerrero and Craig Terrill deftly handled their chances. Chris Gray, however, barely got his hands on the ball, though he did have to backpedal about 15 yards on a booming Ryan Plackemeier kick. Ray Willis retreated too far on his attempt and came up empty, but Holmgren audibled and lowered the standard to three clean catches.

On came Robbie Tobeck, who retreated to his left and nearly had possession before losing the ball on his way to the ground. Holmgren offered a second chance, but the veteran center failed again.

“A complete punting issue,” Tobeck offered. “The rookie (Plackemeier) has to understand we’re all in this together. The first couple guys he gives them nice punts, then Chris gets up and it’s 30 yards over his head and then mine is 30 yards over my head. I almost made a spectacular catch.”

And the second one? “I think I broke my finger,” he said, laughing. “No, I just jammed it a little bit.”

Notes

Seattle released tight end Matt Henshaw, who had been sidelined with a foot injury, and signed tight end Matt Murphy, a four-year NFL veteran. Murphy was with Detroit in 2002 and the Houston Texans the last three years. The University of Maryland product has three career receptions. … Washington State University coach Bill Doba and most of his staff attended the morning practice. … Receiver D.J. Hackett injured his right hamstring after a touchdown reception late in the morning session. He will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the injury. Running back/kick returner Josh Scobey (flu) missed practice.