Bumpus rides hopes
Seattle takes look at former Cougar
RENTON, Wash. – When he arrived at Seattle Seahawks camp, buried beneath a tall pile of veteran wide receivers, undrafted Washington State University product Michael Bumpus could have been suffocated by the lack of opportunity.
But the 22-year-old rookie never blinked. He had his sights set on playing as a rookie, and nothing was going to change that.
“Just the way I am, and the person that I am, that was my goal,” said Bumpus, who didn’t make the Seahawks’ final roster but is on their practice squad. “I knew the odds were against me, and some things had to happen, but … I just kept grinding.”
As the Seahawks prepare for the second game of the regular season, Bumpus’ opportunity may have arrived. The team’s top four receivers are out – starter Nate Burleson suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener – and now Bumpus could play his way into the mix for a possible roster spot.
“I’ve been told that this week I’ll be evaluated in practices,” he said. “Hopefully, I instill enough confidence in the management that they’ll bump me up (to the active roster) on Sunday.”
While the Seahawks have four healthy receivers on their active roster, and three others working at the position – backup quarterback Seneca Wallace, hobbled veteran Deion Branch and practice squader Jordan Kent – Bumpus believes he may get a shot to be activated this week.
Two of the active receivers are new to the team and still learning the offense. So Bumpus’s knowledge of the offense might give the WSU rookie an advantage.
Offensive coordinator Gil Haskell said that Courtney Taylor, Logan Payne, Wallace and Bumpus are ahead of the curve.
“I know those four guys know what to do on every play and how to do it,” Haskell said. “Now the new kids, (Billy) McMullen and (Samie) Parker, they’re new. They know the system, but they don’t know it our way.
“Hopefully, they can get it fast.”
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said he has been more “focused” this week while working with a young group of receivers, adding that even he has no idea who might see playing time Sunday against San Francisco.
“It was different yesterday than it was today,” he said after Thursday’s practice. “It might be different tomorrow than it was today. One thing you’ve seen is that it’s a competitive situation.
“If you have a good day, you’re probably running with the (No. 1 offense) the next day. If you don’t have a good day, you could be here or you could not be here. It’s very competitive and very cutthroat right now.”
Trufant nicked up
Cornerback Marcus Trufant missed the final 45 minutes of practice after suffering an undisclosed hand injury.
Trufant’s official status for the game will be made available today.
Coming and going
Rookie running back Justin Forsett officially joined the Indianapolis Colts after the Seahawks released him earlier this week.
Seattle had hoped to add Forsett to the practice squad, but the Colts trumped that by signing him to their 53-man roster.
Instead, the Seahawks signed Oregon State product Yvenson Bernard to the practice squad.
Bernard practiced with the team and said afterward that he hopes to “open up some eyes out there.”
To make room for Brown on the practice squad, rookie defensive tackle Kevin Brown was released.
Notes
Guard Rob Sims underwent successful surgery, the team announced. … This is Mike Holmgren’s final season coaching the Seahawks. But it is looking increasingly like this won’t be the 60-year-old’s last season in the NFL. He has been hinting since the January day he decided to return to fulfill only the final season of his contract with Seattle that he may return later, perhaps as an executive for another team. Now he says 2009 will be his “sabbatical” from football, while current defensive backs coach and former Atlanta Falcons head man Jim Mora takes his job. “Jimmy’s going to be the head coach next year. I’m going to take some time off and I made that promise to my family. I’m looking at it as a kind of sabbatical leave,” Holmgren said this week in a conference call with reporters in San Francisco, where he was a quarterback and later assistant coach at Lincoln High School before he began his NFL coaching career there in 1986 under Bill Walsh.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.