Hawks were, too, that bad

RENTON, Wash. – Jim Mora’s optimism is ebbing.

The Seahawks coach didn’t have the same fiery emotion and frustration Monday as he did immediately after his team’s most lopsided loss of the season, 34-7 at Houston on Sunday.

Yet he had the same impression of the result.

“I’m very discouraged right now. I’m as discouraged now as I’ve been in any game of my career,” Mora said immediately after his 5-8 team seemed overmatched against the Texans, who were on a four-game losing streak.

Asked on his televised coach’s show what he could take away from Houston, Mora said, “Nothing. We got our butts handed to us.”

Then he added, “if you are getting paid by Paul Allen and the Seahawks, your butt is on notice.”

“Sometimes I walk in here on Mondays and say it wasn’t as bad as it looked on the field,” Mora said. “I felt like (this) film was just about as bad as it was while watching … in person.”

Wide receiver Nate Burleson is limping on an injured ankle, awaiting results of an MRI. Fourth overall draft choice Aaron Curry has a hip pointer, but the $34 million linebacker may play Sunday against Tampa Bay. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is OK after getting battered again.

“Really a pathetic, pitiful performance. That’s just the two words that I can think of, off the top of my head,” Seahawks running back Julius Jones said. “We came out and didn’t look like a professional team.”

Hasselbeck had already been playing with broken ribs and a sore shoulder. He got a banged thumb and more pain in the shoulder while the Texans sacked him three times and hit him after 10 other throws. He briefly went out hurt in the second half but returned.

Mora said the team will decide this week how many, if any, offensive lineman will lose their jobs.

“We are discussing the possibilities. It’s too early for me to say specifically what those may be,” Mora said. “We have to be prepared to shake it up.”