Erickson Gives Top Rookies Passing Grades For Debuts

With six days of practice between them, the two first-round draft picks of the Seattle Seahawks showed no glaring deficiencies in Saturday night’s 21-17 preseason loss at San Francisco.

“Shawn (Springs) did some really good things his first time out,” Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson said Sunday, speaking of the cornerback who was the third player chosen in the recent NFL draft.

Springs, who reported to training camp just one week ago, showed his skill by breaking up a few passes intended for J.J. Stokes of the 49ers.

Left tackle Walter Jones, who reported last Wednesday, missed a block or two, but the 6-foot-5, 300-pounder, the No. 6 pick overall, didn’t have any major breakdowns.

“Obviously, his position is a tougher position to play because of the assignment aspect. But I thought he played well for practicing two times,” Erickson said.

In the second quarter, Jones got beat on a safety blitz by Merton Hanks, which resulted in one of five sacks by the 49ers.

“He didn’t get physically flat beat. He was blocking an All-Pro (Chris Doleman) in the second quarter. I thought he stood up really well to him,” Erickson said.

With Jones at left tackle, Erickson said he wouldn’t hesitate moving veteran Derrick Graham back to right guard. Currently, James Atkins and Frank Beede are battling for the job. However, Erickson described Graham as “the most improved” on the offensive line.

“From what I’ve seen and what we’ve seen in the month we’ve been here, Derrick is really better than a year ago. Without a doubt. He’s been pretty impressive,” Erickson said.

Slow starts hurt

The final score didn’t seem to concern Erickson as much as the first-quarter score, 14-0 in favor of the 49ers.

“We’re not coming out of the chute like we need to. We didn’t do it on either side of the football,” Erickson said.

However, Erickson was quick not be blame the offense’s slow start on quarterback John Friesz, who played the first 1-1/2 quarters.

Uncharacteristically, the receivers dropped seven catchable balls, four thrown by Friesz.

“I thought John played OK,” said Erickson of Friesz, who was 5 of 10 for 36 yards and one interception. “He wasn’t protected very well. It’s hard to say that he didn’t play well or that he made a lot of mistakes because he didn’t.”

Backup Warren Moon continued to look sharp, completing 9 of 15 passes for 78 yards and a 20-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway.

This week, with two games left in the preseason, Friesz will start and may play the entire first half before Moon takes over.

“As we get into the season we’ll see what the production is,” Erickson said. “If things are going well, they’re going well. I could see Warren coming in and playing some if things aren’t going well at all.”

Erickson said the decision on the No. 3 quarterback job, Jon Kitna or Gino Torretta, will be made next week.

Kyle outlook dim

The severity of linebacker Jason Kyle’s right shoulder injury should be known today.

Kyle, who was hit by San Francisco left guard Ray Brown with 2:33 left in the first half of Saturday’s preseason game, flew to Seattle where more X-rays were taken. The early diagnosis suggested Kyle could miss six to eight weeks. The third-year player also is the Seahawks’ deep snapper on punts. Greg Bloedorn serves as the backup. J Ina and Beede also may step in.

“We’ve got some guys who can do it, but we’ll have to take a look and see where we’re at as we go into the season. ” Erickson said. “If a snapper becomes available and we feel we need one, we’ll have to make a move and take a look at some people until Jason gets back.”

Injury update

Running back Chris Warren (bruised ribs) is expected to miss two more weeks. Wide receiver Brian Blades (bruised right knee and back) is running well and could return to the practice field this week. Safety Eric Stokes (hamstring) also could be back this week.

Coming up

The Seahawks have three more days of practice in Cheney before breaking camp. Today’s session begins at 3 p.m. Seattle (1-2) plays host to Indianapolis (1-1) Saturday at 7 p.m. The Colts lost to San Diego on Saturday 23-17.

, DataTimes