710 ESPN Seattle
Updated Nov 18, 2009 - 1:10 pm
Mora: Jones out for Vikings game, Forsett to start
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E-mail thisBy 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!
Matt Pitman covers the Seattle Seahawks for 710 ESPN Seattle
and MyNorthwest.com. Matt has reported on Seattle sports
since 2000 and is the host for the Mariners pre and post game
shows on 710 ESPN Seattle. Follow Matt on Twitter @mattpitman
For the past 5 years, David Wyman has been a part of the
Seahawks pre and post game team on KIRO-AM and KIRO-FM. Dave
is a former NFL linebacker. He was a 2nd round draft choice
of the Seattle Seahawks in 1987 and was a 5-year starter for
the Hawks before signing a free-agent contract with the
Denver Broncos in 1993.Copyright © 2010 Bonneville International. All rights reserved.
