Seahawks Notebook: Duane Brown makes his Seattle debut

Published 1:30 am Sunday, November 5, 2017

SEATTLE — Duane Brown had quite an eight-day stretch.

Just over a week ago, the All-Pro offensive tackle made his season debut with the Houston Texans in a 41-38 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field. A week later, he found himself making his debut as a Seahawk in a 17-14 loss Sunday to visiting Washington.

That’s two losses with two different teams in the same stadium a week a part. Both times the game-winning touchdown came inside the final minute.

“That’s the NFL,” Brown said. “You have a lot of talent on both teams, and good coaching staffs on both teams that are scheming things up and sometimes it comes down to the last two minutes. One team makes a couple more plays than the other, and I think for us the deciding factor was the penalties.”

Brown committed one false-start penalty in his debut, but he was hardly alone as the offense as a whole was whistled for 10 penalties.

He held out from Houston’s first six games in search of a new contract, which he did not receive. He started 132 games for Houston in 10 seasons before being dealt to Seattle, where he got a crash course in the Seahawks’ schemes and terminology.

“The O-line is already a tight-knit group, so just trying to mesh with them and be a part of that has been good,” Brown said. “I made sure I stayed in shape. The workload here is intense so I got a lot of reps this week, I got my conditioning level up to where I need to be and it’s been fine.”

Brown took a knee during the national anthem while most of Seattle’s defensive linemen stayed seated. Dwight Freeney and Nazair Jones stood during the anthem.

Seahawks improve rushing numbers

Seattle rushed for 148 yards Sunday, which is the second-highest total in a game this season.

More than half came from the legs of quarterback Russell Wilson, who ran for 77 yards on 10 attempts. The majority of Wilson’s carries came on scrambles, but he kept the ball a couple of times on the zone-read option.

Running back Thomas Rawls finished with 39 yards on nine carries after entering the game following a groin injury to starter Eddie Lacy.

Sunday’s performance came after Seattle rushed for just 33 yards on 21 carries in the win over Houston.

“I’m not surprised because of the preparation that we put in all week, and also because Duane got in here too, which helped us get some more push up front,” Rawls said. “I think we did a nice job of progressing with the run game this week.”

Rice returns

Former Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice was back at CenturyLink Field Sunday to raise the 12th Man flag. Rice, acquired by the Seahawks in a 2011 trade with Minnesota, played three seasons with the Seahawks and caught 97 passes for 1,463 yards and 12 touchdowns.

He finished his seven-year NFL career with 81 games and 243 receptions for 3,592 yards and 30 touchdowns. He was a member of the Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning team in 2013 before retiring because of concussions.

Reactions mixed on this week’s quick turnaround

Seattle plays at Arizona on Thursday night. Some team members, including quarterback Russell Wilson and head coach Pete Carroll, welcome the opportunity to refocus right away.

Michael Bennett disagreed.

“It’s not that good,” Bennett said. “It hurts to play out there. You have to take care of your body really well this week because of the short week. Thursday Night Football is always a hard game for both teams and it’s about who can prepare mentally the best and who can be ready for the game on Thursday.”

McDougald makes first start with Seattle

With All-Pro safety Earl Thomas sidelined with a hamstring injury, Bradley McDougald started at free safety Sunday.

A five-year veteran out of the University of Kansas, McDougald is in his first year with Seattle. Sunday was his first start with the Seahawks.

“I thought he did fine,” Carroll said. “They didn’t get anything down the middle on us all day long. I thought he did a good job. I don’t think we skipped a beat right there.”

Carroll said he didn’t know if Thomas would be ready for Thursday night.

Notes

Safety Kam Chancellor, linebacker Bobby Wagner, cornerback Jeremy Lane, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson and running back C.J. Prosise were all questionable during the week. Chancellor and Wagner both played. Lane, Richardson and Prosise joined Thomas among Seattle’s inactives. … Marcus Smith (potential concussion), D.J. Alexander (ankle), Tre Madden (calf) and Lacy (groin) all sustained injuries during Sunday’s game. There were no postgame updates as to the severity of those injuries. … Sunday’s loss marked the first time kicker Blair Walsh has missed two field goals of less than 50 yards in a game in his career.