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Throughout its offseason team activities Al Davis Jersey , the Seattle Seahawks appeared to be settled at safety. Bradley McDougald would just continue his role from a year ago stepping in as a full-time starter alongside Earl Thomas.

That was before Thomas decided to take his demands for a new contract to the extreme by holding out, creating an unexpected competition and a bit of chaos in Seattle's defensive backfield.

With Thomas missing, Seattle's safeties are a revolving door of combinations trying to find the pairing that makes the most sense ahead of the Sept. 9 opener at Denver. The process of seeing how all those combinations look gets its first true examination next Thursday when the Seahawks open the preseason against Indianapolis.

"These guys, they kind of joined forces in the offseason and kind of as a group, they knew they were up against it and wanted to make sure that they were going to give everything they had and put it all on the line," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "Bradley McDougald has done a great job of being the leader in that group and it's a good, tight group and they're ready to take on the challenge of getting through camp and getting through all of the learning and the experience that's necessary here is all part of the process, but their attitude is really strong and they're really determined to do something with this."

McDougald is almost certain to claim one of the positions. Which one is the question. He filled in as both free and strong safety last year when injuries sidelined Thomas and Kam Chancellor. McDougald was the starting strong safety after Chancellor was lost for the season in early November to a neck injury.

That doesn't mean McDougald will be the strong safety. Throughout the first week of training camp, Seattle has rotated its safeties in both positions in an attempt to see how interchangeable the players can be.

"They have the opportunity to show themselves and it's a lot of competition," defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. said. "Great communication, it's showing up every day. Doing extra work, asking a lot of good questions. But JK Scott Jersey , this is their chance to really step up and show us what they have."

With McDougald seemingly a cinch to take one of the safety spots, the remaining position appears to be a four-way competition between Tedric Thompson, Delano Hill, Maurice Alexander and Mike Tyson. And it's Thompson and Hill that appear to be getting the most opportunity early on.

It makes sense Seattle would give Thompson and Hill the most reps. The Seahawks invested major draft capital in the pair a year ago, taking Hill in the third round and Thompson in the fourth round. They were allowed to spend last season learning behind Thomas and Chancellor with the idea they could eventually take over for the veteran Seahawks safeties.

The replacement has arrived sooner than expected, accelerated by Thomas' holdout.

"Earl is a special, special player. At the same time, the guys that are here are working really hard and competing and they have the opportunity to show what they can do," Norton said.

From a look standpoint, Thompson fits the mold of a free safety and Hill looks more like a strong safety. But each is working at both positions as Seattle often adjusts its safety alignments based off the offensive formation. Neither has the sideline-to-sideline speed of Thomas, but Norton has said Seattle's scheme won't change.

"I view it as competing. First game is a little ways to go. I've got a lot to improve on," Thompson said. "I don't focus on if I'm starting today or not starting today. We all get the same amount of reps so it's all about competing."

TORONTO — There was a sense of relief in the Detroit Tigers’ clubhouse after their 9-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.

The victory 12th Fan Jersey , propelled by a grand slam from Nicholas Castellanos, a career-best four hits by Niko Goodrum and seven strong innings by starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, ended an 11-game losing streak.

It was the Tigers’ longest losing streak since Aug. 13-23, 2003. They have not lost 12 in a row since 1996.

“It’s good to hear the music playing out there and guys smiling,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said.

The Tigers have a chance to escape the Rogers Centre with a split in the four-game series by winning the finale on Monday afternoon.

The Tigers will start right-hander Mike Fiers (5-4, 4.04 ERA) against Blue Jays left-hander Ryan Borucki (0-1, 3.00).

The Tigers had a team meeting before the game.

“It was just a casual talk,” Gardenhire said. “It wasn’t this rah-rah (speech). … I just let them talk and I just said to them, ‘Tell me what we need to do.’ Some guys spoke up and that’s all I wanted to hear. We’re playing hard. We’ve lost 11 in a row up to this point. These guys have been playing, man. They’ve been in every game. We’ve had a chance to win a bunch of these games.”

The Tigers (37-48) were able to put together a five-run fifth inning with a rally that started with two outs against Toronto starter J.A. Happ, who was 6-0 in his previous eight starts. They added two runs in the sixth, also with a rally that began with two out.

The losing streak was the longest by two games in the majors this season and the longest since the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 11 in a row last September.

“We’ve had our chances over the last 10 or 11 games A.J. Klein Jersey ,” Zimmermann said. “It’s just a matter of if we’re going to cash in when we’ve got guys in scoring position. We were able to do that today.”

The Blue Jays (39-44) are expected to trade Happ before the July 31 deadline. When he departed in the sixth inning, the Canada Day crowd gave him an ovation.

“I did notice, and I certainly appreciate that,” Happ said. “Maybe it was appreciation for how the season has gone so far or whatever you might take from it, that’s kind of what I took from it. That’s a nice feeling, certainly nicer than potentially getting booed, not that I would expect that at all, either.”

The Tigers face a pitcher who made his major-league debut Tuesday against the Astros in Houston in Borucki. He took the loss after allowing two runs, six hits and four walks in six innings.

Fiers pitched seven strong innings Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics, but took the loss despite allowing only one run on five hits and one walk while striking out five.

Fiers has faced the Blue Jays six times in his career, five as a starter, and is 1-3 with a 4.11 ERA. He made two starts against Toronto last season and was 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA. In two career starts at the Rogers Centre Ronnie Lott Jersey , Fiers is 0-2 with a 5.91 ERA.

The only disappointing news for the Tigers Sunday came from a hamstring injury to center fielder Leonys Martin, who hobbled off the field after a beating out an RBI bunt single in the fifth inning. It was at first announced as a cramp, but Gardenhire said the injury was severe enough to put him on the disabled list. Another player will be brought in for the game Monday.

The day was not a complete loss for the Blue Jays. In the ninth inning, center fielder Kevin Pillar made a spectacular leaping catch to rob Castellanos of what would have been his second homer of the day.

Gardenhire said even Castellanos appreciated Pillar’s catch, although it cost him a homer.

“That was amazing,” Gardenhire said. “That’s a long run, to climb the wall like that and make that play, the timing, the whole package that just tells you how special an athlete he is.”

The teams are 3-3 in the season series.
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