Pete Carroll: We Had to 'Chill' Shaquem Griffin out in 1st Practice

Shaquem Griffin may have been a little too excited for his first practice with the Seattle Seahawks.

According to NFL Network's Omar Ruiz, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Griffin "looked very aggressive. We had to slow him down some early on in the practice and in the walkthrough; he was going too hard. So we had to chill him out a little bit. But he's very excited about being here."

"He's a very good looking prospect," Carroll added, per Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio. "He's big and fast and had a good feel for what's going on. Obviously, [brother Shaquill Griffin] had done a little bit of tutoring—he was ahead of us a little bit with his learning, which was good."

Shaquem Griffin, who was selected in the fifth round of last week's draft, isn't a lock to make the Seahawks' 53-man roster. But with stellar speed—he ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the combine—good instincts and a nose for the ball, he looks like the kind of attacking, downhill player who could eventually make a name for himself at the second level of the Seahawks defense.

In the interim, Griffin will vie for a spot on special teams as he attempts to make an impact following a standout career at UCF.

"Everybody's out here fighting to get a spot, fighting to get on the 53-man roster," Griffin said Friday, according to ESPN.com's Brady Henderson. "That's what I don't want nobody to get beside of because no spots are a given out there. You've got to work your butt off.

"This is a great team, and you're going to learn from great leaders and great players, and the only thing you have to do is keep working your butt off, and eventually you're going to get to where you want to go."