Asked in June 2012 to name one player he would want to protect him should he venture into a dark, deserted alley, Tom Cable was quick to answer. Breno Giacomini was his choice. Who could blame him? The six-foot-seven, 318-pound right tackle has a mean streak that made him the target of four personal foul penalties during the 2012 season.
So damaging to the offense were his antics that Cable, the assistant/offensive line coach, had to pull aside the big fella.
“You just come to the realization that it’s hurting the team. He’s a smart guy. I told him we can’t have it, and here’s why,” Cable said. “He cleaned it up.”
Like Cable, Giacomini looks gruff but is recognized around the league as cerebral. That mental awareness has allowed the offensive lineman from Louisville to cement his spot at tackle opposite Russell Okung.
“I think you see his personality, his work ethic,” Cable said of Giacomini. “I think he’s one that you would always put next to him the term, ‘attention to detail.’ He knows that he has some limitations so he overcomes them by trying to be right more often — a little bit cleaner, a little more polished.”
It’s that attitude that’s driving Giacomini through the grind of training camp. Giacomini, 27, is in his third year with the Seahawks after filling a backup role during his two seasons in Green Bay. He’s spent the early part of training camp battling against DE Red Bryant in one-on-one drills. The rest of practice he devotes to polishing his knowledge of Cable’s zone blocking schemes, where linemen typically move laterally in pass protection to create a bigger pocket and wider throwing lanes.
“I know the plays,” he said Saturday. “But as far as getting the details down, I need to get better at that. That’s what training camp’s for. I’m getting better every single day.”
Cable agrees.
“He comes to grind,” he said. “He doesn’t come to play you. He comes to beat you down, wear on you and impose his will on you. He has a relentless mentality that way.”
He appears to be doing it within the confines of the rulebook. Gone mostly are the late-arriving blocks and perceived cheap shots that had NFL officials targeting him for even the smallest hiccup. Officials tagged him for just five penalties in 2012 after Week Six, including the postseason.
“I need to have the feel for the play,” he said. “When it’s over, or when I can see that the runner’s gone down, I just need to get up, pick up the running back and go to the next play.
“That’s something I’m definitely improving on, and it’s going to show.”
No update on Harvin
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll again fielded questions but offered no definitive answers about when WR Percy Harvin would return to practice, or whether he plans to have surgery on his ailing hip. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport Tuesday tweeted that Harvin would consider his options after receiving a second opinion from a doctor in New York.
Carroll denied that Seahawks doctors made a final recommendation. He said the organization will know more Wednesday.
“We don’t know any more information yet, but we continue to progress with this simple thought that we are going to do whatever we need to do to help Percy get right,” Carroll said. “So we will support the doctor’s finding. They are working it out now.”
It’s fair to assume that Seattle’s biggest off-season acquisition will listen to recommendations from his personal and team doctors, then decide. Last week, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King wrote that he didn’t think Harvin would miss any games.
“Eventually he has to say, ‘Yeah, I’m getting surgery or not,’” Carroll said.
Off to Switzerland?
WR Sidney Rice Tuesday wasn’t at practice. Carroll at first said Rice was “off-campus” then played a guessing game with reporters before disclosing Rice was in Switzerland to have a procedure on his knee.
Yes, Switzerland.
And no, Carroll didn’t say whether the problem was serious.
“He’s a long ways away getting some work done,” Carroll said. “He’s going to be gone for a couple days. It’s a muscle that they’re working on around the knee area.”
“This is a procedure that they’ve been waiting to do so when he comes back he’ll go right back on the field,” Carroll added.
Quick hits
- DE Michael Bennett missed practice so he could witness his wife give birth to their child.
- Cliff Avril again missed practice, as did CB Ron Parker and OL Michael Bowie (sore hamstrings).
- Seattle released tight end Victor Marshall, who was from Kirkland’s Juanita High, and signed free agent Jason Konz. He’s listed as a linebacker/tight end, partly because the Seahawks continue to cast a wide net for a tight end to back up Zach Miller after the season-ending injury to Anthony McCoy in May. Konz was a seventh-round pick in 2010 who missed the season with a hip injury. He was signed to the practice squad in 2011, played one game on special teams, then hurt his knee and didn’t play the rest of the season.
- The Seahawks donned full pads for the first time this camp.
