by Curtis Crabtree
KJR reporter
Twitter: @Curtis_Crabtree

RENTON - The first week of the NFL's regular season is finally here as the Seattle Seahawks began preparations for their season opener against the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday.

Monday was the team's first practice since having to reduce the size of their roster to 53 players. The most surprising departure was that of TE Kellen Winslow on Saturday. Winslow made the initial cutdown to 53 players Friday but the team released him the next day. Multiple reports cited his $3.3 million base salary for this season and his unwillingness to take a paycut as reasons for his release.

In his place, the team signed TE Evan Moore to fill the void left by Winslow on the roster. Moore was released by the Cleveland Browns on Friday and was a former receiver at Stanford.

Monday's practice was the first practice in nearly 10 months for G James Carpenter.

Last year's first round draft pick suffered a serious ACL injury during a practice in late November last year. He was placed on the physically unable to perform list and remained there throughout training camp before being added to the active roster on Friday.

"I felt great," Carpenter said. "I’ve been waiting for 10 months to be back so I’m happy."

Carpenter was a right tackle when it got injured. Now he's returning as a left guard. It's a fit that Carpenter feels fits him well.

"I’m happy playing guard. I feel like that is where I should be playing," Carpenter said.

Although the team isn't required to provide an injury report until Wednesday, WR Golden Tate did not participate during Monday's practice. Tate tweaked a knee when he got rolled up returning a punt during Thursday's preseason finale against Oakland.

Seattle rounded out their practice squad by adding WR Jermaine Kearse and OL/DT Edawn Coughman. They also released TE Sean McGrath from the squad.

Also, with the transition to the regular season, a handful of players were required to change jersey numbers. Rookie CB Jeremy Lane went from No. 1 to No. 37. LB Mike Morgan went from No. 48 to No. 57 and the newly acquired Moore was issued Winslow's No. 82. Practice squad S DeShawn Shead also switched from No. 5 to No. 35.