The Seattle Seahawks have been without a number of veterans during OTAs as they recover from injuries. With safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs still sidelined, defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt gets to get a closer look at some of the other players in the position. For him, he sees the positive in the young guys getting the chance to get some reps.
“They’re getting valuable reps that obviously if Jamal and Q were here, they probably don’t see,” Hurtt told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “So now you have an opportunity to develop young talent behind them and create some depth. I always look at things not from a negative standpoint, but from a positive and what we can do that’s going to help us be better forward.”
The younger defensive players will get more opportunities to step up into leadership roles as well, able to find their voices with the established players still absent.
“Because Q (Diggs) is such a dominant, great player, dominant personality, when he speaks, everybody’s going to listen naturally,” Hurtt said. “But with him not being here, guys like Ryan, guys like Josh, guys like Ugo, it forces those guys to have to speak, get out of your comfort zone. You don’t have (No.) six back there. You don’t have (No.) 33 back there to be the quarterback right now so you got to go ahead and handle it. It kind of speaks to the development part I was talking about.
“It’s a great opportunity for them to expand their game.”