Temper, temper

SEATTLE – At the moment Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Tyler Brayton did the unthinkable, Seattle Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens was thinking about only one thing.

Coach Mike Holmgren.

Stevens laughed, threw up his arms and walked away after Brayton kneed him in the groin, mainly because he preferred that pain to the ire of Holmgren.

“Obviously, coach Holmgren doesn’t like unsportsmanlike (penalties),” Stevens said after Monday’s 16-0 win over the Raiders. “Me already having one (earlier in the game), I wasn’t going to lose my cool.”

Stevens got a tongue-lashing when his unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty following a head-butt of Raiders safety Stuart Schweigert cost the Seattle offense 15 yards. Holmgren temporarily pulled Stevens and gave him a piece of his mind.

“He told me I can’t afford to do that stuff and take our team out of field position,” Stevens said. “Obviously, I was frustrated about not making a play.”

After the game, Holmgren told reporters: “We were down there ready to score. It was a huge thing, so I took him out.”

Stevens took the benching to heart, holding his cool in the final minutes of the game.

He and Brayton had been going at each other during the entire drive, and things finally came to a head when the duo got tangled up after a play with less than two minutes left. Brayton grabbed Stevens, appeared to head-butt him, then kneed him right in the groin. Stevens said the kick missed its intended target – “lucky for me,” the tight end said – and was able to laugh it off afterward.

“Football’s a rough sport,” Stevens said. “I was getting after him a little bit, and he started getting upset about getting beat. It happens. … I was shocked he tried to do that. But what am I going to say?”

Brayton, a Pasco native, was ejected and was apologetic afterward.

“I made a mistake,” he said. “I’ll be the first to admit I made a mistake. I let my emotions get the best of me, and that’s not a good thing when you do that.”

Stevens said he could feel Brayton’s frustration growing, but he didn’t expect the reaction he got.

“We were tussling that whole (final) drive,” Stevens said. “I knew he was getting pretty hot about it. I didn’t want to talk to coach Holmgren again, so I got away from it.”

Hasselbeck in the house

After watching the loss to Kansas City on television, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was on the sideline.

“There was a lot of emotion, and the stadium was electric, so it was hard to watch,” said Hasselbeck, who has not played the past two games because of a sprained right knee. “But it made it a lot easier because the guys were playing so well.”

Hasselbeck, who is no longer using crutches, said he’s still targeting the Nov. 19 game at San Francisco for his return.

“That’s my hope,” he said. “But we’ll see. I’ve never had this injury. I’m just doing what I can to try to stay on schedule, hopefully get a little ahead of schedule. But we’ll see.”

Punting adjustments

After one of the most frustrating halves of his short NFL career, rookie punter Ryan Plackemeier got some key advice from special teams coach Bob Casullo before turning it around after halftime.

“He told me to stop worrying about the weather,” Plackemeier said. “He said, ‘That’s what we got a young, strong punter for.’ That gave me a little bit of confidence going into the second half.”

Plackemeier punted only three times before halftime, but one went out of bounds at the Oakland 42-yard line, while another traveled only 19 yards. He admitted the 19-yarder went off the side of his foot due in part to the wind, but he refused to use that as an excuse.

“I can’t blame my day on the wind,” said Plackemeier, whose five second-half kicks included a 63-yarder. “It makes me concentrate a little more, but the fact that we play in Seattle, we’ve got to use that to our advantage.”

Temporary replacement

Wide receiver Nate Burleson, who handled all the punt-return duties for the first time this season, said his new role was not necessarily a permanent thing.

“Jimmy (Williams) has been doing a great job, so I’m not replacing Jimmy by any means,” said Burleson, who averaged 9.8 yards on four returns Monday. “I think it’s just an opportunity for me to go out there and make something happen.

“… He didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not like he made a mistake. Either one of us could be there next week. You just don’t know. Having two good returners on the team can’t be a bad thing.”

Quick slants

Seahawks linebacker Leroy Hill aggravated a neck stinger late in the first half and did not return. Kevin Bentley replaced him for the second half. … Center Robbie Tobeck sprained his knee in the second half but only missed a few plays.