Mirer Remains Starter, But … Question Is, Who Will Finish Sunday For The Seahawks

Rick Mirer will be the Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback when the game against the Philadelphia Eagles starts this Sunday.

But whether he’ll be on the field when the game ends depends on how he performs.

Asked about who will start, Hawks coach Dennis Erickson said he was not planning a change, despite Mirer’s erratic performance in Sunday’s 16-10 loss to the New York Jets.

“That won’t change,” Erickson said. “However, if things aren’t going real well, I’m not opposed to making a change during the game. Rick did not play well (against the Jets), but he wasn’t alone.

“There wasn’t anybody who played well,” Erickson said. “I can’t give you the name of one single person who played well on offense.”

Erickson said he thought about turning the offense over to backup quarterback John Friesz early in the second half, “but then we came out and moved the football pretty good in the third quarter and there was no reason to (change).”

Mirer’s status is becoming a timely issue since the team must kick in a $3.3 million bonus in mid-December to activate the final two years of his contract.

Erickson said Mirer’s progress was a matter of “time and experience” and he’ll be better next year than he is this year.

He would not comment, however, on what his recommendation would be on whether the team should write the check to guarantee they’ll keep him around.

“I’ve got to sit down with the owner before I make a statement like that,” Erickson said. “But I just made the statement that I think he’s going to be a good player.”

In the Hawks’ locker room Monday afternoon, Mirer was asked what he had seen on the game tapes.

“Bad things,” he said.

With 19 interceptions, Mirer leads the NFL in that negative category. And Sunday, his inability to hook up with a wide-open Joey Galloway led to repeated booing from the fans.

“I’m bummed out, like usual,” Mirer said of the game’s emotional residue. “We had a chance to do something pretty big (improve to 6-6), but we lost. We go out and do good things and set ourselves up for big things and then we go and get the wind knocked out of us.”

And if Mirer takes it hard, so be it - losing is difficult to swallow, he said.

“I hate it; I refuse to act like it’s OK,” Mirer said. “Because it’s not right, I don’t want to lose. Emotionally, it’s hard to handle, but somehow you have to give it up and move on to the next one.

“All I can do is try to do what I can do the best,” he said. “But I see myself making mistakes I never made before. I think it’s because we’re trying so hard to take a step (up).”

Hunter William Friesz (0-1)

For the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday’s six-point loss to the Jets was a case of “close but no cigar.”

The cigars showed up Monday.

They were handed out by Friesz, mementos of the Saturday evening birth of his first child - Hunter William Friesz.

When Friesz finished the team’s walk-through on Saturday, his wife, Julie, let him know the baby was not going to wait for the Sunday afternoon kickoff.

But before the stork could land, the Frieszes drove to Sea-Tac Airport to pick up Julie’s mother. At 8:20 p.m., 8-pound, 4-ounce Hunter William arrived at Swedish Hospital.

Hunter William? “Julie picked it out; I liked the name Jake,” Friesz said.

With all the excitement, Friesz decided to just return to his home around midnight rather than go back to the team hotel.

“It surprised Coach (Tom) Catlin because he came to check my room and nobody had given him the message, so he was excited - he thought he caught one.”

Young Hunter arrived on the eve of a dreadful Seahawks loss, though. “I guess we didn’t bring him in on a good note,” said Friesz, who was still stunned by the event - the birth, not the defeat.

“You use the word amazing to describe it, but I don’t think that quite does it justice.”

Hawks notes

The Jets’ plan to jam defenders up to the line of scrimmage to stop the Seattle rushing attack is a strategy that others will likely copy.

“We’re going to have to be able to execute our passing game because I’ll guarantee that’s what we’re going to see the next month,” Erickson said. “They’re going to take away the running game.”

The Hawks rotated offensive linemen during much of the Jets game, and never were able to provide consistent protection. Don’t expect that approach anymore.

“We’re going to sit down and settle that,” Erickson said. “I’m not sure what the lineup will be, but we’re going to start five guys and stay with them longer.”

The Hawks’ bubble-dome practice facility, which blew down two weeks ago, is still not back in place and the team will continue to practice in the Kingdome.

, DataTimes