James practices with Seahawks, pledges to work with starting RB Jones has 0 comments

Aug 27th 2009, 08:14 | FFN-Score: 11 points

RENTON, Wash. -- Edgerrin James joined the Seattle Seahawks in an effort to revitalize his career, while the team is desperate to improve a running game that ranked near the bottom of the NFL last season.

James, who signed a one-year, $2 million contract Tuesday, said Wednesday that he's not in Seattle to compete with starting running back Julius Jones but to work with him.

"It's a cool situation to come in and play with Julius," James said Wednesday after his first practice with the Seahawks. "In this day and age in the NFL, everything is pretty much two backs. I'm not here to compete with Julius, I'm here to complement him, to come in here and work together. I just want to win."

James is the NFL's active leading rusher and ranks 11th on the league's all-time list with 12,121 yards, but the Arizona Cardinals benched him for the first time in his career last season. James' resurgence during the playoffs gave the Cardinals the running game they had lacked and sparked the team to its only Super Bowl appearance.

The Cardinals released James earlier this season.

The Seahawks, who cut running back T.J. Duckett to pave the way for James, signed him to support Jones.

"I'm just going to take it day by day and let the coaches decide how they feel I'm coming along," James said. "I'm not going to try to force nothing. I'm just going to try to do everything I can do."

First-year Seahawks coach Jim Mora said that when considering James, he watched videos of the running back's last four games last season, including the Super Bowl, in which he had 33 yards in a 27-23 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"That's what we based it on, that and his history of being a tough runner that's durable. He doesn't take losses," Mora said. "When we watched him on film, he still looked like that guy."

James also is 31, an age at which running backs are historically on the decline.

"You have to consider his age. It's irresponsible if you don't," Mora said. "We talked about it at length. The fact is he's going to be a complementary back to Julius. Julius is going to be our workhorse, our lead dog. To be able to get a guy of Edgerrin's caliber, his personality and pedigree to come in here and do what he's going to do is bonus for us."

Mora talked to Jones, who had 698 yards in a split role with Duckett last season, during the weekend to tell him of the team's interest in James.

"I told him, 'I just want you to know that it's not going to change your role on this football team,'" Mora said. "'You're the guy we're going to give the ball to and take it and run.'"

James and Jones were together on the sidelines for most of Wednesday's practice, talking and throwing the football to each other.

It has been a difficult year for James. His longtime girlfriend and mother of his four children, Andia Wilson, died April 18 of leukemia. James said he had to sort out his life before he turned his attention back to football.

"I wanted to just make sure my family was straight and that situation was taken care of. That was the most important thing," James said. "With all that went on, I didn't want to blow it as a parent. With the help of my mom and my family, we got that under control. They assured me that I can go away and they'll take care of everything."

Notes: Guard Brian De La Puente, picked up on waivers from the Kansas City Chiefs, took part in his first practice with the Seahawks. ... LB David Hawthrone (MCL sprain) didn't practice but might Thursday. CB Travis Fisher (hamstring) didn't practice and will not play in Saturday's preseason game at Kansas City.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press