By Matt Pitman from VMAC

It's looking like Josh Wilson will not be available for the Seahawks this Sunday, as he missed his third straight practice after suffering a concussion last week against the Cardinals. "There is a slight chance. But when you're dealing with concussions, everyone wants to make sure he's okay, completely okay before we put him back out there. He's still not cleared and we'll see where he is Sunday, but we're planning as if he won't be there," Mora said. If Wilson doesn't go, Kelly Jennings will get the start. More on Jennings in a moment.

First, how does a guy miss a whole week of practice, and a game the following week with a concussion, after finishing the previous game where he suffered the injury? "It happened when he went down when they had to go out and get him. But, I think the adrenaline of the game kept him clear. Then when you settle down it kind of settles in on you," said Mora.

As for giving Jennings the start over Ken Lucas, Mora says Jennings has earned the spot as the Seahawks number three corner. "He's gotten better and you've seen his confidence grow. He's made plays on the ball. It's really good to see him make that kind of improvement. Kelly has been a hard worker for a long time and to see him bear the fruits of that is good," Mora said.

Click here to listen to Jim Mora with reporters after practice Friday at VMAC.

Jennings is excited about the opportunity, and pleased with the progress he has made especially after a rough season last year, with poor performance and injury costing him significant playing time. "It hasn't started out the way it started out last year. It was a rough go for me early on, some things I had to deal with. That's all behind me, I really don't try to dwell back on that because if you fall back on that it creeps into your mind. So I just try to stay away from it and just move ahead with the way things have been going," Jennings said after practice.

Click below to hear Kelly Jennings speak with reporters after practice.

Everyone except for Wilson and Julius Jones practiced Friday. Here is the injury report.

Out

RB Julius Jones Chest

Doubtful

CB Josh Wilson (Did Not Practice) Concussion

Questionable

DT Craig Terrill (Limited Participation in Practice) Shoulder

Probable

C Chris Spencer (Full Practice) Thumb/Back
CB Marcus Trufant (Full Practice) Concussion

Fines Galore

ESPN.com NFC West blogger Mike Sando reported it first, a bunch of fines from last Sunday's Seahawks Cardinals game were handed out Friday.

The big one, $7,500 is what it cost Darnell Dockett for the elbow to the throat of Matt Hasselbeck.

Here are the rest straight of Mike Sando's blog.

$5,000 against Cardinals cornerback Bryant McFadden for a facemask violation against Seahawks receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

$5,000 against Cardinals running back Beanie Wells for hitting Seahawks safety Deon Grant.

$5,000 against Deon Grant for instigating the confrontation.

$7,500 against Seahawks safety Jordan Babineaux for a horse collar tackle on Anquan Boldin.

Sando is the man with his coverage of the NFL and the NFC West. If you aren't making his blog part of your daily reading, start immediately.

Weigh in 12th Man. What are your thoughts on the fines? Is it fair that Babineaux gets fined the same amount as Dockett for a horse collar tackle vs. a pretty deliberate elbow to a guys throat? Leave your comments below!

By Matt Pitman

Looking for a place to watch the Seahawks game this Sunday with other Seahawks fans?

Join me and some peeps from 710 ESPN Seattle this Sunday morning at 10am at Hamburger Harry's in Ballard!

What's better than getting a bunch of Seahawks fans together to watch the game? How about $2.00 well drinks and $2.50 Coors Light! Gin & tonic or cold frosty refreshment a little too light for you at 10 am on game day morning? We've got you covered there too, with half priced Jager bombs and touchdowns whenever the Seahawks score. While the wins haven't been piling up, the yards and points sure have, with the Hawks putting 52 points on the board over the past two games, so there's a good chance they'll be flowing.

Hamburger Harry's has been voted Ballard's best burger and runner up for best happy hour. The burgers rock and that's pretty much a deal sealer for me.

It's super easy to find, at 2409 NW Market Street in Ballard.

So round up a group of buddies and head on over to Hamburger Harry's in Ballard this Sunday. It will be a blast, we'd love to have you swing by! For more details, just shoot me a message on my twitter, or just leave a comment below. See ya Sunday!

By Matt Pitman

Matt Hasselbeck let Darnell Dockett know that he didn't appreciate the elbow to the neck during last weeks game against the Cardinals. "I said hey man, what was that all about? And he apologized and that he didn't realize he had done it," Hasselbeck told reporters after practice on Thursday.

The conversation happened during a TV timeout.

Hasselbeck joined Brock and Salk with Robbie Toebeck on "The Huddle" (Thursday's from 1-3 live from the VMAC on 710 ESPN Seattle). To listen to the entire thing from the 2:00pm hour, click here. But to hear the excerpt of Hasselbeck talking about it just click below. Pretty funny stuff.

Hasselbeck also believes that he has figured out the best way to avoid things like that happening again, "I'm going to try to stay out of piles. The bottom of the piles anyway."

Unfortunately Hasselbeck has learned this the hard way. While he had yet to take an elbow or a knee to the throat, he has in other places. "Dark places," Hasselbeck said. "The Baltimore game comes to mind." He's referring to a game against the Ravens several years ago. "It was fourth and 1, it wasn't good."

Hasselbeck wouldn't come right out and say who it was that got him in one of those 'dark places.' But hinted that it was linebacker Terrell Suggs, saying "Yeah, he's hurt right now, that guy. He's got a bad knee." That would be Suggs. "I think it was him, I'm not really sure, you never really know who it is," Hasselbeck said.

Click here to listen to Matt Hasselbeck with the media after practice today.

Some pretty interesting things I thought Matt had to say were his comments on his time as Brett Favre's back-up in Green Bay. Clearly, this story line of the Seahawks vs Favre isn't what it used to me with Mike Holmgren gone, and Favre no longer with the Packers. But Favre made a strong and lasting impression on him. "They were paying me, and I felt like I should have been paying them. It was an awesome experience. It was kinda like Harvard business school for a young quarterback. Being in the room, Mike Holmgren was the head coach, Andy Reid was the quarterbacks coach, it was a great opportunity," he said.

By Matt Pitman from VMAC

Marcus Trufant was back in action, while Josh Wilson remained on the sidelines and did not participate in practice. Both are listed with concussions.

Here is the full Injury Report

Out

RB Julius Jones (Chest)

Did Not Participation in Practice

DT Craig Terrill (Shoulder)
CB Josh Wilson (Concussion)

Limited Participation in Practice

C Chris Spencer Thumb/Back

Full Participation in Practice

CB Marcus Trufant Concussion

We will speak with Mora tomorrow after practice and get the scoop on Wilson, Terrill, and Spencer.

By Dave Wyman

So the Hawks are facing their old left guard Steve Hutchinson this weekend in Minnesota and I thought we should all take a look at the Hutch debacle. Look….I liked the guy too. When it's all said and done, he could end up being one of the best guards to ever play the game. But here's an interesting fact I think we're all overlooking….HE'S A GUARD!!! Alex Gibbs, the offensive line coach in Denver when I played there is one of THE finest football coaches in the league (He's now with the Texans). His favorite quote to his offensive line was, "Hell, I can get a bum on the highway to play guard! Get me a good left tackle!" In Mora's press conference this week, somebody asked if the Hawks were going to game plan around Hutchinson. (Again….HE'S A GUARD!). After I wiped up the water I blew out through my nose, I started to reflect on the entire Hutch situation.

So here's the deal: If you want to say that the Hawks should've resigned him during the '04 or '05 season... fine. I have no quarrel with you there. But, I want to ask everyone this question: Did you recognize how good he was at that time? Be honest with yourself because I really believe that Hutch didn't become great in everyone's mind until he signed that $49 million deal. Remember in the '05 Redskin game when Shaun Alexander didn't pick up that first down? That play ended a game winning drive and lead to a loss in overtime. Yeah, that play was run over the left guard.

Sure we all knew he was good but were we ready to spend $49 million on... A GUARD?!

But outside of the Hawks not signing him before his contract expired, let's look at what they did do at the time. Of all the options available, Seahawk management really did Hutch a "solid" by putting the Transit ion Tag on him. This allowed him to go out and shop himself on the open market and then come back to the Hawks and say, "If you want to keep me, here's what everyone else out there thinks I'm worth." And think about that. The Hawks essentially told him this: We're not going to pay you what we think you're worth. We're not going to pay you what other offensive lineman get paid….we're going to pay you what every other team in the league thinks you're worth. That is the difference between selling your old couch at a garage sale in your neighborhood versus selling it on eBay! The Hawks allowed him to go out into the market.

Let me put it to you another way: If you were a hotshot employee at Safeway and it was time to renew your contract, which of the following would be the best option for you:

A) Sit down with management at Safeway and listen to them tell you what they think you're worth.

B) Go to Albertson's, Whole Foods, QFC and Piggly Wiggly and see what they think you're worth and then take your best offer back to Safeway.

And in the Seahawks' defense, they thought they would get to enter the last bid at the eBay auction. And so did everyone else until the NFL allowed this ridiculous "poison pill" clause agent Tom Condon wrote into the contract. The spirit of the Transition Tag was that the original team would get the opportunity to match the contract no matter what. THE END! This particular poison pill made that impossible and the NFL, for whatever reason, allowed it. As super-lawyer Jackie Chiles from Seinfeld would say: "It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous."

So if you want to get mad at someone over this whole thing, here is a list of people to be mad at:

1) Steve Hutchinson

2) Steve Hutchinson's agent

3) The NFL

4) Steve Hutchinson

5) The NFL

Be careful selecting option #1 & #4. I interviewed Hutch in the locker room after practice one day. Scariest human being I've ever been around.

All of that aside, here's one argument in favor of paying Hutch, A GUARD, whatever he wanted: That crap last Sunday when Darnell Dockett shoved his forearm into Matt Hasselbeck's neck…that would've been "handled"….by Hutch. Hutch was a quiet leader but he was THE Alpha Dog.

Man I miss Hutch!

By Matt Pitman

Darnell Dockett has been pretty pointed in his reaction to being called out by people around the league for his elbow to the throat of Matt Hasselbeck after a play in 2nd quarter of Sunday's game against the Cardinals.

Did you hear ESPN's Tim Hasselbeck today on Brock & Salk? Click below to listen...and, WOW!

In case you have been living under a rock and have no idea what we're taking about, welcome back from your week long nap, and click here to get the scoop.

Today Dockett met with reports in Arizona discussing the situation and really downplayed any wrong doing or sour intentions.

Click here as Dockett says the entire thing is being blown out of proportion.

Click here to listen to Dockett say he hopes there will be no ill will between the Seahawks and himself.

And click here as Dockett sings the praises of Matt Hasselbeck.

For the full interview and audio of Darnell Dockett's pow wow with the media, click below.

And finally, to bring it all home, check out this gem. Man, I love youtube!

Now that you've read the tweets from Monday and hear Dockett's response, leave your comments below. You buy what Dockett is saying? He doesn't want to be labeled a dirty player, but is he? Chime in!

By Matt Pitman

Jim Mora leads off every Wednesday press conference by listening the teams injuries, and the only player he mentioned today was Julius Jones, who is out this week with bruised ribs.

He did not mention injuries to Marcus Trufant or Josh Wilson, but the two did not practice on Wednesday, with what the team lists as concussions.

Here is the injury report.

Out

RB Julius Jones (Chest)

Did Not Participate

DT Craig Terrill (Shoulder)

CB Marcus Trufant (Concussion)

CB Josh Wilson (Concussion)

Full Participation

C Chris Spencer (Broken thumb)

By Matt Pitman

Click here to listen to Jim Mora's weekly Wednesday press conference.

Mora says the team is healthy as it begins the practice week today. The lone exception is Julius Jones who is still recovering from a bruised lung. Jones will not play Sunday, but Mora is hopeful he will be back next week when the Seahawks go on the road to St. Louis. "He's doing better, he was in meetings today, said he's feeling good," Mora said.

That means Justin Forsett will get the starting nod at tailback Sunday in Minnesota. Forsett made the most of an opportunity to shine in Arizona, rushing for a career high 123 yards and scoring his first NFL touchdown. What if he is able to turn in another solid game Sunday? Could this be the start of Forsett eating into carries that would previously had gone to Jones? Mora says the philosophy with distributing the carries will remain the same, "What it might do is just force us to adjust how we split the workload more, which we've tried to be conscious of going into every game. But I've said it a couple of times, if a guy gets hot, let him run," Mora said. Adding, "We're going to use all three of those guys now." Louis Rankin will also figure significantly into the Seahawks game plan this Sunday.

The biggest change involving Forsett and Rankin, at least this week, will be the balance of the kick return duties. "It does change things. You saw in the second half last week we put Ben Obomanu back there. We'll continue to leave Louis back there and have Ben back there with him, and give Justin a little break," Mora said.

On a side note, Matt Hasselbeck will fully participate in practice today. The past two weeks Hasselbeck has been limited on Wednesdays, two weeks ago with the ribs, and last week with a sore shoulder.

Sizing Up The Vikings

Mora acknowledged that the Minnesota Vikings might be as complete a team as the Seahawks will face all season. "They do not have an obvious weakness on their football team, anywhere," Mora said. There is a reason they are 8 and 1." Mora said the addition of Brett Favre is obviously a big part of what the Vikings are doing at 8 and 1.

Another key component? You guessed, Jared Allen. Who is just a beast, leading the NFC with 10.5 sacks. "All you have to do is watch that Green Bay game, it's hard to sleep," Mora said of watching Jared Allen on film. In that game against the Packers, Allen racked up 3 sacks of Aaron Rogers.

Mora hopes Sean Locklear can build upon his return to action last week, after missing 2 months with a high ankle sprain. Locklear struggled at times against Arizona's pass rush. "He's going to be better this week. Sean is an athletic guy who moves his feet well and is good pass protector. But we'll still have to give him some help because Jared Allen is a special right end," Mora said.

But the Vikings front is more than Jared Allen. The Vikings defense as a whole ranks #1 in the NFL with 34 sacks. In addition to Allen's 10.5 sacks, DT Kevin Williams has 6, and left DE Ray Edwards has 5.5. That's 3 of the Vikings four starting d-linemen ranking among the top 7 NFC sack leaders.

So that's just a glimpse into the gory details of the Vikings. A small glimpse. Didn't even hit on #28 yet.

I'm off to watch practice, and will catch up with a few of the guys afterwards, and also have the practice report up here later on today.

Please leave any comments below. Are you shaking in your boots? Maybe that's out of your system at this point in a 3-6 season. Frankly I'm excited for this game, just to get a good look at a really really good Vikings team that has designs on a conference title. Good luck getting past New Orleans though. Comment away!

By Matt Pitman

After Jim Mora had some pretty pointed comments about Darnell Dockett's elbow to the throat of Matt Hasselbeck in the second quarter of Sunday's game, Dockett has taken to Twitter to fire back.

First, here is what Mora said about the incident. Bear in mind that Mora never once spoke specifically about Dockett. Mora was speaking more to the lack of attention (none) it drew from the officials. Clearly Mora thought a flag for unnecessary roughness, or something, should have been thrown.

"I don't like it when it's our quarterback. But If they're not going to call it, then I'd like to see our guys do it to their quarterback, if they're not going to call it. I don't know what the rule is, I haven't heard back yet, so I don't know what they're seeing there. If that's not going to be called, then we should be doing it," Mora said. He added "I would never advocate us doing anything that is illegal, nor would I advocate us doing anything that would intentionally harm another player. But if that's legal, then we should be doing it. It has an effect on the quarterback when he can't breathe, when Matt's getting up and he can't breathe (motioning choking and gasping for air), I'd like to see their quarterback doing that."

Click below to listen to Mora's comments about incident involving Dockett and Hasselbeck

Well Dockett obviously heard that and fired back on his twitter page.

"Dear coach mora, its football s**t happens if u ever played the game ud understand, really I would(n't) try to hurt matt. He's a good guy.

Before that message to Mora, Dockett mentioned Hasselbeck in a tweet apologizing for the elbow to the throat, calling it an accident.

"I don't normally do this but I got much respect for @MatthewHass8 U 1 tough player good luck and stay healthy, the forarm was by accident!

And a few tweets after that, Dockett issued this message to Twitter nation.

"Dear ppl who voice thr opinon abt me on twttr Just a #reminder I wldnt giv a flying ***K. wht yall think of me! Now back 2 my cheesecake!"

Sounds like the big man is going out of his way to make it clear he meant no harm with the elbow. Apparently, he also digs cheesecake, cooking, and watching movies in the hot tub. I'll be following @ddockett on Twitter, for entertainment value if anything else.

I'd love to hear what you think about this, so please leave your comments below. Is too much being made of this? Should the refs have thrown a flag? Would you be surprised if Dockett is a little lighter in the wallet after the officials in the replay office get their hands on the tape after they review it, and the other 16 plays Mora submitted?

Start chiming in! Oh, and feel free to leave your Twitter names if you have one.

By Matt Pitman from VMAC

Jim Mora says he turned in 17 plays from the Seahawks 31-20 loss at Arizona to the league's officiating office for review on Monday. He says that is roughly 3 times as many as he normally would in a given week, and is the most he has ever submitted after any game he has coached.

Among the plays he wants to league to look over again are questionable pass interference calls and illegal contact calls, and Darnell Dockett's arm to the neck of Matt Hasselbeck after the Seahawks QB was sacked in the 2nd quarter.

Of the PI call against Josh Wilson, which came in the first quarter on Arizona's 3rd offensive possession, Mora said "The one where Fitzgerald grabbed him by the facemask and pulled his head down? Yeah I question that one."

Then there was Darnell Dockett driving an elbow into the throat of Matt Hasselbeck as Dockett was getting up after the whistle. Hasselbeck had just been sacked by Clark Haggans. Hasselbeck could be seen grabbing and massaging his neck, and Mora said his quarterback was gasping for air. There was no penalty called for the action. Mora was still pretty livid about the incident a day later. "I don't like it when it's our quarterback. But If they're not going to call it, then I'd like to see our guys do it to their quarterback, if they're not going to call it. I don't know what the rule is, I haven't heard back yet, so I don't know what they're seeing there. If that's not going to be called, then we should be doing it," Mora said.

Click here to listen to Mora's Monday afternoon press conference.

What's Next For Running Game?

Mora said he does not expect Julius Jones to be available Sunday against the Vikings in Minnesota. Jones has a bruised lung and possibly a cracked rib. The two spoke on Monday morning from the airport as Jones made his way back to Seattle. Mora says aside from the normal bumps and bruises, the Seahawks emerged from the game free of injury.

So if Jones is in fact out of the mix for at least this week, get ready to see more of Justin Forsett and Louis Rankin. Forsett turned in a career day, rushing for 123 yard and a touchdown in the loss to Arizona, and Rankin provided a nice change of pace and showed the ability to pick up yards receiving out of the backfield. "There was a buzz on our sideline yesterday when those guys got rolling. It's something that we have not felt this year." Mora said.

We'll also see what Justin Forsett looks like with a large share of carries. His 17 carries yesterday was by far his career high in two NFL seasons. His previous high was 6 in the Jacksonville game. But if you take a look at his carries from his senior year at Cal, he has been a workhorse in the past, averaging 23.5 carries a game in his final college season.

Please leave your comments below. Are you with Mora that the refs were way too whistle happy, especially against the Seahawks DB's? How ridiculous was illegal contact getting called against Trufant on nothing more than incidental contact with Fitzgerald? And what about Darnell Dockett's elbow to Hasselbeck's throat?