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RENTON Will Dissly Color Rush Jersey , Wash. (AP) — When Barkevious Mingo walks through the Seattle Seahawks‘ headquarters on his way to team meetings, he no longer even thinks about joining the linebackers.He’s now all about being a defensive end, the position where the former first-round pick starred in college.“I get to go back to what I did in college. That’s kind of what got me here in the NFL. Being able to do this again, I’m enjoying the opportunity,” Mingo said.The Seahawks will get their first look at Mingo at the position when they open their preseason schedule hosting Denver on Thursday night. While Mingo is in favor of making the switch to the LEO position — the defensive end primarily responsible for rushing the quarterback — his move also highlights issues facing the Seahawks on the defensive line, and in particular in the pass rush.Frank Clark, who led Seattle in sacks last season, was traded to Kansas City. Jarran Reed, second on the team in sacks, will miss the first six games after being suspended by the league. Ezekiel Ansah, the Seahawks’ biggest free agent signing Michael Dickson Color Rush Jersey , has yet to participate in a full practice while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, though he may be ready for Week 1.Quinton Jefferson and Jacob Martin each had three sacks last season and are the leading players in that category who could be on the field for the opener against Cincinnati.So yes, the pass rush is a major concern and Mingo is being asked to be part of the solution.“We know he can rush. We want to see if we can make him a really good rusher that can be a factor,” coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s getting a great shot at it.”When Mingo signed with Seattle before last season, it was primarily to be a strongside linebacker playing on the line of scrimmage. He ended up being a significant contributor, starting a career-best 14 games and recording 48 tackles. He was also a core player on special teams. Because of injuries, Mingo ended up playing both outside linebacker positions and a bit of defensive end last year.When coaches suggested moving Mingo to defensive end permanently, there was no hesitation.“It’s about time. Seriously, I guess one of the things that kind of, not plagued in my career, but I would say helped me in my career Alex McGough Color Rush Jersey , is that I’m able to do a lot of stuff and coaches recognize that kind of stuff. They see a need that I can help fill,” Mingo said. “It’s a blessing and a curse, but I’m glad that I get to go back and do what got me here.”At LSU, Mingo played mostly on the defensive line and was disruptive. He had 15 total sacks over three seasons. He stood out his sophomore season in 2011, when he had 46 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and eight sacks.Getting that kind of production now seems unreasonable after years of mostly playing linebacker. But the preseason will be important as Mingo, Martin and Cassius Marsh, among others, try to prove the pass rush concerns can be handled internally.“We’ve got some fast guys. We’ve got some guys that are strong and powerful. I think being able to put that together and complement each other is going to be a good year for us,” Mingo said.NOTES: QB Russell Wilson will not play against Denver, a departure from previous years when the starting quarterback would get at least one series in the opener. Carroll said the focus for this game will be getting a look at the young guys. Geno Smith will start at quarterback and be followed by Paxton Lynch. When the Pro Bowl rosters were announced back in December Byron Maxwell Color Rush Jersey , there were no members of the Seattle Seahawks on the offensive side of the football. All universe linebacker Bobby Wagner and rookie punting phenom Michael Dickson made it for the Hawks, but the offense was not scheduled to be represented in Orlando. Until Wednesday when that changed. Russell Wilson will be joining Dickson and Wagner in sunny Florida for the Pro Bowl festivities, as he was named to the NFC squad as an injury replacement for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers withdrew from the game due to injury, and so Wilson will be stepping in to take his place. Wilson, will be making his fifth Pro Bowl appearance, though he is credited with having six Pro Bowl selections due to the fact that he was an alternate in 2014. However, in 2014 when the league did away with the AFC-NFC designations and used an unconferenced format, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was unable to play in the game because his presence was necessary for Super Bowl XLIX. That gave Wilson the opportunity to appear in the game, however, he was also required for a game that was scheduled to be played in Glendale, AZ but never actually took place as best as I can tell. Thus Sebastian Janikowski Color Rush Jersey , as he was also unavailable, the NFL sent in some schlubs like Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan and Andy Dalton. In any case, there still is not a lot of reason for fans to actually watch the Pro Bowl, but if you are so inclined to do so, at least there is one more Seahawk to root for while doing so.