Pete Carroll talked up the Seattle Seahawks three-way quarterback competition all offseason, but the competition appears to be over before it started.
Carroll announced Tuesday that he will start Matt Flynn in the team's second preseason game. Flynn will play the first half; Russell Wilson will play the second half. That was the same approach Carroll took in the first preseason game. It's the same approach Carroll appears to be taking for the 2012 season.
Not mentioned above: Last year's starter Tarvaris Jackson. The Seahawks acquired Jackson last offseason and made promises not to jerk him around like the Vikings once did when Brett Favre hit town. Jackson took the first snap of training camp and plenty of snaps in the first 10 days after that, but his workload has been diminished greatly since then.
Carroll's preseason plan seems surprising only when viewed through the prism that Flynn was ever anything but the heavy favorite for the starting job. He played solid football in his preseason debut, and he'll continue to get all the snaps with the starters in the second preseason game.
"I think this is the right way to do it. I think this is where they sit right now," Carroll said in comments reported by The Associated Press. "I thought this would happen. I did consider that as one of the possibilities and it was going to be based on the progress that we're making.
If there's any surprise here, it's that Wilson isn't getting a shot with the starters. The rookie from Wisconsin has lived up to Carroll's considerable hype in camp and made a number of terrific plays in his preseason debut. The kid needs snaps as he's groomed for the team's backup role to start the season. It wouldn't be a surprise if he passed Flynn during the year.
The Seahawks know what they have in Jackson. They know how he'll perform in their system. Considering his salary, it would be a surprise if Jackson is even with the team when the season starts.
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