In Fifth Season, Trufant Now The Veteran In Seahawks Overhauled Secondary

KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) _ His running mates are gone, sent away to Dallas and Tennessee. Marcus Trufant's position coach departed as well, taking a job in Arizona. <br/><br/>Suddenly, Trufant is the player

Friday, August 3rd 2007, 5:50 pm

By: News On 6

KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) _ His running mates are gone, sent away to Dallas and Tennessee. Marcus Trufant's position coach departed as well, taking a job in Arizona.

Suddenly, Trufant is the player in Seattle's overhauled secondary with the most experience in the Seahawks' system.

That means training camp for Trufant isn't isolated to simply learning how his new secondary mates play, developing a relationship with his new position coach and refreshing his own skills. He is also a sounding board, the one his teammates turn to when questions arise, which can be quite often.

``Yeah, I feel like I am a teacher at times,'' Trufant said.

Now entering his fifth year, Trufant invokes veteran, almost old-timer status on Seattle's defense. Among the starters, only defensive tackle Rocky Bernard has a longer tenure with the organization.

This season is completely new for Trufant, after the Seahawks made over their secondary in the offseason.

He bid farewell to hard-hitting strong safety Ken Hamlin, a fellow member of Trufant's draft class in 2003, who wasn't pursued by the Seahawks in the offseason and signed with Dallas.

He said goodbye to last year's starting cornerback Kelly Herndon, who was cut by the team in June and later signed with Tennessee. Since arriving in 2003, Trufant hasn't gone more than one season with the same player starting at the opposite cornerback position.

Defensive backs coach Teryl Austin left the team to join Ken Whisenhunt's new regime with the Arizona Cardinals.

``Oh yeah, it's tough anytime you lose guys you've played with,'' Trufant said. ``It's just one of those things, the business part of the game. People move on, but you hate to see people go.''

As disappointed as Trufant was to see that trio leave, he's equally excited about the players inserted. Experienced, veteran safeties Brian Russell and Deon Grant will anchor the back of the secondary, with talented second-year cornerback Kelly Jennings opposite Trufant. Also in the mix are rookie cornerback Josh Wilson and hybrid safety/corner Jordan Babineaux.

Overseeing the unit is new secondary coach Jim Mora, who runs around the practice field high-fiving his players with the enthusiasm and bounce of a rookie.

``There's a lot of good, new faces,'' Jennings said. ``We're talking a lot back there and I think the chemistry is great.''

Both the new safeties ``are guys who have played a lot, been around for a while and know what it takes to get the job done,'' he said.

Trufant was the one of the few solid figures in Seattle's shaky secondary from a season ago. He recorded only one interception for the second straight season, and while receivers occasionally got past the former Washington State star for touchdowns, he was rarely beaten badly.

A high-ankle sprain suffered against San Diego in the next-to-last regular season game ended his season early. He was on the sidelines for Seattle's dramatic 21-20 win over Dallas in the NFC wild card game and the Seahawks 27-24 loss to Chicago in the second round of the playoffs.

Despite all the changes in the secondary, Trufant is confident this group will be better than last year, capitalizing on their chances to make big plays and keeping opponents from making their own. With the overhaul of the secondary, knowing Trufant is still back there comforts coach Mike Holmgren.

``You'd like to come in and say 'OK, bang, you're solid there. I don't have to worry about that. Now here is where I'm going to have to worry,''' Holmgren said. ``Marcus gives me that sort of solid feeling at that corner position. He has since he's been here.''