I wanted to point out a cyber-controversy currently brewing that was pointed out to me by a Seahawks fan, Jason, in New York.

There is a web site called Seahawkshuddle.com, which kicked off this week by posting very tasteless and unfeeling jokes about the victims of 9/11, run under a picture of a smoldering New York skyline on that day.

Then, the New York Daily News picked up on the site, and its long-time beat writer, Ralph Vacchiano, posted something on his blog.

Understandably, some New York Giants fans are outraged at what was written on this site, and by extension Seattle and Seahawks fans. Reading through the comments on Ralph's blog, it is pretty clear some of those folks went after the site because I can no longer pull it up online.

Kenny Albert
Daryl Johnston
Tony Siragusa

One of the first moves St. Louis Rams coach Jim Haslett made today was installing Marc Bulger back as the starting quarterback for his team.

“Marc will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the year, unless something happens,” Haslett told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In other NFL News, the Oakland Raiders fired head coach Lane Kiffin today. According to an ESPN report, Raiders offensive line coach Tom Cable has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Kiffin. The Raiders will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. to talk about the move.

With the return of Deion Branch and Bobby Engram, Seattle coach Mike Holmgren has a good problem of too many bodies at wide receiver.

By the end of the week he'll have to decide if Branch and Engram are healthy enough to play, and if so, how to use those veteran receivers in a rotation along with the other guys in a package that gives the team the best chance to win.

If Branch is healthy, he seems the most likely person to start at split end. And if Engram can go, he'd be the most likely person to play flanker. Engram could then slide inside to play slot during three-receiver sets, with Keary Colbert filling in at flanker.

However, both Billy McMullen and Michael Bumpus have made plays early in the season and deserve some time as well. Add Koren Robinson and Courtney Taylor to the mix, and it will be interesting to see what kind of rotation Holmgren comes up with.

Seattle Seahawks

Frank Hughes talks to wide receiver Deion Branch, and he confidently says he’s ready to go after eight months of rehabbing an ACL injury. A healthy Branch would add a spark to Seattle’s offense. Branch said he’ll ask teammates to be more physical with him during practice so he can test the stability of his knee.

Gregg Bell of the Associated Press has more on Branch.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald says the Seahawks have the pleasant problem of having too many healthy receivers. Coach Mike Holmgren said he’ll try to figure out a rotation by the end of the week.

Johnson also notes the return of Sean Locklear to right tackle in this notebook.

=> Read more!

While Mike Holmgren was more cautious about saying Deion Branch is ready to come back, Branch himself boldly stated that he is going to play against the Giants on Sunday.

He said he may not have been able to play two weeks ago, but he now knows he is mentally ready to go out on the field and give it his all. He is setting aside all talk about coming back too early (this will be only eight months) and says every person is different. He said Dr. Andrews told him his leg is healthy, now he just has to get his mind right -- and it is right.

He said he is going to get any anxiety about getting hit on the knee out of the way early by taking some shots on it in practice this week. He said he likely is not going to do that in front of reporters, but he will do that so he does not have concerns heading into the game.

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The Seahawks have scheduled a practice for this afternoon at 3 o'clock at the VMAC. Coach Mike Holmgren will be available afterward. I'll have details thereafter.

The Rams made Scott Linehan the first coach to be let go this year, firing Linehan this morning after a fourth straight loss to start the season.

Jim Haslett, defensive coordinator for the Rams will take over on an interim basis.

“I have enormous respect for Scott Linehan as a person and believe under the right circumstances he will be regarded one day as a fine head coach,” owner Chip Rosenbloom said in a prepared statement released to the media. “Unfortunately, the situation with the Rams as they exist today is no longer acceptable and we have to make a change.”

Linehan finished with an 11-25 record in his first stint as a head coach. The Rams have been outscored 147-43 this season, and have allowed at least 30 points in seven straight games dating back to last year.

The move was made heading into the Rams’ bye week and several hours after the Buffalo Bills outscored them 25-0 in the second half of a 31-14 victory Sunday.

St. Louis has lost 17 of its last 20 games overall.

The 0-4 start is the second straight for the Rams, who lost their first eight games last year en route to a 3-13 finish that landed them with the second pick in the draft.

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The Seahawks have not yet confirmed this, but I think they are resuming a regular-season schedule today, which means that Mike Holmgren will meet with us at about 2:15 to preview the Giants game and give us updates on which injured players are going to be back, though on his show with Paul Silvi last night he maintained that he expected everybody back. I'll update the blog when I hear definitively what the schedule is today and for the rest of the week.

Today's story focuses on the balance between Seattle's running and passing game during Seattle coach Mike Holmgren's tenure here in Seattle. Holmgren has stayed pretty balanced in his play calling, passing nearly 54 percent of the time.

However, that number has fluctuated from a high of 57.8 percent passing last season to a low of 47.7 percent passing during Seattle's Super Bowl season of 2005.

Because Seattle struggled to run the ball last season Holmgren had no choice but to lean on Matt Hasselbeck and his passing game. And his creative play-calling ability really showed, as the Seahawks finished 9th overall in total offense and averaged 24.6 points a contest, also good enough for ninth in the league.

However, Holmgren can look to 2005 to see how important an effective running game is to moving the football. An energized Shaun Alexander had his best year, finishing with 1,880 yards and 27 touchdowns and earning league MVP honors. Seattle’s ability to run the football really kept defenses guessing, enabling Holmgren to really mix things up offensively.

A look at Super Bowl winners over the last five years further verifies why running the ball is important. New York, Pittsburgh and New England in 2004 all ranked in the top 10 in rushing when they won the Super Bowl.

However, Indianapolis (18th) and New England in 2007 (27th) did not have great rushing teams. But both had efficient quarterbacks in Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

That's right. Seattle Seahawks' QB Matt Hasselbeck turns 33 today. The Seattle quarterback talked about his informal workouts with returning receivers Bobby Engram and Deion Branch during his Thursday radio show on KIRO 710 AM, which you can listen to here in this audio link.

The players-only workouts are not open to the media this week.

Seattle Seahawks

Former Seahawks linebacker and special teams’ player Isaiah Kacyvenski is retiring from the NFL.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald writes about the ascension of Michael Bumpus from practice squad player to contributor on Sundays.

Listen to the Seahawks roundtable with KJR’s Mitch Levy, ex-NFL player Hugh Millen and Clare Farnsworth of the Seattle P-I in this audio link.

Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian comments on the Seahawks prospects of getting healthy for the first time this season.

=> Read more!

The curse that beset the Seahawks early in the season may have been lifted. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported this morning that NY Giants receiver Plaxico Burress has been suspended for two weeks for insubordination and will not play against Seattle in two weeks.

Here's the AP report.

According to the report, Burress failed to show up for work on Monday and did not respond to several phone calls by the team to explain his unexcused absence both Monday and Tuesday.

Burress just signed a lucrative contract with the Giants, and reportedly has a history of showing up late and missing practices.

Burress has 18 catches for 259 yards and a touchdown on the season. Last year he finished with 70 catches for 1,025 yards and 12 TDs while playing with a sprained ankle, and caught the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl.

Losing the big receiver will hurt New York’s ability to stretch the field, and will make the Giants rely more on its running game.

In New York’s last two games against Seattle, Burress has six catches for 109 yards in a 24-21 OT win for Seattle on Nov. 25, 2005, and Buress had a case of the drops in a Sept. 24, 2006 game in Seattle, finishing with only one catch for 23 yards in a 42-30 Seahawks win.

Seattle also will face Green Bay when they travel to Seattle on Oct. 12 without the services of All-Pro cornerback Al Harris, who likely will miss the rest of the season with a torn spleen.

The other big news story of the day is Matt Millen’s woeful tenure as head of the Detroit Lions appears to be over. Multiple news outlets are reporting that the Ford family has decided to let Millen go, and perhaps pursue former Pittsburgh head coach Bill Cowher to fill that role.

Sorry for the late posting, but I'm serving as Reader Rep this week and trying to get this done in between phone calls.

I'll also have something up later today detailing the importance of the Seahawks' running game to the team's success.

Here are the links.

Seattle Seahawks

Seattle will take the bye week to smooth over some of the rough edges revealed through a 1-2 start, Frank Hughes reports the team will hold players-only practices today, Wednesday and Thursday.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald has several tidbits in this notebook, leading with the team’s improved running game.

Power rankings from national media publications have the Seahawks all over the board. SI ranks Seattle 11th. Yahoo puts Seattle at 23rd. Pro Football Weekly ranks Seattle 22nd. The Sporting News ranks Seattle the lowest at 26th.

We ranked Seattle 24th last week. Be objective now, where do you think Seattle ranks?

For those looking for a little entertainment this morning, here’s a peek at former NFL D-lineman Warren Sapp on Dancing with the Stars last night.

=> Read more!

If you were following the blog during Sunday's game, you'll remember that I said there was something up with Julius Jones on the sideline. The trainers and doctors were talking to him during a timeout, then he sat out a series on the bench and was re-examined. He had to show the doctors on the sideline that he could run before they let him back in.

On Monday, I asked Mike Holmgren about it and he said Jones got "dinged." He then said he got knocked in the head pretty good. My guess is he had a minor concussion or something close since they were looking at him for so long, doing the track-my-finger-with-your-eyes deal.

But it obviously did not affect his play, he ran well after the "ding," though I did not get the chance to ask Holmgren if that was the reason he used Duckett so much at the end of the game.

The Seahawks players will hold their own practices on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, while the coaches will have most of the week off. The players will then get the weekend off before coming back to work next week. Mike Holmgren said he would have asked the players to stay in shape during the week anyway, but they chose to practice in part because they are not quite where they want to be record-wise.

When they do come back, Holmgren said he expects to have back Sean Locklear, Deion Branch, Bobby Engram, Mo Morris, Seneca Wallace and Koren Robinson.

Of Branch, he said it is kind of like check's in the mail; he is being told he will be back, but until he sees it he will be skeptical. He talked about the only thing that will get Branch comfortable with getting hit is getting hit. There is no substitute.

=> Read more!

After a miserable 0-2 start the Seattle Seahawks earned their first victory with a convincing win over the St. Louis Rams.

Now 1-2, and only a game behind division leaders Arizona (2-1) and San Francisco (2-1), the Seahawks head into the bye week with some confidence and some time to get some injured players back on the field.

"To get a win and change the mindset of the team was important," said offensive lineman Sean Locklear. "You don't want to go into the bye week 0-3. ... Now we can put all of that behind us and get ready for the rest of the season."

Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks gained some ground in the NFC West and picked up some much-needed momentum heading into the bye week, Frank Hughes reports.

Matt Hasselbeck’s cut block that bowled over two Rams defensive backs may have been the play that turned Seattle’s season around, Dave Boling writes.

Holding St. Louis to 245 total yards and only 13 points, that was the defense we expected to see this season.

Ground Holmgren? The Seattle head coach relies on the running game, and both Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett had big days against the Rams.

=> Read more!

HEAD COACH SCOTT LINEHAN

(Opening statement…) We just had a couple injuries. Tony Pittman sprained his lower leg, he was unable to return. It happened on one of the special teams plays. It might have been the opening play. So we will check it out tomorrow. Richie Incognito sprained his knee. We will do the MRI tomorrow but I think that we have an idea that it is something that he will be able to work through. Other than that that is really it.

(On how the game got out of hand so quickly…) Well you were probably at the same game I was at. They were able to pretty much do what they wanted to do in the first half in a number of areas. We haven’t been able to stop the run or the big plays in the running game, which seems to be an over and over thing. These big chunks of yardage that teams are getting on us is alarming. Its not like it is a new thing, it was alarming the first week, alarming the second and alarming again. You can’t win in the National Football League and give up that kind of yardage over the course of a game. You might have a bad quarter or bad series but to consistently do that over the course of a game it is going to be tough to slow anyone down.

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(On how things went today…) “We needed to go out there and attack those guys and it was fun today.”
(On the injuries to the offensive line and coming together…) “All you need is time. It’s a long season and you got new guys out there. It takes a while for everyone to come together, it takes a while for the offense as a whole to come together. So we just take it one game at a time and hope that this game’s going to keep us going and we can go out there and get on the road.”

=> Read more!

(On Matt Hasselbeck’s blocking ability…) “I will get used to it now. I mean he took some people out, I could see it from the corner of my eye. [Leonard] Weaver better watch his job, number eight might be coming for him. He was telling me to come this way, come this way, I heard him so I followed him and then I saw him take two guys out. An unbelievable effort by him.”
(On the reaction by his teammates after the block…) “Oh man, it was just unbelievable. You never see that, a quarterback sell out like that. If you do he ends up maybe blocking one guy, but he takes out two guys and we score a touchdown. That sparked the whole offense for the day.”

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QB MATT HASSELBECK

(On “the block”…) It wasn’t that big of a deal, I don’t think. We had audibles on the play, and then Julius made a great run and second effort or third effort or whatever it was, and I just try to help. It was a little bit like bowling. You get one pin, and the other one goes down, and you act like you did it on purpose. Usually, as a quarterback, you don’t get to do stuff like that, so it was fun.

(On what Holmgren said about the block…) I think everyone was happy except him. He kind of gave me this look, like, don’t do that again. I can’t tell if people are really congratulating me right now, or making fun of me. [laughter] I think expectations are real low, so it’s OK. It’s a good feeling anytime you score a touchdown, and our wide receivers, they take a lot of pride in blocking downfield. I think that helped us today. I get to feel what that feels like myself, and it’s a good feeling.

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(Opening…) Well, certainly a better feeling this week. I thought the team did a nice job as a team. I thought every facet of the football team had positives to it. Really, that is how we have to play to win. There were some great individual efforts, but I think what was most important to me was that every facet of the team contributed today to the win. They can all feel good about it. We are going into our bye week, as you know. I have handled that a number of different ways over the years, from giving them the whole time off to practicing them pretty hard. We’re going to be somewhere in between. I have a meeting with the players tomorrow, and I will lay out the schedule for them. They will have some time off, though. The fellows that are injured or nicked up a little bit, they must stay in town and get their treatment. That is the main restriction there. I was worried when I saw the schedule that the bye was too early, but it sure came at the right time for us. The timing is a good thing for us because we need that time to get a couple of these guys back, and a couple of the guys that are with us healthy.

(On Hasselbeck’s block…) The players loved it. The sideline, the guys that saw it… But, I would rather he didn’t do it. We can’t win the battle and lose the war. He is the one guy that must stay healthy. I’ve said this before, he is not the most graceful guy in the world. I love him, but he is not the most graceful guy in the world. So, when he thinks he is making this great block, it’s kind of a car crash. But, he did, bless his heart, but I did calm him down when he got over to the sideline, [and told him] please don’t do that anymore. I appreciate it, but don’t do it anymore. He’s kind of a hard head sometimes on things.

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SEAHAWKS POSTGAME NOTES

Seattle’s 245 rushing yards were the most since setting a club record with 320 versus Houston on 10/16/05.

Seattle now ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing yards per game with 166.3 (2nd NFC). They rank tied for second in the NFL with five rushing TDs.

Seattle’s 46 rushing attempts tie for 11th most in club history and most since rushing 48 times versus Green Bay on 11/27/06.

The win marked Seattle’s seventh-consecutive win over the St. Louis Rams. The streak ties a franchise record for most consecutive wins over one opponent. Seattle also had a streak of seven wins over the N.Y. Jets from 1977-83 and the San Diego Chargers from 1984-87.

Mike Holmgren

With is 171st-career win (including playoffs) Holmgren tied Joe Gibbs for 10th all time. Bill Parcells is 9th with 183-career wins.

RB Julius Jones

Julius Jones rushed for 140 yards on 22 carries, fifth-best yardage total of his career. He has now played four-career games at Qwest Field (including postseason) and has averaged 144.1 yards/game. He has totaled 577 yards rushing and five TDs in four games. He is the first player since Maurice Morris (11/6/06 and 11/12/06) to rush for 100 or more yards in back to back games.

Jones ranks third in the NFL with 312 rushing yards this season. He has 61 total carries for a 5.1 average with 2 TDs.

WR Billy McMullen

Tied career high for receptions (4) and set personal best with 76 receiving yards.

RB T.J. Duckett

Two rushing TDs were the most since career-best four on 12/12/04 vs. Oakland.

Obviously, there was a much better feeling in the locker room this week than there has been the past two weeks. Coach Mike Holmgren said he has not entirely decided how to handle the bye week. He is going to meet with the players on Monday and then probably do a combination of what he has done in the past, neither giving them the entire week off nor having them practice hard the entire week. My guess is he gives them Tuesday-Thursday off, then brings them back over the weekend to start getting ready for New York.

Pork Chop was the only injury, but Holmgren did not make it seem that serious. He was joking that he saw Pork Chop laying there and kicked him and told him to get up.

=> Read more!

I'm heading down to the field, but I'm guessing the Rams aren't going to score 25 points in four minutes. The score right now is 37-13. Seahawks improve to 1-2.

Floyd Womack has a hamstring injury. His return is questionable.

Literally. Seattle's running game looks fantastic, Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett bouncing back and forth and sharing the load. On that 15-play, 86-yard drive, Duckett had eight carries for 62 yards, including the short TD run that ended the drive and gave Seattle a 33-13 lead.

st. Louis opened the second half with a 10-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with a 21-yard TD pass from Marc Bulger to Dane Looker. The big play on the drive was a 50-yard pass to Steven Jackson, who broke several Seattle tackles to spring the play. St. Louis more than doubled its net yardage from the first half on that drive alone. Seattle leads, 27-13.

Check out the halftime stats here.

This one isn't even close, and the stats bear that out. Total yardage -- 267 Seattle, 63 St. Louis.

Time of possession -- Seattle 18:00, St. Louis 12:00.

First downs -- Seattle 15, St. Louis 5.

Julius Jones has 96 yards on 16 carries and a score.

With a 27-6 cushion, all Seattle needs to do is manage the game well in the second half and rely on its defense to continue to play well.

Well, either the Seahawks have figured out their problems or the Rams are really really bad. I think it's a combination of both. Seattle has dominated the entire game, taking a 27-6 lead into halftime after Olindo Mare booted a 38-yard FG with a few seconds left. The defense has not really given St. Louis anything, and the offense has strung together a nice string of long drives. Billy McMullen and Keary Colbert both look pretty good as the starting wideouts and the offensive line is opening up holes for Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett. Matt Hasselbeck has made several nice plays, including a block on Jones' TD run that took out two defenders, and a 15-yard scramble that got the Seahawks a first down. The only mistake of the game was Michael Bumpus' muffed punt return, when the ball drifted and he failed to make the catch. However, all in all, the Seahawks are putting together a tidy little victory, and now will be one game back in the division after Arizona lost to Washington.

Amid another chorus of boos, Josh Brown kicked a 29-yard field goal to pull the Rams to 24-6. Seattle's defense looks pretty stout at this point.

The Seahawks put together another nice drive, capped by T.J. Duckett's four-yard run out of the jumbo package, where Sean Locklear was playing a tight end. I have to think Scott Linehan is starting to think about job security at this point.

The doctors are currently talking to Julius, who is sitting on the bench. When Matt Hasselbeck took that 30-second timeout earlier in this drive, they were talking to him on the sideline as well. THen he came in and got the first down on third and four. I'll keep an eye on it.

Michael Bumpus muffed catching a punt, allowing the Rams to recover on Seattle's 23. The defense held, though, and St. Louis was forced to kick a field goal. Seahawks lead, 17-3.

The defensive end is back in the game, wearing a shield on his helmet.

Julius Jones just scored on a 29-yard touchdown run to give the Seahawks a 17-0 lead. The run, however, was highlighted by a downfield block thrown by Matt Hasselbeck, who took out both Oshiomogho Atogwe and Fakhir Brown with the block.

Kerney got poked in the eye. His return is being listed as questionable.

Julian Peterson did exactly what the defense has said all week it wanted to do, force turnovers, especially when they get to the QB. On the Rams third play, JP sacked Marc Bulger, knocked the ball loose and recovered the fumble -- then did not celebrate too much for fear of getting fined again.

Six plays later, Matt Hasselbeck hit Michael Bumpus for a 10-yard touchdown pass to take a 10-0 lead. The Seahawks also converted a fourth-and-one situation with T.J. Duckett.

Olindo Mare kicked a 28-yard field goal, capping off a nine-play drive to give Seattle a 3-0 lead. Matt Hasselbeck threw the ball five times during the drive, completing four. The one he missed he underthrew to TE John Carlson in the corner of the end zone.

Though Courtney Taylor came out for pregame introductions as a starter, Billy McMullen and Keary Colbert started the game.

Marcus Trufant, Patrick Kerney and Lofa Tatupu all are wearing casts on their hands, though Trufant's is fashioned far smaller than it had been during the week. His fingers are exposed, where they have been encased in tape all week long.

Seahawks

K Brandon Coutu
WR Koren Robinson
RB Maurice Morris
G Mansfield Wrotto
DT Red Bryant
WR Deion Branch
WR Bobby Engram

QB Seneca Wallace will serve as the third QB.

Rams

WR Keenan Burton
RB Brian Leonard
S Brannon Condren
G Jacob Bell
G Roy Schuening
WR Drew Bennett
DE Leonard Little

QB Brock Berlin will serve as the third QB.

Good morning everybody. For those of you not in Seattle, it's an overcast, gloomy day with a little clearing down here by the stadium. As I was walking in, there was some light drizzle but it doesn't seem as if it is going to be raining hard enough to have an affect on the game.

Here are today's officials:

Referee Gene Steratore
Umpire Jeff Rice
Head linesman Tom Stabile
Line judge Jeff Seeman
Field Judge Greg Gautreaux
Side Judge Barry Anderson
Back judge Tony Steratore
Replay Al Hynes

Even with all of the injuries at receiver quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has not panicked and remains confident that Seattle can get things turned around.

Hasselbeck's play will be key today as the Seahawks look to get their first win of the season against St. Louis. Here's a look at what's going on around the NFC West this morning.

Seattle Seahawks

Frank Hughes reports that John Carlson has emerged as the go-to receiver for quarterback Matt Hasselbeck with all of the injuries at receiver. Carlson was expected to be more of a safety valve early on, but has shown more athleticism and ability to get down field than the Seahawks expected..

Dave Boling says the Seahawks must win today to get their season on track.

Kicker Josh Brown makes his return to Qwest Field.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald writes that Hasselbeck has remained composed through all the turmoil created by the injuries as wide receiver.

Here’s more from Johnson: At a combined 0-4, the Rams and Seahawks are two teams desperate for a win.

Dallas Morning News columnist Rick Gosselin breaks down Seattle’s problems at receiver.

A story on WR Keary Colbert from his hometown paper the Ventury County Star.

For those looking for a Las Vegas slant on today’s game, you can find the betting odds here.

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Here is a little note I found:

In the last 15 years, 78 teams started off the season going 0-3 and only two of them -- Buffalo in 1998 and Detroit in 1995 -- made the playoffs. Both went 10-6 and lost their playoff game in the first round -- and we know how important Qwest Field is to the Seahawks' postseason chances.

Of the 78 teams that started 0-3, 68 had losing seasons.

It appears as if Courtney Taylor has lost his starting job at flanker to newly acquired Keary Colbert after Taylor struggled through his first two games. Taylor still is going to see playing time but not as prominently as he once did.

One player who may not see playing time is Koren Robinson, who did not do a great deal in practice and still is hampered by his sore knee. Mike Holmgren said Robinson is going to be a "Sunday decision" to determine exactly what his role in the game will be.

There also is a good chance that Sean Locklear plays, though that is another "Sunday decision." Locklear has looked pretty good in practice all week and has done increasingly more each day, getting time back at right tackle today because Walter Jones was back, as was Rocky Bernard and Kelly Jennings. Holmgren said he feels preliminarily that Locklear will play.

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The Seahawks have 400 tickets available for Sunday’s game against the Rams at the otherwise sold-out Qwest Field.

The tickets were returned from the St. Louis allocation and are for sale at Ticketmaster and Seahawks.com.

All those questions we asked Mike Holmgren about Koren Robinson yesterday? Maybe a waste of time. Robinson did not participate very much in this afternoon's practice, taking part in individual drills, standing on the side holding his helmet during team drills and eventually walking to the locker room to get dressed because of a sore knee. Not that he won't play Sunday -- that hasn't been determined -- but given that he needs all the practice time he can get to get in shape and learn the offense, Thursday's developments were not a good sign.

A good sign, however, is that Sean Locklear was getting a lot of reps at left tackle while Walter Jones sat on the side. Rocky Bernard also sat out for one of the first times, as did Kelly Jennings. All are expected to play on Sunday.

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Gil said QB Matt Hasselbeck has been handling the frustrations of rotating receivers very well, and has not shown the frustration that you'd think would be evident. He said now it is up to the receivers to do their jobs of getting open. When I asked why Courtney Taylor's decent practices have not been transferring to the games in terms catches, he said he didn't know. Gil said Courtney will remain as the starting flanker with the hope that he can develop there with more experience. They just hope that he develops more quickly than he currently is.

Gil said both new receivers did very well on Wednesday, and he expects to see more out of them today. He said Hasselbeck needs to develop a rapport with them this week.

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A quick trip around the NFC West this morning.

Seattle Seahawks

Koren Robinson looks like he can still play in his first practice with Seahawks since 2004, but the team will work the receiver in slowly.

Frank Hughes writes about Seattle’s decision to keep two kickers around in Olindo Mare and rookie Brandon Coutu.

Dave Boling talks Seahawks with KJR’s Elise Woodward on this audio link.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald weighs in on what kind of reception former Seahawks kicker Josh Brown will get when he returns to Qwest Field.

Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian writes that Robinson instantly becomes the most experienced, healthy receiver available by showing up on Wednesday.

Fentress also talks to practice squad running back and ex-Oregon State product Yvenson Bernard about his role with the Seahawks.

And here’s another report on Robinson’s practice from Gregg Bell of the Associated Press.

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I spoke with special teams coach Bruce DeHaven today, as well as Coutu and Mare. Bruce said they have so much time on the side during practice that having to work with two kickers is not that big a deal at all. DeHaven said twice before in his long career has he had two kickers on the roster, once in Buffalo with Scott Norwood and Brad Daluiso. Probably should have let Daluiso kick the FG in the Super Bowl.

DeHaven also said it is a bit of a luxury to have Coutu because if Olindo's leg gets at all weary, they can let Coutu handle the kickoff duties in practice, which is good for Coutu, good for Mare and good for the return guys because they don't have to catch their balls off the JUGS machine.

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In his first workout with his former team since the Seattle Seahawks released him in 2005, there were few surprises for wide receiver Koren Robinson.

Although a little rusty and not in football shape, Robinson appeared to still have the speed and quickness he's known for. He looked comfortable catching balls during individual team drills, and he made a nice diving catch across the middle of the field during team drills.

Robinson did sit out about a third of the practice, as the team wants to make sure he doesn't injure himself trying to do to much too early.

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As you can imagine, a great deal of the questions aimed at Mike Holmgren during his weekly press conference were about Koren Robinson, and we will get into some of that. But I'll cover nuts and bolts first.

The team released Jason Babin in order to make room for WR Keary Colbert. Holmgren said they are keeping two kickers because they like Coutu very much and don't want to lose him. Colbert will be wearing #13, Koren will be wearing #18 (his old number reversed).

Holmgren said he does not envision using both Mare and Coutu even though both are on the roster, unless Mare starts struggling for some reason.

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Lost in all of the news about Koren Robinson’s return to Seattle was Shaun Alexander visiting the Detroit Lions on Tuesday.

Alexander worked out at the Lions practice facility for the team’s coaching staff, along with former Bears running back Cedric Benson and former Packers running back Vernand Morency. Detroit is reportedly happy with the stable of running backs on the team and is just looking at potential candidates should they need a running back later this season.

Here’s the story from Mlive.com.

Seattle Seahawks

Koren Robinson returns to Seattle. Here’s the story and a list of his transgressions during his time in the NFL. Robinson said he’s been sober for over two years and his ready to contribute.

John McGrath writes that when you’re 0-2 character issues become less important while finding players that can help you win becomes a priority.

ESPN’s Mike Sando, who covered the Seahawks during Koren Robinson’s time in Seattle, offers some perspective on Robinson’s return to Seattle while talking with KJR’s Ian Furness in this audio link.

ESPN’s report on the Robinson signing.

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Here's the transcript from Seattle general manager Tim Ruskell's teleconference this afternoon.

(On whether he sees bringing Koren Robinson back as a risk…) “Sure. There’s risk. Obviously I feel better about it now [than] when I first heard about [it] or thought about the idea. We did a lot of research. We didn’t just do this haphazardly or spur-of-the-moment. A lot of people in the organization were involved. Initially when I heard, or Coach [Holmgren] had brought it up, I was against it, just because everybody knows what our commitment is philosophically in terms of character. My first involvement with Koren, he was going through some tough things and some bad incidents that had gotten public.

My whole deal was, we just can’t have knuckleheads around here. That can’t happen. That’s not how you win. So we got rid of several players that, I felt, fell under that umbrella, and I thought that would be the end of it. Obviously this little crisis we’re going through with the receivers made a lot of names come up and I really wasn’t even thinking of Koren.

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Here's the transcript from today's teleconference with Koren Robinson.

(On whether he thought he’d ever be able to come back to the Seahawks…) “I did not, just because of the terms and the circumstances that I left Seattle on. I never would think that I’d be back.”

(On whether he sees this as a chance to fulfill what he started here…) “Definitely. It’s always good to get a second chance. I’m grateful for this chance, this opportunity. I think it can be a good story, both for me and the franchise.”

(On what he told Tim Ruskell and Coach Holmgren to assure them this was a smart decision…) “I feel like I just had to come and be myself, just make them feel comfortable enough with bringing me back. There were some stipulations, but that’s between me and Tim. I had to show them that I was in good enough shape and that I’ve been working out and that I can still play a little bit. For the most part, I just had to talk to them and make them feel comfortable with the decision of bringing me back.”

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The Seattle Seahawks officially announced the signing of wide receiver Koren Robinson during a 30-minute teleconference this afternoon.

Seahawks general manager Tim Ruskell also said the team had traded for Denver wide receiver Keary Colbert in a deal with the Denver Broncos.

The Seahawks signed Robinson to a 1-year agreement, marking the return of the organization's first-round draft pick, selected ninth overall in the 2001 draft. Seattle released Robinson after several alcohol-related run-ins with the law.

However, Robinson said he's been sober since August of 2006. He's married now, with two sons and a third child, a daughter on the way.

Only 28, Robinson said he's grown up. His family keeps him grounded, Robinson said, and his focus has shifted from himself, to his family and God.

"It’s always good to get a second chance," Robinson said. "I'm grateful for this chance, this opportunity. I think it could be a good story, both for me and for the franchise."

Ruskell, who has focused on bringing in players with good character, said he did his research on Robinson. And after talking with Robinson and others that know his background, along with director of player personnel Will Lewis working Robinson out both in North Carolina and Seattle, Ruskell felt Robinson could help fill the void for the team's depleted wide receiver corps.

Ruskell said the contract does contain a side agreement with undisclosed stipulations Robinson must follow.

Ruskell said coach Mike Holmgren asked him to consider pursuing Robinson because of Holmgren's relationship with the receiver. Also, a positive meeting between Matt Hasselbeck and Robinson helped sway Ruskell to make the move.

"Had any part of that not gone well we would not have done this," Ruskell said.

Robinson fills a roster spot left vacant by Logan Payne going on the injured reserve list. However, Seattle still needs to make a move to open up a roster spot for Colbert.

Several media outlets are reporting on the possible return of Koren Robinson to the Seattle Seahawks to help fill the void at wide receiver. We're still waiting for the official word from the Seahawks.

However, there's been reports that Robinson is in town and just needs to pass a physical and the Seahawks will be ready to pick him up.

That may be premature, however, as the two sides still need to come to terms on what the financial arrangement will be, and how long Robinson will be around.

But if Robinson is in shape and has taken care of his off-the-field issues, I believe with his knowledge of coach Mike Holmgren's offensive system and his speed he could really help Seattle.

It would seem natural that Robinson would play split end and run all of the stretch routes from the outside, with Courtney Taylor and Michael Bumpus filling in at flanker. Then you could still use Billy McMullen, who played better than expected in his first action, as another outside receiver on four-receiver sets.

We'll see what the Seahawks decide to do, and I'll have another report later today once an announcement is made.

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Charlie Frye said it is incalculable how much the two preseason games and three weeks of practice meant to his development as a QB in this system. Now, because of that, he feels he can step in and be effective. Before that, he may have felt lost. He said he felt lost all of that last year, but things really clicked in the San Diego exhibition.

Seneca Wallace said his body was not ready to play receiver, in part because he had had a tight hamstring in the week leading up to the Niners game. He said he should not have pushed it, but felt the team needed him because of the shortage at WR. When he was playing a position his body did not feel comfortable playing, combined with the tight hammy, he popped his calf. He said it felt like somebody shot him (which is what everybody says, but unless you have been shot how do you know how that feels?). He was wearing a boot and had crutches at his locker.

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More items from Holmgren's earlier meeting with the media:

Holmgren said the team is going to have to sign a couple more receivers to fill in for the latest round of injuries. He said a trade is a distinct possibility because "at some point you just keep looking at the same (free agent) names." He didn't sound enthusiastic about signing Samie Parker again, and he didn't give a ringing endorsement to Koren Robinson either. He insinuated they may have to sign/trade for players who have played here in the past because they have familiarity and can jump right into the system. Also, activating Jordan Kent from the practice squad is a possibility.

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I stopped by the media room after Mike Holmgren's press conference before heading to the locker room. Here are updates:

Logan Payne tore his MCL and will be placed on IR.

Seneca Wallace strained his calf and is out 3-4 weeks. They will sign a QB for the practice squad.

Kelly Jennings broke his rib, will be limited in practice this week but is expected to play.

I will be back to update the rest after going to the locker room.

With the Seahawks 0-2 and headed in the wrong direction, Seattle defensive end Patrick Kerney put things in perspective after a 33-30 overtime loss to San Francisco on Sunday.

“I’ve been doing this for awhile and there are only two options, and that’s to quit or work to improve,” Kerney said. “We’ve got 14 games left this season that we need to improve on. We’re hurting now, but tomorrow (today) I expect our chins to be back up and noses to the grindstone to get better to win a game next week.”

Here’s our coverage of Sunday’s game, along with coverage from the rest of the NFC West.

Seattle Seahawks

Frank Hughes says that the Seahawks have lost their swagger, and do not look like the team that won four straight NFC West titles.

After Sunday’s loss to San Francisco Dave Boling says it might be time to panic.

John McGrath believes that the Seahawks have become complacent, and are not playing with any urgency.

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WR MICHAEL BUMPUS

(On his first regular season game in the NFL…) “It just felt like another football game and I was just out there having fun.”

(On playing at Qwest Field in the NFL as opposed to when he was a Cougar…) “Oh yeah, a lot different. We only filled it up about halfway, it wasn’t nearly as loud as this. All in all, it was a good experience.”

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TE JOHN CARLSON

(On having a good game personally but still ending up with a loss…) “First and foremost, we’re here to win games. And we didn’t win today. That’s disappointing.”

(On how he feels about his personal performance…) “I had some opportunities to make plays, and I made a few catches. But for me, it’s the plays you leave on the field, the plays you don’t make, the plays you should’ve made, that stick with me. So those are the things I’m thinking about right now.”

(On what he can take from this game…) “I think you have to learn from every game. Learn from your mistakes. We’ll watch film tomorrow and I’m sure there’ll be plenty I can improve upon, plenty of opportunities I left on the field.”

(On whether he’ll bounce back next week…) “That’s right. I have to.”

QB MATT HASSELBECK

(On where the team goes from this point…) “Well, we’ve been 0-2 before, and there’s still 14 games left, so mathematically it doesn’t really mean too much. But you can’t give games away. They played well but we played bad, and we expect to win at home. I don’t know what to say. We’re a little surprised. I’m a little surprised, a little stunned, a little upset. I think we’ll probably feel that way all day today and until we watch the film tomorrow and then take Tuesday to try to transition and then Wednesday it’s time to get ready to play another game.”

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(Thoughts on the game…) Okay like I said last week, the only stat that matters is winning. And we won.

(Thoughts on the comeback…) At 14-0 and giving them (Seattle) the ball, I thought it was a reflection of a week ago. Certainly it was a gut check for our guys and I thought they responded extremely well…in the face of adversity. Last year I thought we had two very close ball games and we won both of them…I feel better about our team. The offense does move the ball. Defensively we have our moments. But we have a good defense. We just have to get better that’s all. Obviously its an extremely difficult place to come and win in Seattle. And we won today.

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(opening…) Well, it was a very difficult loss, stating the obvious. We had a couple chances near the end where, hopefully with good field position, maybe get in a position to win the game ourselves. But, we gave up too many big plays down the stretch in the fourth quarter, and then we had a couple of mistakes in protection that put us in a tough spot, but they didn’t convert on that one. Look, we just have to regroup, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves, fix the things we can fix, hopefully, and get ready for the Rams coming in here next week. Our fans were great. They were with us right until the end, and we appreciate that, and we need them more now than ever. We did some things offensively a little bit better than we did the first week. Special teams made a little bit of an improvement, I thought. Now we just have to keep getting better.

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Kelly Jennings

"We just really have to go back out there and study the film and see what happened. I think we made too many penalties on defense and at critical times, and those are things we can’t do. So we just have to get corrected."

They made some big plays against you guys. What do you need to do in order to rectify that?

“We really have to go back and study that to see what we did wrong and why they got the big plays. We know that we have a great defense and we try not to allow that. So we’ve got to go back and find what exactly was happening, and see if it’s fixable or not, but I think we definitely can get it corrected.”

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Logan Payne has a torn ligament in his knee and is probably done for the season, though they didn't say which ligament. Mike Holmgren said it was serious. Payne, the poor guy, stood up with reporters after the game to answer questions and he was on the verge of tears. Can't help but feel badly for him. He said when he caught the ball, just the toe of his shoe touched the turf when the guy's helmet hit just above his knee. He said he knew immediately that something bad had happened.

Seneca Wallace strained a calf muscle in pregame warmups, after they had turned in their inactive list. Both Holmgren and Matt Hasselebeck said that Seneca figured prominently in the game plan, and Seneca was going to get a lot of time at split end, and so it severely affected their play-calling. No timetable on Seneca's return yet. Holmgren said they have to go out and sign a couple of receivers tomorrow or Tuesday.

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Joe Nedney came back to kick a 40-yarder, winning the game, 33-30, for the Niners. We'll be back up with post game locker room stuff in a while.

Joe Nedney missed a 41-yarder at the end of regulation, sending the game into overtime. Kooky.

San Francisco put together a 15-play, 56-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard field goal to tie the game with 2:42 left. The drive was aided by two penalties, including a defensive holding penalty on Deon Grant around the goal line. The Seahawks have to go to their air now.

The Seahawks' offense seems to have found a rhythm, allowing them to drive down on a nine-play drive that ended with Olindo Mare's 32-yarder. The defense needs to hold for this 30-27 lead to stand up.

The Seahawks sustained a very impressive drive that started at their own 26 and ended with T.J. Duckett getting his first TD on his first play of the game. The drive was 15 plays, 74 yards and lasted more than seven minutes. The score is tied at 27.

By the way, Patrick Willis has a leg injury and his return is questionable.

Josh Wilson came off the field and was escorted to the bench by a few trainers, who looked at him for a few minutes. He is back up now but it's somethign to keep an eye on.

Walt Harris picked off another Hasselbeck pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage, and four plays later Frank Gore went in from 2 yards out for a 27-20 lead. The Seahawks need to get a spark from somebody if they want to get back in this game. Courtney Taylor has zero catches, so it might have to be somebody else. They went to a four-wide set on the play that Matt was intercepted, and one of the RBs was split wide.

Matt Hasselbeck's pass intended for Billy McMullen was tipped by Walt Harris, grabbed out of the air by Patrick Willis and returned 86 yards for a TD. The return seemed to take forever as Willis weaved his way in and out of Seahawks players. The score is tied at 20.

Take a look at the halftime stats here.

Some tidbits.

Julius Jones has actually ran the ball pretty well, finishing with 72 yards on 12 carries, including the 27-yarder for a touchdown. Leonard Weaver has 20 yards on three carries.

Matt Hasselbeck is 7 of 16 throwing the ball for 101 yards, which is not bad considering he's throwing the ball to Billy McMullen, Courtney Taylor and Michael Bumpus. Rookie Tight end John Carlson has done a nice job stretching the middle of the field. He already has three catches for 50 yards, and all three grabs have resulted in first downs for Seattle.

Right now the defense is giving up way too much in the passing game. J.J. O'Sullivan has thrown for 175 yards and a score, and the 49ers have three pass plays over 20 yards, including the 63 yarder by Issac Bruce. If Seattle is going to win this game in the second half, the defensive secondary needs to step up.

Somehow, what was supposed to be a low-scoring game has become a relatively high-scoring affair, with Seattle taking a 20-13 lead into the locker room after Olindo Mare hit a 38-yarder on the final play of the first half.

The offense has not looked very crisp, and the defense has actually not looked very good at times either, giving up a 63-yard pass at the two-minute warning that set up the Niners' final score, a TD pass from JT O'Sullivan to Bryant Johnson.

Logan Payne's injury on his first catch of the game has obviously thrown a wrench into Mike Holmgren's play-calling; he cannot go with the four-receiver set. SF's defense is keying on Julius Jones and John Carlson and making Courtney Taylor and Billy McMullen beat them. Hasselbeck does not look super confident to me, in part because he is having to make so many reads now rather than knowing who is going to be where.

Marcus Trufant looks like his cast is affecting him negatively, and Kelly Jennings does not look great either -- especially now that he has cracked ribs. On the 63-yard play, it looked like Trufant thought he was handing Isaac Bruce off to Deon Grant, but Grant had some up for some reason and Bruce blew by both of them.

New punter Jon Ryan has not been impressive, and new receiver McMullen has made some plays -- but he fumbled on one that would have set up at least a field goal, if not a TD.

In short, this game is probably much closer than anybody thought it would be, especially after the Seahawks took a 14-0 lead. Give the Niners credit for staying in it when they could have folded up their tents.

After the Seahawks' drive stalled, Olindo Mare easily made a 51-yarder for a 17-6 lead.

The Niners are starting to double- and triple-team TE John Carlson, forcing Matt Hasselbeck to go either to his WRs or his RBs. Carlson seems to have become #8's favorite target -- or at least most trusted. Courtney Taylor has yet to catch a pass.

The Seahawks had a successful goal-line stand, sending the 49ers back seven yards after Rocky Bernard sacked O'Sullivan on third down. Joe Nedney's FG made it 14-6.

Newly signed punter Jon Ryan has not been great so far, clanging his first punt, which went no higher than a four-story building, for 39 yards, and then sending a kick that should have been dropped inside the 20 six yards deep into the end zone. Mike Holmgren gave Ryan the stink-eye as he was coming off the field.

It looked like a fumblerooski, but the bottom line is the Seahawks score a defensive touchdown for a 14-0 lead. Frank Gore fumbled on a nice play by Howard Green, Marcus Trufant (cast) picked up the ball, he fumbled it, Lofa Tatupu (cast) picked it up, he fumbled it and then Craig Terrill grabbed it out of the air and rumbled into the end zone for a big lead.

The Seahawks turned what could have been disaster into a 7-0 lead when Julius Jones converted a draw play into a 27-yard score.

Earlier, the Seahawks were stopped and were punting. Manny Lawson blocked the punt, but Jordan Babineaux -- who appeared to let Lawson through -- picked up the loose and dashed for a first down to keep the drive alive. A 17-yard pass to John Carlson set up Jones' TD. He said he likes to play at Qwest, and now we see why.

Logan Payne suffered a knee injury, and they are saying his return is doubtful. He was on the training table and got up to jump around for a little bit, but apparently he was unable to go. I don't see him on the sideline right now.

Here's the box score from today's Colts-Vikings game.

Justin Forsett had a busy day for the Colts as a returner. He returned four kicks for a total of 84 yards with a long of 27 yards. He also returned two punts for a total of 30 yards with one of the punt returns going for 25 yards.

Logan Payne just took a severe shot from Dashon Goldson. He limped off the field with some help, but this puts them in a real bind with Wallace out. No four-receiver sets for a while.

With Seneca Wallace out, Mike Holmgren really had no choice but to go with Michael Bumpus as his punt returner. On the first return, Bumpus looked like he had no interest in catching the ball. Fortunately, the Niners allowed it to go into the end zone when they could have downed it on the 1.

The Seahawks started out with a three-receiver set, with Bumpus in the slot.

Seneca Wallace is not going to be play in today's game because of a calf injury. The injuries continue.

Trufant is wearing a cast on his left hand, but it is far smaller than the one he wore in practice the other day. As he was running around the field, a coach threw a ball his way (lightly) and he grabbed it. Of course, that is far different than an NFL QB zipping one at you he can still knock it away.

Referee Jerome Bloger
Umpire Carl Paganelli
Head linesman Jerry Bergman
Line judge Jeff Bergman
Field judge Terry Brown
Side judge Scott Steenson
Back Judge Billy Smith
Replay Ernie Frantz
Video Bill Tracy

Seahawks

K Brandon Coutu
RB Maurice Morris
T Sean Locklear
DT Red Bryant
WR Deion Branch
WR Bobby Engram
DE Baraka Atkins
QB Charlie Frye

49ers

CB Marcus Hudson
CB Donald Strickland
CB Reggie Smith
LB Ahmad Brooks
C Cody Wallace
T/G Chilo Rachal
LB Tully Banta-Cain
QB Jamie Martin

Here’s some reading to get you ready for today’s game against the 49ers.

Seattle Seahawks

Frank Hughes talks to wide receiver Courtney Taylor, who knows this may be his last chance to prove himself if he does not perform well today

San Francisco quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan is the team’s unlikely starter after seizing the job during a three-way quarterback battle in training camp. He’ll get his second career start against Seattle today.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald reports that the desperate Seahawks are happy to see the 49ers this week.

A loud Qwest Field should provide some energy for the Seahawks today.

Here’s an update on Justin Forsett. The cat-quick runner was picked up on waivers by the Indianapolis Colts and will return punts today.

KJR’s John Clayton talks to Matt Maiocco of the Santa Clara Press Democrat about today’s contest on this audio link.

Wide receiver Logan Payne talks to KJR's Mitch Levy about his expanded role in this audio link.

And here’s a preview of today’s game from NFL.com

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The following is the Hawks' press release:

The Seattle Seahawks have signed wide receiver Michael Bumpus from the practiced squad to the active roster, the team announced today. To make room the club released wide receiver Samie Parker.

Bumpus signed with Seattle as an undrafted rookie free agent on April 27, 2008. The club released him on August 30, 2008, before signing him to the practice squad the following day. After his senior season at Washington State, he earned All-Pac 10 Conference honorable mention while recording 70 receptions, 789 receiving yards and four touchdowns. He holds Washington State’s record for all-time career punt return yards with 801.

Seahawks defensive back suffered a cracked bone in his hand in yesterday's practice and was wearing a cast on his hand today. Mike Holmgren said they are going to try to affix something smaller to his hand for Sunday's game to make it more workable. Trufant said he has played with an injured hand before, against both UCLA and the Apple Cup one season at Washington State, though it was on his right hand not his left and it was his thumb not his hand.

Though Mike Holmgren said this morning on KIRO radio that they were going to activate Michael Bumpus from the practice squad, he did not confirm that after practice. He said they have until Saturday to make that decision. It will be done, and Bumpus will probably even get some playing time, likely in the slot. Holmgren said Courtney Taylor and Logan Payne both will start.

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The Seattle Seahawks franchise is ranked 19th overall on Forbes annual list of NFL valuations for franchises. Seattle is valued at just over $1 billion, up from $921 million in 2007. Seattle was ranked 19th in 2007 as well.

The top five valued franchises are Dallas ($1.6 billion), Washington ($1.5 billion), New England ($1.3 billion), New York Giants ($1.178 billion) and the New York Jets ($1.170 billion).

View the entire list here.

Seattle Seahawks

Frank Hughes reports cornerback Marcus Trufant joined the growing list of injured Seahawks when he had to leave practice after getting his hand sandwiched in a tackle. However, it looks like Trufant will be OK.

Gregg Bell of the Associated Press provides more info on Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren’s plan to take a “sabbatical” after the end of this season, with possible thoughts of returning to the NFL as an executive.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald says ex-WSU receiver Michael Bumpus might be activated this weekend because of his knowledge of the offense.

Johnson also talks to running back Julius Jones about getting ready for his first start at Qwest Field.

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Defensive back Marcus Trufant appeared to injure his hand when he collided with linebacker Lofa Tatupu during a team defensive drill. After taking a look at it, he walked inside with trainers and did not return. He is likely to be listed as limited participation in practice when the injury report comes out in an hour or so. I did not see Trufant in the locker room and did not get a chance to talk to him.

The team signed Yvenson Bernard to the practice squad, releasing defensive tackle Kevin Brown. Benson practiced with the scout team on Thursday.

It was a big day for interceptions, with Kelly Jennings, Deon Grant, and Brian Russell all picking off Charlie Frye, who was running scout team stuff.

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Here is the team's release:

Seattle Seahawks Head Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Ed Khalfayan, performed successful surgery on Rob Sims today to repair a torn left pectoral muscle. Sims is expected to make a full recovery. Normal rehabilitation from this type of surgery is 4-6 months.

Khalfayan was assisted by fellow team orthopedist Dr. Mike McAdam. (Shameless MD plug, apparently.)

We met with offensive coordinator Gil Haskell a few minutes ago, and all I can say is that it's a shame you can't post true, uncensored audio here because Gil truly is one of the funnier individuals you'll ever talk to. Raw. Honest. Insightful. With a very unique way of stating things.

In any case, we got the sense that the new receivers, Billy McMullen and Samie Parker, were not going to see a lot of time on Sunday simply because they don't know the system. I asked him if you could backyard it and have Matt tell the receivers where to go, but Gil said you could not, which makes sense since Mike Holmgren spends the better portion of training camp jumping on players about how important spacing is since those minor details are what makes the plays go.

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A recap of a busy news day for the Seahawks on Wednesday follows in this morning's links.

Seattle Seahawks

Get ready to see Seneca Wallace at receiver this Sunday. With Seattle’s depletion at receiver Wallace is likely to get reps out wide this week.

With Seattle experiencing so many injuries early in the season, Dave Boling discusses the constant churn in the NFL.

Frank Hughes talks Hawks with Ian Furness of KJR on this audio link.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald leads this notebook with the return of Rocky Bernard and Jordan Babineax to the practice field after serving one-game suspensions.

Holmgren said the Seahawks talked to about 30 different receivers they would be interested in bringing in, including ex-Seahawk Koren Robinson, but ultimately decided on Billy McMullen and Samie Parker.

Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian also weighs in on the receiver situation, talking to U. of Oregon product Samie Parker, who said he can be a playmaker in Seattle's offense.

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Holmgren did not rule out the option of coaching again after taking a sabbatical in talking to reporters who cover the San Francisco 49ers in a conference call today. Here’s an excerpt. And check out this link to read the full conversation. Holmgren told reporters that there’s no restrictions on where he can work after he takes some time off.

Here's the excerpt:

"This season is business as usual. We made the decision, Kathy and I, to come back for one more year, and I'm at peace with that. Then, Jimmy (Mora) is going to be the head coach next year.

"I'm going to take some time off. And I made that promise to my family. And then I'm looking at it as a sabbatical leave. I'm going to take some time off and see how I feel. I don't know right now how I'm going to react to that. And make some decision after that.
"This season, it's business as usual and I coach like I coach and I act like I act, and I want to do well."

San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan addressed the Seahawks beat reporters for about 10 minutes during an interview via teleconference this morning.

Nolan was pretty straight forward and answered all the questions, but as you can imagine Nolan did not divulge a whole lot about his plans on how he’ll attack the Seahawks on Sunday.

However, even though Nolan’s 49ers suffered a season-opening loss against Arizona, he still believes his team is improved from last season.

Nolan also confirmed that quarterback Alex Smith has been put on the injured reserve list for the season with a shoulder injury.

Here’s the transcript from Nolan’s conversation:

On quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan’s first regular season start for the 49ers: “I think he managed the game well. He had a couple turnovers in the game. He had some help from some of his teammates on those turnovers. But I like what I see. I think he’s tough, competitive and resilient. He’s got a nice feel for the game. Again, I don’t know exactly where he’s at, but I feel the more he plays the better he’s going to get because the things around him I’ll think he’ll trust in them more and they’ll be trustworthy as we go forward.”

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I spoke with Jordan Babineaux, who did not want to get into what he did to earn his one-game suspension. But he said he was surprised that he was suspended because his agents and several attorneys were in negotiations with the league to appeal the one-game suspension. He said the league was stout in its decision and he had to live with it. I asked him if he was playing for free this week since he also was hit with an additional game check fine, but he just kind of smiled on that one and said, "Whatever you say." I asked him to clarify that because his agent said they were trying to get that fine removed, but he never would say what that was about.

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He looked crisp running routes and caught the ball with confidence. But mostly Seneca Wallace looked like he belonged in his first full practice at wide receiver.

Because of Seattle's injuries to its top four wide outs, back-up quarterback Seneca Wallace worked out with the receivers and it appears he will see considerable time at the position, and perhaps start on Sunday.

Along with Wallace, newcomers Billy McMullen and Samie Parker saw their first reps with the Seahawks, as Seattle looks to fill in the gaps left by injured veterans Deion Branch, Bobby Engram and Nate Burleson.

"I think for the first day it went pretty well," Wallace said. "It felt good. You know it’s different. You’ve been working at quarterback all of your life and then you go over there and do some drills. But I felt pretty good.”

Listen to Wallace and Parker talk here and here.

Along with the two new receivers, punter Jon Ryan also got his first work at practice, replacing Ryan Plackemeier on the roster. Ryan held for Olindo Mare during field goal work in the special teams period.

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Here is the Seahawks release:

The Seattle Seahawks have reached a one-year agreement with Starline Luxury Coaches and King Country Metro Transit to provide game day bus service from park-and-ride lots, the team announced today. Fares will increase by $1 each way, making it an $8 round trip.

"We are thrilled with this resolution," said Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke. "The Metro Transit has been extremely popular among our fans and will once again be an excellent option this season."

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Holmgren opened his press conference by stating: "We are having receiver tryouts this afternoon, if anybody wants to give it a shot."

Obviously, that is the topic at hand. As Eric blogged earlier, Samie Parker was added to the roster in place of Rob Sims, who was placed on injured reserve. Holmgren said he did not know how much each new player will be able to do or what role they will have. Billy McMullen is ahead of Parker because he has been with the the Eagles (Andy Reid) and the Redskins (Jim Zorn) and so knows the terminology and concepts of the West Coast offense.

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The Seahawks have not confirmed this, but Seattle reportedly has added wide receiver Samie Parker to the roster with the spot opened up by Rob Sims' season-ending injury.

Parker worked out this week for Seattle with a group of wide receivers, including recent signee Billy McMullen.

A U. of Oregon product, Parker was a fourth round draft choice by Kansas City in 2004 and played there from 2004 to 2007.

Parker was signed by Denver during the offseason this year but released before training camp, reportedly because he didn't fit well into the West Coast offense. He went to training camp with Carolina but was released so the team could get down to its final roster limit.

Parker is a speedster who ran track for the Ducks, and caught a career-high 41 receptions for Kansas City in 2006.

Parker, 27, caught 110 passes for 1,529 yards and seven touchdowns in four seasons with Kansas City.

Parker could also return kicks, but he doesn't have great hands so I don't see him returning punts for Seattle.

With the prospects thinned at punt returner don't be surprised to see Courtney Taylor back fielding punts, or perhaps Logan Payne or Marcus Trufant.

Coach Mike Holmgren will talk at noon today, and we'll also get a chance to talk to San Francisco coach Mike Nolan and quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan today. I'll have more updates after those press conferences.

The Seahawks will begin in earnest today to try and put the pieces back together after finding out Nate Burleson and Rob Sims are lost for the season. Here’s a look at Seattle and other teams in the NFC West heading into Week 2.

Seattle Seahawks

Frank Hughes details the many moves Seattle made on Tuesday and Seattle's plans moving forward.

John McGrath suggests Seattle may have an answer to the team’s receiver needs on the defensive side of the ball in cornerback and kick returner Josh Wilson.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald breaks down the team’s problems at receiver here.

Dave “Softy” Mahler of KJR AM talks to Nate Burleson about his season-ending injury in this audio link.

And Elise Woodward of KJR AM catches up with Walter Jones and talks about the team’s struggles against Buffalo in this audio link.

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The Seahawks have not confirmed this yet, and won't until tomorrow, but apparently right guard Rob Sims tore his pectoral muscle and is out for the rest of the year. That is likely to clear the roster spot needed to sign Billy McMullen, though they are still going to add at least one more receiver.

They are likely to replace Sims with Pork Chop, who will be backed up by Mansfield Wrotto.

They tried Ray Willis at guard last season but he got beat out by Chris Gray and then injured his knee against -- yes, this week's opponent -- San Francisco. Holmgren was pretty complimentary of Willis during Monday's press conference but it seems as if they picture Willis as a tackle in the future and not a guard.

John Clayton reported that the Seahawks chose Billy McMullen from among a group of six wide receivers the front office worked out today.

Here is a bio on McMullen, who has played with the Eagles, Vikings and Redskins.

Since they will have only three wide receivers on their roster, along with Seneca Wallace, you have to wonder if the Seahawks plan on signing somebody else now that they have waived Jordan Kent, particularly since McMullen does not have any NFL experience returning punts and/or kickoffs.

Should be interesting to see if Kent, as well as Justin Forsett, clears waivers so that they can be placed on the practice squad.

The other five receivers who they worked out, according to Clayton and NFL.com, were Samie Parker, Mark Bradford, Devale Ellis, Mike Hass and Michael Gasperson. Joe Horn worked out in Tennessee today and Koren Robinson and Reche Caldwell were not contacted by the Seahawks.

Several news outlets are reporting the Seattle Seahawks have signed veteran receiver Billy McMullen to help fill the void left by injuries at receiver.

McMullen was in the Washington Redskins training camp this year, and was among five receivers that worked out for the Seahawks, including Samie Parker, Mark Bradford, Mike Haas, Michael Gasperson and Devale Ellis.

Here is the team's release issued a few minutes ago:

The Seattle Seahawks have released running back Justin Forsett, receiver Jordan Kent and punter Ryan Plackemeier, the team announced this afternoon. The team also placed receiver Nate Burleson on injured reserve and signed punter Jon Ryan to replace Plackemeier on the roster.

Ryan spent two seasons in Green Bay where he punted in 32 games, averaging 44.5 yards per punt. Prior to his stint with the Packers, he punted for two years with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Nate Burleson said yesterday that he actually had tweaked his knee earlier in the game before going down with the injury that will cause him to miss the remainder of the season.

It dawned on me this morning that Burleson first hurt the knee when he was returning one of the early punts and went up and over the pile. I watched him get up limping, and followed him to the sidelines with my binoculars as he bent the knee several times to see if it was OK. I thought he was going to sit out a play or two, but when coach Mike Holmgren came over to ask him if he was OK, he went back in the game.

I have to wonder now if that was when he actually started to tear the ACL because if you look at the play where he went down, it didn't appear to me that he planted and popped the ligament. It appeared that his one foot got caught on the back of his other leg and he went down.

Which leads to the question: If Justin Forsett had not fumbled the punt return in the final preseason game, would Holmgren have allowed him to return punts in the opener, thus avoiding the injury to Burleson?

This was Holmgren's reasoning from the very beginning that he didn't want Burleson, his starting split end, back there returning punts, he didn't want him to get hurt. But when Forsett fumbled that punt against the Raiders, it clearly made Holmgren nervous putting a rookie back there in such a vulnerable position. His choices at that point were Burleson and Wallace, and he certainly didn't want to get Wallace hurt.

It also leads to this question: Does he roll the dice again and put Seneca back to field punts against the Niners, or does he risk going with the rookie -- assuming the rookie still is on the roster?

We lead this Morning’s report with some news. First off, the Regina Leader-Post in Canada is reporting that the Seahawks will sign former Green Bay punter Jon Ryan to a two-year deal and release struggling Ryan Plackemeier.

Green Bay cut Ryan last week when the Packers signed Derrick Frost. Ryan is from Regina, Saskatchewan,
Also, veteran receiver Joe Horn is reportedly visiting with two different teams today and plans to sign with one of them on Wednesday.

Seattle Seahawks

Dave Boling reports that Seattle’s 34-10 loss at Buffalo had quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and coach Mike Holmgren at a loss for words, with Hasselbeck describing the defeat as embarrassing and Holmgren reaching all the way back to his Seattle debut against Detroit to find a comparable performance offensively.

More from Boling, who reports that Nate Burleson was stunned to find out his knee injury was much worse than an anticipated, and now the search for a veteran receiver begins for Seattle.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald offers some more perspective on the Seahawks injury situation, including Maurice Morris and Lofa Tatupu.

Larry Weisman of USA Today writes about the lack of talented receivers in the NFL.

=> Read more!

Quick scribbles off the press conference and locker room, then I’ll work on a news story and a column:

The big news is Nate Burleson’s season-ending injury. Nobody thought it was that bad yesterday. It leaves the Hawks without the four top receivers heading into the season (Deion Branch, probably a week or two away; Bobby Engram, probably available after the bye week, and Ben Obomanu, broken collarbone, out for the season).

Holmgren had no immediate answers to the question of shoring up the receivers corps other than to say nothing will be overlooked. Seneca Wallace will “quite possibly” be more of an option, he said. Michael Bumpus is a logical choice, although adding another young receiver is not the complete answer for a situation that “is kinda drastic.” Holmgren said he was going into a personnel meeting right after his press conference. Ideally, they’d like to find somebody with experience in this offense or a similar one. For those of you throwing out Koren Robinson’s name already, I initially choked back laughter, but supposedly he’s so well rehabilitated the league had him speak at the rookie symposium about how NOT to behave in the league. Still, doesn’t seem a likely fit. Holmgren cited a time in Green Bay when he added free agent veteran Andre Rison. And don't forget the in-season addition of Jerry Rice in 2004.

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Nate Burleson tore his ACL in Sunday's game and is done for the season. Mike Holmgren said they are likely to go outside to sign somebody rather than pull inexperienced Michael Bumpus off the practice squad, though he was not certain because he said they are having that personnel meeting today.

He did not say Jordan Kent is stepping in to replace Burleson. I think there is a good chance that Seneca Wallace gets the assignment, depending on who they sign. Holmgren said the best-case scenario is that they sign somebody with some knowledge of the system. Bryan Gilmore comes immediately to mind because he was in camp and has experience, but there are other names out there as well.

Dave Boling is currently in the locker room and will blog about that and the rest of Holmgren's news conference when he gets back. Real quickly, Mo Morris has sprained knee and is out for this week but is not out for a long period. Deion Branch and Bobby Engram will not play this week. Sean Locklear is a maybe. No roster moves have been made yet, they don't have to be made until Wednesday.

Surely, this afternoon’s press conference with Mike Holmgren will result in a number of the “we have to go back and roll up our sleeves,” and “this was only one game” assessments that generally follow such a defeat. Fair enough. Reference to the 2005 opener at Jacksonville (26-14 loss) at the start of the 2005 Super Bowl season will be valid, too. When I saw guard Rob Sims rag-dolled by Marcus Stroud on Sunday, it was an immediate flashback to when Stroud and John Henderson did much the same in 2005 against a Hawks interior line that included Steve Hutchinson, Robbie Tobeck and Chris Gray. After that terrible start, when Matt Hasselbeck was harried into four turnovers, that turned into one of the best lines in the NFL that season.

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It should be interesting at the Seahawks facility today as head coach Mike Holmgren addresses the media after a gloomy start to his final season as Seattle’s head coach. Here’s some stuff to chew on until we hear a report from Holmgren from Renton this afternoon

Seattle Seahawks

Our coverage from Orchard Park, NY starts with Frank Hughes laying the groundwork for a Seattle team with high expectations heading into the season opener, but with several questions left unanswered after a disappointing performance against the Bills.

Special teams play was not so special for the Seahawks, as addressed in this story. Special teams coach Brad DeHaven offers no excuses.

News Tribune columnist John McGrath reminds us that this is the only the first game of the season, and Seattle went through a similar situation in losing its opener at Jacksonville in 2005 when they advanced to the Super Bowl.

With Nate Burleson injured Seattle had backup quarterback Seneca Wallace returning punts at the end of the game, Holmgren will have to find a replacement for Burleson this week.

Matt Hasselbeck finished 17 of 41 for 190 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Awful numbers to be sure, but he didn’t have a lot of helps from his young receivers.

Buffalo News reporter Mark Gaughan gives us the Bills perspective on the special teams plays.

Free Agent pickup defensive tackle Marcus Stroud pays immediate dividends for Buffalo, totaling six tackles and a sack against a struggling Hawks offensive line.

Here’s the gamer from the Associated Press.

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This is the unedited version of my game story that will appear in tomorrow's News Tribune:

By Frank Hughes
Frank.hughes@thenewstribune.com

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Every single unanswered question that faced the Seattle Seahawks as they headed into their regular-season opener against the Buffalo Bills, every doubt and every uncertainty that was raised was greeted with a negative response at Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday afternoon.
In the first game of Mike Holmgren’s last season, the Seahawks looked overmatched and overwhelmed, dropping a disheartening 34-10 decision to the Bills that exposed every weakness the Seahawks believed they could mask with either youthful exuberance or unrealistic hope.
A restructured offensive line? It continued to have difficulties either opening holes or protecting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who was sacked five times.

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On the fake field goal
We actually called it earlier in the first quarter on third down, but we got the first down and decided to wait on it. When we had the chance again in the second half, we called it and I was pretty excited about that.

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Opening statement:
It was as good as could be expected in all phases of the game – offense, defense, and special teams. I can’t say enough about the preparation of our staff and of course our players just performed. Special teams, of course you saw the two huge plays. Roscoe’s return just had a great impact on the game, and then the play to Ryan (Denney) was almost exactly like we practiced it, and you hope it comes out. Usually it doesn’t, though. Offensively and defensively we sure played well and we played hard. We played hard the whole game. We knew that team was a really talented football team coming in, and we knew we’d have to make plays to win and try to steal some points at different times and just kind of went out, we got some of the breaks and we played well. In the turnover area, we won that, and we didn’t have many penalties, so we didn’t hurt ourselves. All in all, it was just a terrific start for us, and we just have to sustain it, but I tell you, we’ll enjoy this for 24 hours or so.

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On today’s game:
I think for the most part we will be able to watch this film and learn a lot of things. Our mistakes today I think are nothing hard work can’t fix.

On lack of preseason playing time:
I didn’t feel that way. I guess I could leave that to my coaches to say what they thought, but I didn’t feel that way at all. I’ve felt really good for a long time. I didn’t think it was that at all.

On national reports of back problems:
That is not really what was hurting, my back. From what I was told is that 85% of the world would look the same if they MRI’ed it, and it was probably 5, 6 years old. That is not really why my back was hurt.

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On the pressure of missing injured wide receivers
Not at all. It don’t put anymore pressure on us than we already feel as individuals to get better.

On if Hasselbeck not playing in the preseason had something to do with the inconsistency in the game today
No that had nothing to do with it. Buffalo came out and played a great game and we didn’t execute on offense. That’s the bottom line.

On the injuries to other wide receivers
That’s the nature of the game. We got to take it in stride. Our other receivers need to step up and make a big play. We didn’t today.

General Comments:
“To the Bills credit, I think they did a great job and we have a lot of work to do. I thought we were sloppy particularly on offense, the special teams, clearly; field position and how Buffalo handled their special teams against us, was I think, the big story of the game. We’ll get better. We didn’t play very well today I think, but we’ll get better. We’ve got to get back home, roll up our sleeves and get going.”

On Nate Burleson (injury):
“We’ll know more tomorrow. He hurt his knee. It was a little bit of an aggravation from an old injury.”

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View complete stats for the game here.

There’s no getting around how ugly this one was. The Seahawks averaged 3.8 yards a play, could not convert on third down for most of the day and could not run the ball, a point of emphasis during the preseason.

The young receivers proved they have a lot of growing up to do, with at least six drops attributed to the receiving core, with many of them coming on critical third down.

Ryan Plackemeier didn’t play particularly well, including a two 22-yarder, one of which led to a late field goal by the Bills.

The defense didn’t play that badly, but they did give up several big plays in the passing game against a team not known for its ability to stretch the field in Buffalo. Lee Evans finished with four catches for 102 yards, including a long of 41 yards. And Robert Royal caught a 30-yard touchdown pass after Josh Wilson fumbled the kickoff.

Matt Hasselbeck, who didn’t play much during the preseason because of a sore back, struggled with his top receivers Bobby Engram and Deion Branch out, finishing 17 of 41 for 190 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

But part of the problem was the inconsistent play from his young receivers.

The keys for Seattle to get better for next week will be to drastically improve its special teams play, get the running game going and find one or two of the young receivers that can make a play in the passing game.

First and foremost, Nate Burleson has a sprained knee. His status is unclear. Here's why: Burleson told Eric Williams that he expects to be back next week. However, when we asked Mike Holmgren about the decision to use Nate as a punt returner, his last line was, "Now it looks like we are going to have to find somebody else," insinuating that Burleson could be out next week. Holmgren said they will know more tomorrow, when both Burleson and Mo Morris get MRIs.

As for the locker room, both Holmgren and the players seemed rather matter-of-fact about the loss. They all said it was not the end of the season, they have to learn from this and move forward and they have a lot of work to do.

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The Seahawks could not punch in a late touchdown despite being inside the 5, indicative of the entire day. Eric and I are heading to what promises to be an uplifting postgame locker room, but wanted to start a thread before we get back up for postgame stuff. The score right now is 34-10. Please keep the language appropriate and the discussion on football.

Josh Wilson fumbled the ensuing kickoff, the Bills recovered, and Trent Edwards threw a strike to Robert Royal on the next play for a 34-10 lead.

The Bills just embarrassed the Seahawks, coonverting a fake field into a touchdown. Defensive end Ryan Denney was split out to the left side, and not one Seahawk was out there with him. Holder Brian Moorman simply rose up and lofted a Billy Kilmer-like pass to Denney, who caught the ball easily with no Seattle player within 10 yards. Bills lead, 27-10.

Nate Burleson suffered a knee injury and is done for the day.

Olindo Mare hit a 45-yard field goal attempt. I could not completely tell, but it appeared that it was tipped before going through as a knuckleball.

Nate Burleson is off the training table and sitting on the bench, though he currently has his pant leg rolled up so I don't know his status.

On the last pass play, NAte Burleson tripped over his own feet making a move and went down. He is laying on the field and they are working on his left leg. Things are not really going very well for the Seahawks right now.

UPDATE: He was just helped off the field with two trainers, limping and favoring his left leg.

His return is questionable. No details on the injury.

UPDATE: Morris is sitting on the bench on the sideline, not in the locker room, so it appears it is not that serious. He has his right shoe and sock off and is getting worked on.

While Lofa Tatupu is back playing he appears to be wearing a wrap on his right hand.

Seahawks middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu emerged from the locker room and is on the sideline. It appears he will play in the second half.

Except for a second-quarter scoring drive that was helped out by a long kickoff return and a pass interference penalty, the Seahawks' offense has looked completely uninspired in a game they are trailing 20-7.

Matt Hasselbeck appears to be rusty from his long layoff and the receivers look like deers in the headlights. Courtney Taylor has two drops and no receptions. Nate Burleson has three catches and a touchdown. The running game has not been able to establish anything, whether it is Mo Morris or Julius Jones. Hard to say if it is the East Coast thing or the inexperience thing or first-game jitters or what.

On the bright side, the defense has looked decent, bottling up Marshawn Lynch for the most part and keeping Trent Edwards in check. The defensive pass rush is not as dominant as I thought it might be, but Patrick Kerney does have a sack. One frightening thing: Lofa Tatupu was not in at the end of the half and we could not spot him on the sideline. I'll try to get an update on that.

The special teams have been pretty awful. Ryan Plackemeier has not been able to get off a punt, and the one that he did was returned 63 yards for a touchdown by Roscoe Parrish. He hit only a 22-yarder at the end of the half, allowing Buffalo to kick a last-second field goal.

The Seahawks have a lot of work to do if they want to win their fifth opener in the last six years.

Nate Burleson dropped a wide-open pass that would have been a touchdown reception, then on the next play makes a ridiculously difficult catch for a touchdown, landing on D back Jabari Greer when he landed. The TD pulled the Seahawks to 14-7.

This game kind of reminds me of that Arizona game last year -- and a few others as well -- where the Seahawks and Matt Hasselbeck didn't get it going until they realized they were down.

That drive was started with a nice kickoff return by Josh Wilson, a pass interference call and a 20-yard pass to John Carlson.

Bills punt returner Roscoe Parrish just went 63 yards, through a number of Seahawks cover guys to score on an elecrtric return and give the Bills a 14-0 lead.

Logan Payne missed the initial tackle, then Parrish dashed to the right, cut across ot the middle of the field, broke a tackle by John Carlson, kept going and ended up tin the end zone.

Seattle needs to get something going offensively. So far it has been unable to establish anything. Matt Hasselbeck has had a few passes dropped, but he has been off all afternoon.

This is what the fear was with the Seahawks' offense coming into the season, that when the real games started the young receivers would have a hard time making the adjustment. So far Matt Hasselbeck is 0-4 on his passing, three of which were intended for Courtney Taylor and one of which was intended for Nate Burleson.

On the flip side, Seattle's defense looks good so far, with Patrick Kerney recording his first sack of the season and Brandon Mebane looking strong.

ESPN's Chris Mortenson reported this morning that Matt Hasselbeck has a bulging disc in his back. What Seahawks pr is telling us is this:

Matt does have a bulging disc that was revealed on the MRI that was taken when he initially injured the back. But the disc, we are told by Pr, is not the reason he missed the time in the preseason. That was because he was suffering from back spasms. He did receive an injection for that, we are told by pr, which calmed down the back. The bulging disc, pr tells us, is the result of wear and tear and age and is not affecting his ability to play. When we asked why this was not revealed before, pr told us that Matt is very protective of information regarding his health, though this does go against him saying that he is "100 percent."

Right now, Nate Burleson and Seneca Wallace are out on the field practicing catching punts.

K Brandon Coutu
RB Justin Forsett
OG Mansfield Wrotto
OT Sean Locklear
WR Deion Branch
WR Bobby Engram
DE Baraka Atkins
QB Charlie Frye

We were debating who the eighth and final inactive was going to be, and it is Forsett, which obviously means he will not be returning punts. We'll have to see who does the returns.

Bills inactives

Steve Johnson
Reggie Corner
Matt Murphy
Demetrius Bell
Derek Fine
Chris Ellis
John McCargo
Gibran Hamdan

The interesting this here is that Bell was the replacement if either Langston Walker or Kirk Chambers get injured. They would probably use backup center Duke Preston in that case. He played in the preseason against Pittsburgh.

My trusty sidekick Eric Williams is with me here at Ralph Wilson Stadium, which is somewhat reminiscent of Lambeau Field in the sense it is outside the city, kind of plopped in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, where the residents are charging $10 a pop for parking in their front yard. We'll both be blogging throughout the day from the game and afterward.

Referee: Walt Coleman
Umpire Undrey Wash
Head linesman Paul Weidner
Line Judge Carl Johnson
Field judge Eddy Powers
Side Judge Rick Patterson
Back Judge Greg Steed
Replay Bill Spyksma
Video Ted Sullivan

The weather this morning when we got up was bright and sunny, but that has given way to an overcast sky. It is still relatively warm, about 65 degrees with a light breeze.

A return of morning links as we head into the Seahawks’ first regular-season game, along with a question to start things off. How much yardage will Seattle rush for offensively today? Let us know in the comments section.

Seattle Seahawks

Frank Hughes offers a good perspective piece on wide receiver Nate Burleson, who needs to play big with experienced receivers Bobby Engram and Deion Branch unavailable because of injuries this week.

Dave Boling checks in with some key things to look for in today’s game.

Scott Johnson of the Everett Herald talks to Maurice Morris, who says he’s ready to step up after serving as Shaun Alexander’s back-up for six years.

Johnson also touches on the expectations of the Seahawks in the team’s season opener.

=> Read more!

Even though he is not even playing this weekend because of his suspension, Rocky Bernard's effect is still being felt.

Apparently, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith re-injured the shoulder that Bernard initially injured when Bernard squashed him last year.

Smith was not starting for San Francisco; that was going to be J.T. O'Sullivan, eh laddie. But given O'Sullivan's history, I was of the mind that Mike Nolan eventually was going to have to go to Smith. Now, the Niners will have to wait to see how serious this injury is. Smith is consulting with Dr. James Andrews -- the same fellow who did the surgery on Deion Branch's knee -- on what to do now.

Just wanted to share a few photos with you from my trip to Niagara Falls this afternoon. They are only about 20 miles from where the team is staying, and a few other Seahawks staffers took the time to tour the place as well. This first photo is a view of the American side of the falls in the foreground, and the Canadian Falls in the distance, which are in the shape of a horseshoe. In this photo, you can see only the right side of the horseshoe.

This is a water-level view of the American falls, looking up. Apparently in the winter, chunks of ice come off Lake Erie, float over the falls and collect at the bottom, forming ice mountains.

This is sitting in the middle of the horseshoe looking up, which is kind of wild because as soon as you enter the horseshoe there are torrential winds that kick up and make you feel as if you are standing in the middle of a hurricane. A while back, a 7-year-old kid wearing only a bathing suit and a life jacket accidentally fell in, went over the falls, popped out and was saved without being injured.

By the way, my clothes still have not arrived. I'm thinking about asking Brandon Mebane if I can borrow one of his snazzy suits. The lime green one with the matching shoes might be a good call. I'd buy a matching fedora as well but United would only reimburse me for 50% of the cost.

The Associated Press caught up with Shaun Alexander in a telephone conversation and asked him everything everybody has been wondering. All the answers to those questions are right here.

This is why I love traveling: "Sir, we don't have any overhead room for your luggage. We'll have to gate check it. It'll be waiting for you in Buffalo." Except, it wasn't waiting for me. I was waiting for it. And waited. And waited. And it never arrived. So head over to the luggage counter, where the door is locked and nobody is around. So I called the national line, where some guy in Bombay is answering the phone and we can't understand each other, mostly because I don't speak Bombayean. In the middle of that painful conversation, the luggage chick comes back from her "smoking break" but first has to deal with a lady from Warsaw, Poland whose luggage got stuck in Chicago. You can imagine how that conversation went. "How long have you been out of the country?" "Twenty years." "NO, how long have you been gone on this trip?" "Oh, six days." I think they were speaking Bombayean. Keep in mind, this is at midnight. Get through that drudgery and head over to the rental car counter, where they tell me my wheels are in stall C20. So I go down to the garage and it only goes up to C16. No C20. Anywhere. Well, maybe in LaGuardia, but that seems a little far to go to find my car. So I head back upstairs but it's now past midnight and I am the last customer so they have already bolted. Like Usain. So I head back down to the garage and start hitting the automatic unlock device on my keychain hoping to hear the "boop boop beep." I don't hear it, but fortunately the headlights go on and off. The car was in F20. Check into the hotel. I have not eaten since taking off from Sea-Tac at 1. "Oh, no sir, our room service closed at 11. You should have called ahead and we could have had food waiting for you in your room when you arrived." Hmm, soggy hamburgers at 1 in the morning. Sounds good. So I head across the street to a place called Jacks Bar and Grill, and the only thing they are serving is -- this is beautiful, given the locale -- Buffalo Wings. Hot, Hotter and Hottest. Of course. So my nether regions are a little on fire this morning. I think I have to head up to Niagara Falls to cool them off. I hope the concierge speaks more than Bombayean so I can get proper directions.

Before that, though, I wanted to point out a few things. The story in the Buffalo News this morning says Bills left tackle Jason Peters definitely will not be playing against the Seahawks tomorrow, which means Lawrence Jackson gets Langston Walker and Patrick Kerney gets Kirk Chambers (who I think I called Kirk Cameron earlier in the week). Next in line after that is rookie Demetrius Bell, a seventh-round draft pick.

Also, I posted a story the other day about linebacker Angelo Crowell having surgery on his knee, forcing him to miss this game. Well, I guess the Bills didn't know he was getting the surgery, and they are so pissed at him that they cleared out his locker and gave it to a guy they just signed. Here is a link to the story.

Also, the Seahawks had a very uneventful trip here. Took them all of four hours to make the cross-country trek and they arrived in a timely fashion last night -- before room service closed. They'll have a walk-through that is closed to the media at Ralph Wilson Stadium today. The weather here is rather Seattle-like, gray, cloudy and occasional rain, about 65 degrees. They should feel right at home. I know I do -- except for the no-clothes part.

Halfway through practice today a group of reporters shared perplexed looks because we could not find No. 68 anywhere out on the field.

Pork Chop Womack worked in Mike Wahle’s place during team drills until near the end of practice a smiling Wahle jogged onto the practice field.

His fellow lineman greeted him with applause and handshakes. Wahle became a father this morning.

Wahle and wife Trina had a son, Maddox, the couple’s second child. The couple also has a daughter, Teagan.

Said Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren: “She’s doing fine and the baby is doing fine. We made arrangements for Mike to travel there tomorrow, but I didn’t expect him to come to practice.”

Deion Branch practiced again today, and ran a couple routes during team drills in this practice without pads. However, Branch will not play on Sunday, Holmgren said. Bobby Engram also will not suit up, and right tackle Sean Locklear is likely will not play, although Holmgren did not rule Locklear out. Ray Willis would start in Locklear’s place.

“Again the process is to get him feeling good at what he’s asked to do,” Holmgren said about Branch. “So next week will do a little bit more and get him into some competitive things. At some point he has to do that just so he knows he can do it. That’s the big hurdle now.”

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According to NFL.com, Bills left tackle Jason Peters is ending his holdout and reporting to the Bills. However, and this is a big however, he is not supposed to be playing against the Seahawks on Sunday. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing. On the one hand, you kind of like the idea of having Kerney and Jackson going against second-tier guys. On the other, having Jackson and Tapp going against a guy who would be playing for the first time nine months might be kind of appealing as well.

I am about to take off for Buffalo. Eric covered this morning's light workout and should be blogging that at some point. In the meantime, I was sent this top 10 list of all-time football movies compiled by Hollywood.com. Personally, I kind of like Remember the Titans because a lifetime ago I used to cover T.C. Williams when I was working back in D.C.

10. The Waterboy

9. Jerry Maguire

8. North Dallas Forty

7. Invincible

6. The Longest Yard

5. Any Given Sunday

4. Rudy

3. Varsity Blues

2. Friday Night Lights

1. Remember the Titans

The Seahawks worked on smoothing out the kinks and appeared crisp in the team's last full practice that lasted about 90 minutes this afternoon at the practice facility in Renton.

The first-team offense and defense ran through their offensive and defensive sets against Buffalo's scout-squad at game tempo. And practice moved at a brisk pace as they moved through down-and-distance situations, along with goal line and two-minute drill.

Wide receiver Deion Branch again suited up in full gear and participated in individual drills with receivers, catching a few balls before heading back to the locker room while the Seahawks went through team drills.

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According to the Buffalo News, linebacker Angelo Crowell will miss the season opener against Seattle because he just had his knee scoped.

In writing about the Deion Branch stuff yesterday, I did not get the chance to write much about practice and the locker room. I wanted to fire that stuff off this morning before this afternoon's practice, which starts at 1:30.

First, the team is back to its regular schedule, and is back to doing its game-week routines. Players wearing the yellow jerseys of opposing players, alternating first units on each side against the scout teams, special teams being worked in, most of the reps going to the starters while the backups work on the scout team.

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SEAHAWKS

OUT

WR Bobby Engram

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

DE Baraka Atkins (back)
OT Sean Locklear (knee)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

WR Deion Branch (knee)
LB Lofa Tatupu (knee)

BILLS

OUT

TE Derek Fine (hand)
TE Matt Murphy (shoulder)

For the first time since he tore his ACL, we spoke with Seahawks wide receiver Deion Branch, who clarified a few things regarding his knee and his comeback.

First, and perhaps most important, he had the surgery to repair the torn ACL on Feb. 7, which means that Sunday is the 7-month anniversary of his surgery.

He said there are three different ways to do the surgery. He chose the one that gives the knee more stability but takes a little while longer to heal. He could have had a cadaver's ligament placed in his knee, but Dr. James Andrews, who did the surgery, said he wouldn't do that surgery for him, he would have to go elsewhere. Instead, he chose to have a piece of his own patella tendon shaved off and made into his ACL.

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There was a great deal of stuff to cover from Mike Holmgren's press conferenc today, including the news that right tackle Sean Locklear is not likely to play Sunday against Buffalo.

As he tends to do, Holmgren danced around the issue and said that Ray Willis will get most of the work this week. He said if it was the Super Bowl that Locklear would play, but he thinks they should smart about it and not push him too quickly.

Deion Branch will practice today, but he is not likely to play either. Holmgren said the next hurdle is getting Branch comfortable with what he has to do on the job given the severity of the knee injury. I got the sense that Holmgren did not know a timeline until Branch himself got the chance to see how he feels actually running routes.

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We are meeting with Mike Holmgren in about 15 minutes for the first time since the roster cuts were made and in preparation for Sunday's game against the Bills. I'll detail that after the presser is over.

The funniest part about the Bills interviews were when Aaron Schobel forgot Walter Jones' first name, calling him Willie. Then he asked, "What is his name, you guys from Seattle?" When he was teased that he forgot Walter's name, he said, "I'm bad with names. Don't go telling him I forgot his name. That's why I hate doing these things."

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This is a release from the team announcing their various activities this week:

RENTON, WASH. – The Seattle Seahawks have planned a number of activities to help prepare fans for the upcoming football season.

Thursday, September 4

Flight of the 12th MAN® Flag (various)

A 3,000 sq. ft. 12th MAN® Flag will fly behind a Skysigns airplane along the I-5 corridor from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and over the I-90 and 520 bridge’s from 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Friday, September 5

Flight of the 12th MAN® Flag (various)

A 3,000 sq. ft. 12th MAN® Flag will fly behind a Skysigns airplane along I-5 corridor from 7-9 a.m. and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and over the I-90 and 520 bridge’s from 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Sea Gals Calendar Unveiling (6:00 p.m.)

Seahawks fans will have the opportunity to meet the entire Sea Gals squad and purchase the 2009 Sea Gals calendar during the Sea Gals calendar unveiling event at Fox Sports Grill, located at 1522 6th Avenue in downtown Seattle. These activities begin at 6 p.m. and will be hosted by Pro Football Hall of Fame member Warren Moon.

I sat down with Seahawks kicker Olindo Mare after yesterday's practice. I have interviewed him a few times since he signed with the Seahawks, and it always strikes me how much of a student of his craft he is. When you ask him a simple question, he goes off into several different tangents about stuff you would never really even consider. It is like talking to special teams coach Bruce DeHaven and you realize all the nuances of doing something that when you just watch it on TV seems like a simple thing to do. Every time I speak with Mare I feel like I learn something new about kicking philosophy. Give this interview a read and you'll understand why he has been in the league for 13 years.

Can you talk about making the team and being named the starter? I expected it I kicked well. I have a lot going for me. I have a lot to offer. And a lot of experience. I had a great camp. I had one of the best camps I’ve had in a long time. I feel strong. It is good. It was good to have Brandon there. He is a good field goal kicker and hopefully he will get a chance to kick somewhere.

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Rather than putting up preseason statistics, I am putting up last season's regular-season stats for both teams:

First off, let me set some expectations about the reports from practice. During training camp, they were detailed and robust, full of specifics from practice about which players are playing which positions, routes the receivers are running, who looked good, who looked bad, some different formations, etc.

Now that preseason is over and the regular season is upon us, such detailed reports are no longer possible. The Seahawks do not want whichever opponent they are playing to scout the blogs and newspaper stories to find out whether Seneca Wallace is working out as a receiver or kick returner or whatever else they might be looking for. This is not my choice, this is an edict from the team that we respect for the tradeoff of being able to watch practice and have a better sense of what is happening. Hopefully, as Seahawks fans, you understand that.

On to practice: It was a 53-minute long light workout, and Hasselbeck was back. Lofa Tatupu, Deion Branch, Walter Jones and Sean Locklear did not participate. Injury reports are not due out until Wednesday.

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Today's practice, which apparently will be short, has been pushed back to 3 o'clock.

I wanted to throw a few things out there to chew on before this afternoon's practice:

1) After watching some of the UW game, it became readily apparent that the Huskies' corps of young receivers was not able to get open against Oregon, which was part of the reason the Ducks were able to stack so many players in the box and dare UW to throw it. How does this relate to the Seahawks? They too have a bunch of young receivers who will have to prove they can get open. Nate Burleson has shown he can do it, but have any of the others without Mike Holmgren intentionally force-feeding them to get touches?

2) With Rocky Bernard suspended, it will mean additional time for Craig Terrill and presumably Red Bryant, who the coaches would like to work into the rotation more now that he is back. I spent two series of Friday's game exclusively watching Red. On one, he got absolutely pancaked by the Raiders' guard on a play where Darren McFadden went for a big gain. But he did a very nice job on some of the other players, getting into the backfield and stuffing one play, holding his position along the line and preventing McFadden from cutting back on another play.

Practice is at 1:30 today. There will be a lot of things to cover, including Matt Hasselbeck returning to practice, the suspensions, the wide receivers, the running backs and an amalgam of other topics.