The Seattle Seahawks were without left guard Mike Iupati during Wednesday’s organized team activities.

Without Iupati, the Seahawks ran rookie guard Phil Haynes out on the starting line, flanking him with veterans Duane Brown and Justin Britt.

Haynes has been adapting well to the rigors of OTAs, which caught the attention of his partner in battle today.

“I think Phil Haynes has been a pleasant surprise,” Brown told reporters. “He’s a big, strong guy. He’s catching on pretty quickly. He’s got a great demeanor. A lot of times, this kind of atmosphere can be overwhelming, being given so much information, the speed right now, you’re not used to practicing without pads on so fast and everything’s happening so quickly, but he’s handling everything well.

“Today he was in there with the ones and played next to me and communicated great.”

Haynes, much like fellow guard D.J. Fluker, is a big, mauling, physical run-blocking guard – the kind of guard Seattle targets now that offensive line coach Mike Solari is at the helm.

Haynes getting the start with Iupati out is a good sign the Seahawks like what they have in the rookie guard, although it will take a very strong training camp for him to win that job outright.

However, injuries are all-too-common with both Iupati and Fluker, so Haynes could see the field quite a bit in 2019.