Seahawks' Hasselbeck returns to practice, not expected to play Saturday

"I was just spraying him with passes. And I could hear D.J. grunting," Frye said, laughing.

Zorn had the 6-foot-4 Frye bend his knees more in the pocket, so he could move better and more efficiently transfer his weight on throws. It's what Hasselbeck has done while going from Brett Favre's backup in Green Bay at the beginning of the decade to an elite quarterback.

"Matt's silky smooth," Frye said.

After Zorn left to become coach of the Washington Redskins following last season, Frye was out throwing passes with Hasselbeck and Wallace in the suburban Seattle snow in offseason tests of his new delivery. He said the bent knees have created a move over-the-top throwing motion, and his passes are more accurate.

"All the coaches' feedback has been, 'Man, you've really smoothed that motion out,'" Frye said.

Holmgren is among those impressed. Saturday will go a long way to show if the coach will also be relieved, relieved that he has someone else to trust besides Wallace should Hasselbeck get injured during the regular season.

"That's a hard thing to do," Holmgren said. "Coaching a guy's throwing motion -- even though some guys say they can do it -- it's hard to coach a guy who's been doing it a certain way for so long. But he is trying.

"And I'm very pleased with how he's doing."