RENTON — Another week, another set of quarterback questions for Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks.
Matt Hasselbeck is expected to return to practice today after missing Sunday’s game with a hip injury, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he will get the start when the Seahawks host Ne
w Orleans in a playoff game Saturday. Until Carroll gets a better sense for just how healthy Hasselbeck is, the Seahawks coach doesn’t plan on making a decision between the veteran and Charlie Whitehurst, who was solid in Sunday’s division-clinching victory.
“We’ll find out during the week, I don’t know,” Carroll said. “I’ll let you know. We’re going to see how everybody is. I don’t need to determine that yet. I know you all want me to nail that for you, but I’m not going to because I don’t know.”
This was the third straight Monday press conference in which Carroll spent the bulk of his time fielding questions about his quarterback. After benching Hasselbeck in a loss to Atlanta, the question was whether or not Hasselbeck would keep his starting job. He did, but in Seattle’s next game, a loss in Tampa Bay, Hasselbeck left early with a hip injury, leading to a new set of questions last week. Hasselbeck was healthy enough to be declared active for Sunday’s win over the Rams, but because he was not 100 percent and did not practice for most of the week, Carroll went with Whitehurst.
Now, if Hasselbeck is indeed able to practice this week as expected, Carroll will have another decision to make.
“Matt Hasselbeck will be able to practice tomorrow and we think that he’ll not be limited at all to practice,” Carroll said. “So that should put together a good week for him to work his way back into playing for us.”
But that doesn’t necessarily mean Hasselbeck will start if he’s healthy enough to practice.
“We got to figure it out and make sure everybody’s OK,” Carroll said. “We’ll find out where we are in the next day or so and determine that. Charlie got banged around a little bit himself in his failure to slide effectively. He took a couple shots, so we’ll see how our guys are. Right now it looks like we’ll split reps with those guys at practice tomorrow and we’ll just find out where we are and we’ll figure it out as we go through the week.”
Hasselbeck, the Seahawks starter since 2002, was not happy being held out of the game despite being well enough to make it through a pregame workout. And that’s just fine with Carroll
“Like a competitor he wanted to play,” Carroll said. “He was ready to battle. I didn’t expect him to say, ‘Oh, great!’ He took it tough, he tried to talk me into it, and he wanted to go. It was perfect. That’s exactly the way he should have been.”
Hasselbeck had one of his best games of the season the last time the Seahawks played the Saints, completing 32 of 44 passes for 366 yards in a loss in New Orleans.
“He had a very good game against those guys,” Carroll said. “We threw the ball well, so that’s a factor too … That’s part of it and we have to take all that into account. I hope you just understand there’s just no reason to call this like you want me to right now, and so we’re not going to until we get all the information in and we can make the best choices that we can make. That’s for the game plan, that’s for the guys, that’s for all of that. Both guys are getting ready to start. Both guys are getting ready to play this football game.”
Quinn leaving
Defensive line coach Dan Quinn will leave the Seahawks after the season to become the defensive coordinator at the University of Florida, the school announced Monday. Quinn, who joined the Seahawks in 2009 under Jim Mora, was one of two coaches, along with defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, who was retained by Carroll.
“He’s a tremendous football coach,” Carroll said. “He’s a big factor for us and has been really a central figure in our whole approach. He’s had a lot of time in front of the players doing the things that he does and the things that he emphasizes for us. I had known Dan over the years because I tried to hire him in other opportunities, and have watched him, and finally having the chance to work with him I can see why he was so highly regarded and all of that.”
Carroll is no stranger to losing coaches having routinely lost assistants while at USC, including current Washington coach Steve Sarkisian and much of his staff, and while the Seahawks will be sorry to see Quinn go, Carroll understands why Quinn is leaving.
“This opportunity for Dan is one that he really, really covets,” Carroll said. “He wants to be in charge, he knows it’s a big time program, he’s knows it’s one where he can prove himself. He wants to be a head coach and will be a head coach very soon, and this kind of responsibility is really important to him right now. I hate to see him go, but I love the guy and will do anything to help him at any time and I know he’s going to be a great head coach very soon.”
Quinn will remain with the Seahawks for as long as they stay alive in the playoffs.
Injury updates
G Chester Pitts suffered what Carroll described as a “Pretty serious concussion” in Sunday’s game and has been ruled out for this week. Also out for Saturday’s game is TE Chris Baker, who has a fractured hip. WR Brandon Stokley, who missed Sunday’s game with a concussion, is questionable to return this week, Carroll said.
Seahawks prime time
Fans still tuned in to see two teams face off for a playoff berth even though neither had a winning record.
The Seahawks’ win over the St. Louis Rams to clinch the NFC West title with a 7-9 mark drew the highest preliminary television rating for the final game of “Sunday Night Football” in its five years on NBC.
Seattle’s 16-6 victory earned a 12.6 overnight rating and 19 share, up 11 percent from last year’s Bengals-Jets finale.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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