RENTON, Wash. -- Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell has had a front-row seat to every phase of the Christine Michael experience.
He was on board when the team used a second-round pick on Michael in 2013. He was part of the group that made the decision to give up on Michael last summer. And Bevell now believes, like running backs coach Sherman Smith, that Michael is a changed man.
"I think the word is maturity that I would go to," Bevell said during an interview on 710 ESPN Seattle. "And I think he really had an awakening last year. When he was here on the team and he was drafted here, he felt like, 'This is my team, and I belong, and I've arrived.' Well, once you get cut and then you go somewhere else and you get cut again and then you get cut again, I think you have some sort of awakening there."
The Seahawks last summer preferred their other options at running back and traded Michael to the Dallas Cowboys for a seventh-round pick.
His run there ended in November when the team released Michael. The Washington Redskins signed him to their practice squad, but when the Seahawks suffered injuries at running back late in the season, they decided to bring him back.
"As he's come back to us from the other two places he went to, I think he appreciated the opportunity that he had here," Bevell said. "He appreciated that we still had that trust, and we're going to give him one last opportunity.
"He's really taken that opportunity that we've given him. He's run with it. He's been more mature in every way -- in his study habits, in the workouts that he's been doing out here on the field. His attention to detail has been outstanding.
"So you've got to flip [it] for him and say, 'OK, this is what we see now. This is who we believe he is.' And he's doing a really nice job out here. He's always had the explosive ability. He's always had the ability to make plays. But just the attention to detail, those things weren't quite there. And he's doing that now."
In three regular-season games with the Seahawks at the end of last season, Michael ran for 192 yards and averaged 4.92 yards per carry. He averaged 3.41 yards after contact, which was the best of any back during that span, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Thomas Rawls returned from the PUP list this week and figures to be the Seahawks' primary back if he shows he's healthy. Behind him, Michael will compete with rookies C.J. Prosise and Alex Collins for playing time.
If he can continue to earn the coaches' trust, Michael has a chance to have a role in the Seahawks' backfield after nearly being run out of the league last season.
