Meaningless victory costly

Published 11:49 pm Thursday, August 30, 2007

SEATTLE – Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander looked pretty good … in baseball hats.

Marcus Pollard made a couple nice catches … in warmups.

Safeties Deon Grant and Brian Russell were in constant communication … on the sidelines.

When the Seattle Seahawks hosted the Oakland Raiders in Thursday’s preseason finale, the fans among a sellout crowd weren’t the only ones idly looking on. Seventeen starters took the night off, making the 19-14 win all but meaningless to those fans who were hoping to get a feel for the 2007 Seahawks.

But along the way, the unimportance of a preseason finale did have a couple of story lines worth following.

Defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs and rookie cornerback Josh Wilson, both of whom were expected to see plenty of playing time this season, left the game with injuries. Coach Mike Holmgren downplayed Wilson’s injury, while Tubbs could be out for a while.

“It appeared to be rather serious,” Holmgren said after the game.

Tubbs limped off the field late in the first quarter and had to be taken to the locker room on a cart. Tubbs, who is coming back from microfracture surgery on his left knee, hurt his right knee and did not return to the game.

“It’s hard very, very hard,” Holmgren said. “He worked hard to come back and was looking forward to playing.

“Call it unlucky, call it whatever, but the injury bug has kept him from reaching his potential on the field.”

Wilson was injured in the third quarter, hurting his left hip at the end of a Justin Fargas run.

“He’s pretty sore, but I think he’s going to be OK,” Holmgren said.

The injuries served as reminders of why players like Hasselbeck, Alexander and Walter Jones were not on the field. Without them, the Seahawks looked like a shell of the NFC contender they are expected to be.

There were a few reasons for concern, despite the lack of star players.

The first came from a 90-yard punt return by Oakland’s Johnnie Lee Higgins that came against a coverage unit that included many of the Seahawks expected to be playing special teams during the regular season.

Also raising a red flag was the early play of Wilson, a 5-foot-9 speedster who struggled with the physicality of 6-5, 230-pound wide receiver Mike Williams and 6-1, 210-pound Travis Taylor during the first half.

Among those who helped themselves were wide receiver Nate Burleson, who had a game-high three receptions for 52 yards, including a second-quarter touchdown reception from Seneca Wallace.

Fullback Leonard Weaver seemed to make up for two preseason duds by having a great game as a blocker Saturday, but he also dropped a pass and fumbled on one of his 16 carries.

Weaver finished with 74 yards on the ground, helped in part by some long runs on third-down draw plays.

Said Holmgren of Weaver’s prospects to make the team: “That’s one of those close calls we’re going to have to make.”