Carroll: Jackson the starter
Tarvaris Jackson will be the Seahawks’ starting quarterback, coach Pete Carroll announced after this morning practice at the team’s training camp.
Carroll normally stresses competition at every position, but he said the unique circumstances of this offseason and Jackson’s familiarity with the offense being installed by new coordinator Darrell Bevell make Jackson the obvious choice over incumbent backup Charlie Whitehurst.
“This entire program has always been about competition,” Carroll said. “But in this situation, I think to make it the most competitive for our team, Tarvaris needs to be our starter right now.”
Jackson, who played the past five seasons with the Vikings, just signed with the Seahawks on Friday and was a spectator for this morning’s practice because of a rule that prevent free agents from practicing until Aug. 4.
But Carroll said the plan is that Jackson will start the Aug. 11 preseason opener in San Diego against the Chargers, as well as the Sept. 11 regular-season opener against the 49ers in San Francisco.
Carroll also said that just re-signed Brandon Mebane will move to nose tackle and be replaced at the three-technique tackle spot by just-signed Alan Branch. Colin Cole, the incumbent starter at nose tackle, is recovering from ankle surgery.
http://blog.seahawks.com/2011/07/30/carroll-jackson-the-starter/