Hawks look to get better reception

Hawks look to get better reception
'Young'uns' have to start making plays
By CLARE FARNSWORTH
P-I REPORTER

SAN DIEGO -- In the Seahawks' first two preseason games, Courtney Taylor and Ben Obomanu have the same number of receptions.

A team-leading five? No, that would be second-year wide receiver Jordan Kent and rookie free agent Michael Bumpus.

Four? Wrong again, because that's the total for second-year man Logan Payne, who missed the opener because of a cracked rib but was productive -- despite playing through pain -- in the home opener.

No, neither Taylor nor Obomanu has a reception to show for their summer's work.

Look for that to change Monday night in the Seahawks' game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium.

It's only a preseason game, but there is a sense of urgency to get Taylor and Obomanu involved in the offense.

Taylor, a sixth-round draft choice last year, is the likely starting flanker for the Sept. 7 regular-season opener against the Buffalo Bills because leading receiver Bobby Engram will miss the first few games with a cracked bone in his right shoulder and coach Mike Holmgren is starting to hedge his optimism that Deion Branch will be ready as he continues his rehab from reconstructive surgery on his left knee.

Obomanu, a seventh-round draft choice in 2007, is the most experienced of the untested receivers that Holmgren refers to as "the young'uns" -- a group that also includes Kent, Payne and Bumpus.

The offense needs at least two of these receivers to not only show they can play, but also make plays, until Engram and Branch are ready to return.

"Whenever I really try to do that, it doesn't seem to work very well," Holmgren said of attempts to force the ball to Taylor and Obomanu.

"But there's a pile there, and I know a little bit more about a couple of them than the other ones. I've got to see more. So that's what we're trying to do. Whether we can or not, we'll see."

No. 3 quarterback Charlie Frye looms large in this equation because he will again start, because quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is out with a tight back and backup Seneca Wallace missed time during the week with a tight groin.

Another factor is a Chargers defense that has given the Seahawks fits in previous summer matchups.

"They're a very good defensive team," Holmgren said. "So that's good. It's a gauge as to where (our players) are."

Holmgren will get no argument from Taylor, whose size (6 feet 1 inch, 205 pounds), athleticism and relative experience give him an edge over the rest of the young'uns.

"The Chargers' secondary is considered one of the best in the league," Taylor said. "They're a real physical bunch. So I'm looking forward to it."

But Taylor also is looking beyond the Chargers.

"I just have to keep getting better every day," he said. "That's my main thing. As long as I'm coming out and doing my job -- in practice and in the games -- the balls will come. So I'm not worried about that."

Caught in the cross hairs of the catchless dilemma is split end Nate Burleson. So why is he smiling when the subject is broached?

First, Burleson has been here/survived that.

He was the unknown receiver from almost nowhere in 2004 while playing with the Minnesota Vikings. The team's other wideout? Some guy named Randy Moss.

"Randy went down and everybody was thinking, 'What are we going to do now? Will we even be able to throw the ball?' " Burleson said. " 'It was like 'Nate who?' 'From Nevada-Where?'

"Reno? They've got a football team?"

Burleson caught 68 passes for 1,006 yards and nine touchdowns that season.

But Burleson also could be on the receiving end of extra attention from opposing defenses if Taylor, or Obomanu, or someone else, doesn't start stepping up -- and soon.

"I can feel what they're going through -- 100 percent," Burleson said. "But there really isn't too much pressure on them. They might think, 'Ah, the entire city is counting on us to pick up the load.'

"But realistically, the defenses and cornerbacks they're facing don't know too much about them. Is anyone going to double- and triple-cover Courtney and Ben? Probably not.

"So they've got a great chance to exploit this situation."

That's why Holmgren is both eager and anxious for it to finally start happening.

FOCUS ON: THE CHARGERS

Mike Holmgren plans to break with preseason tradition Monday night by not playing all his starters into the third quarter. Chargers coach Norv Turner says he'll stay with what has become the Week 3 modus operandi in the NFL.

But one player the Seahawks won't have to worry about is Shawne Merriman, who has been a disruptive force in the preseason games between these two teams in the past. The Chargers' Pro Bowl linebacker has ligament damage in his left knee and is deciding whether to have reconstructive surgery or try to play despite tears in the lateral collateral and posterior collateral ligaments. "I'm stubborn as hell," Merriman told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

So stubborn that he has gotten three second opinions and is scheduled to seek a fourth this week. "With the injury I have, nobody would prefer that somebody really play," Merriman said. "But right now I can play. It's a high risk I (could) injure it further. But it's hard. I want to be on the field."




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