Seahawks Rashaad Penny needs to “be more involved”. Oh really, Pete?

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says first round pick Rashaad Penny “needs to just be more involved.” How can he make that happen, coach?

The Seahawks running game has been a team strength after a pretty dismal start. Chris Carson has led the way with three 100 yard games and a 4.5 average. When he missed the Cardinals game, Mike Davis stepped up with a 100 yard effort of his own. All of which left first round pick Rashaad Penny on the bench, a lot.

Speaking about Penny, head coach Pete Carroll made it seem that Penny can do it all, that he just needs the opportunity to show it. Read Pete’s comments, as reported by Curtis Crabtree of ProFootballTalk.

"“He needs to just be more involved,” Carroll said on Wednesday. “I think he just needs to keep getting attempts and get out there and play. Just get accustomed to everything that’s going on around him."

Seattle Seahawks

Well, okay then. I’m curious, just how can Penny keep getting attempts? How does he get out there and play? Does he grab the headset, call his own number, then run on the field and tell Carson to grab the bench?

No, of course not. Rashaad Penny isn’t the offensive coordinator, at least not according to the latest roster. It’s up to Brian Schottenheimer to get Penny in the game more. Or, possibly even up to Pete himself. I mean, he is the head coach. Carroll had more to say about his first round pick.

"Big volume player (in college), lot of plays, lot of carries when he played. He’s getting spot play so it’s difficult to go and just make that commitment at this time because we have other guys that have been really effective as well. We’re just bringing him along and hoping that we can acclimate him and see him at his best. He’s got a lot to offer us that we know of and so it’s just going to be a matter of time.”"

Okay, so now I’m really confused. Does Penny simply need more carries, or does he need to get acclimated to the league? It’s a fact that Penny missed a month of camp. That’s critical for a rookie. And you can’t exactly use September as training camp to figure out who “has the juice”, as Pete said. Of course, the Seahawks didn’t look very interested in seeing if any running back had the juice in their first two games anyway.

So I’m stumped. Does Rashaad Penny only need more carries for him to magically blossom into the beast he was in college? If that’s the case, then give him the ball. But if he needs to get acclimated, then that’s the real quote. Again, hard to adjust to the NFL without a preseason.

Unfortunately it looks like the Seahawks next game will give Penny that opportunity. Chris Carson is likely to miss the game, so there will be plenty of carries. Then again, Pete brought up C.J. Prosise, so who knows what will happen?

Seattle gashed the Rams for 190 yards in their first meeting, so this might be a decent shot for Penny. I still feel that Penny will be able to make an impact for the Seahawks. Just don’t bemoan the lack of playing time for the kid when you control the opportunity.