RENTON — Julius Jones is still the Seahawks starting running back, Seattle coach Jim Mora said, but it’s not yet known if Jones will be the starter this week against San Francisco.
Jones, who has missed the past two games with a bruised lung, was a game-day scratch before Sunday’s win in St. Louis because there was still pain in his chest. Filling in for Jones, Justin Forsett rushed for 130 yards in his second career start. The second-year back rushed for 123 yards two weeks earlier coming off the bench after Jones suffered his injury in a loss to Arizona.
Mora at first made it sound like the starting job was not locked down when asked who would start if Jones could play.
“I can’t answer that right now,” Mora said. “We’ll just have to see where we are as the week goes on.”
But pressed further on the issue, Mora clarified that a healthy Jones would still get the nod over Forsett.
“Julius is our starting running back,” he said. “He’s our starting running back. That’s what he is… If he’s fully healthy, and he’s had a full week of practice, and everybody feels comfortable that he can bear the brunt of the work load that he would need to handle to be effective, then he would start.”
But even if Forsett goes back to his role of backup and third-down back, expect more carries for him after a pair of strong outings in the last three games.
“Justin’s earned the right to carry the ball off of what he did at Arizona and what he did this week, so we’re going to make sure he gets touches,” Mora said “But if we can have two guys running the ball effectively, then that’s going to help us. What we need to do—regardless of who’s running the ball — is we need to run the ball, and run it well. That’s a function of the team.”
Hawks staying quiet on Ruskell
Seahawks officials said they weren’t going to address the Web report on Profootballweekly.com that said team president and GM Tim Ruskell had been told he would not be retained after the season.
Asked about it in his press conference, Mora said he wasn’t even aware of the rumor.
“I haven’t seen those reports, I’m sorry,” he said. “…We’re pretty involved with St. Louis Rams cleanup and San Francisco prep. We live in a cave. We’re cavemen.”
The report on the Web site cited an anonymous source and didn’t have a byline on the story. It came out Sunday afternoon when the team was returning from St. Louis after a victory, and the person who would make the final decision on Ruskell, team owner Paul Allen, was not with the team and is currently undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Ruskell is in the final year of a five-year contract.
Hasselbeck or Hasselhoff?
Receiver Nate Burleson said the team had a good laugh watching a replay of Matt Hasselbeck’s 19-yard run during Monday’s film session, and compared the quarterback’s running form to that of a Baywatch lifeguard.
And it was no surprise when Mora confirmed that Hasselbeck was doing a bit of improvising on the play. Hasselbeck hinted at that after the game, but didn’t come out and admit he went off script with the bootleg run. His head coach was just fine with a little creativity.
“That was Matt being a heads-up, smart quarterback, aware of the situation,” Mora said. “That was Matt. That was a nice play by him…He fooled everybody. For a second (I was fooled too), and then I thought, initially, that he missed the handoff, and then realized, no he didn’t. That was him just playing ball.”
Going with his gut
Asked about his decision to go for it on fourth and one rather than settle for a field goal — a move that led to a touchdown — Mora said he felt like, given his team’s record and their struggles on the road, it was the right move.
“It was really just a gut decision,” he said. “I felt like our team, this football team, needed to do that at that time. They needed to see that I had confidence in them to call that play — the offensive line, the tight ends, the running backs—the team needed to say, ‘Okay, you know what? Our coach has confidence to call this play at this time, and we’re going to go get it.’ That can be something we build on.”
Redding’s status unknown
Cory Redding suffered a concussion in the game, and Mora said he didn’t yet know if the defensive end would return this week.
“We’ll just have to see how he is later in the week, but we’ll be careful in that regard,” Mora said.
Redding has recorded a sack in each of the past two games, his first two of the season.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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