Carroll proud of how team responding to adversity

RENTON — The Seahawks have experienced plenty of losing in recent years, but this is something unfamiliar to their head coach.

Now Pete Carroll’s challenge is how he handles losing in a manner he hasn’t experienced in almost a decade, and in turn how his team responds to that.

Since turning USC into a dynasty, Carroll has known nothing but success, but after back-to-back losses in which the Seahawks have been outscored 74-10, Carroll is adjusting to a rebuilding project for the first time since 2001. That was the year Carroll took over at USC, and after winning his first game there, he lost four in a row. Since then, Carroll-coached teams had not lost consecutive games prior to Sunday.

“Well, I’m not sleeping as well as I like and I’m just racking my brain, competing to figure out what I can do to help,” Carroll said. “Like I said, that’s what my job is. How am I taking it? I’m okay about taking it; I’m just anxious about fixing it and helping everybody see what we can do better and move in the right direction … It’s hard, it’s challenging. It’s difficult to face our guys. It’s tough to see them struggle through it.”

The Seahawks felt like they had a pretty good thing going when they were 4-2 and in first place in the NFC West, but now they are a team searching for answers having been thoroughly beaten by Oakland and the New York Giants in consecutive games.

But even after Sunday’s 41-7 loss at Qwest Field, Carroll likes the way his players are responding to adversity.

“I’m really proud of this group, the way that they deal with stuff,” Carroll said. “They like the adversity in a sense, they take it on. I know our coaches are like that, which is really a good sign that we can be strong through the rigors of it. The cool thing is to come out on the other end and do something really good with the second half.”

The veterans on the team, despite playing on teams that won just nine games over the past two seasons, feel like the Seahawks won’t go into a tailspin again this season.

“I don’t think so,” cornerback Marcus Trufant said. “We’ve got a lot of pros on this team and we’ve got a great group of guys, a great coaching staff. We know what to do. Everybody knows we’ve got work to do, so that’s going to be our attitude — to get it fixed.”

One of the biggest reasons Carroll and his team aren’t getting too down is the fact that the Seahawks, despite their flaws, are still tied for first place. Seattle and St. Louis are both 4-4, while Arizona sits a game behind at 3-5 having blown a fourth-quarter lead against Minnesota on Sunday. So no, the Seahawks aren’t playing like they want to be right now, but they also are clinging to the fact that their division is still there for the taking.

“With the hits that we took in the last couple weeks, we’re fortunate to be where we are right now,” Carroll said. “That’s really important to notice and recognize. We have a chance to keep going here with our division, which is the goal of our program, is to own this division. That’s there for us. And here we go against the Cardinals there. We have a huge opportunity. I don’t lose sight of that. That keeps me on as well as just helping guys and getting the work done.”

Hawks on the mend

The best news from Sunday’s loss — OK, the only good news — was that there were no new injuries of significance. Safety Earl Thomas and tight end Chris Baker were both momentarily hobbled, but both returned to the game and should be fine to practice this week.

The Seahawk are also hoping to get several key starters back this week, including quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (concussion). “He had a good workout today,” Carroll said. “… Responded well, best he has, and looks very good at this point.”

Also expected to return to practice is defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, who has missed four games with a calf injury. “We’re expecting him to practice on Wednesday and be in there,” Carroll said. “He did practice a little bit last week, but wasn’t quite over the hump yet. So we think it’ll show up Wednesday and we just got to make sure to take care of him during the week.”

The hope is that left tackle Russell Okung could come back this week as well after missing two games with a high ankle sprain.

“He had a good workout today,” Carroll said. “He’ll be in there again tomorrow and we’ll just go day to day. He’s very close … He’s very hopeful, that he’ll be able to get back and help us.”

Carroll said defensive tackle Colin Cole and receiver Golden Tate will both be out a couple more weeks with ankle injuries.

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog