Seattle takes long view

RENTON, Wash. – The Seattle Seahawks know they have their doubters. Plenty of people have written them off after a 2-4 start.

But after practicing for the last time before taking their bye weekend, the Seahawks had a message for those who have given up on the 2009 season.

“I know that there’s times in a season where a team can pull apart or pull together, and after a performance like we had, at home, I think people have definitely counted us out, I think there’s a lot of negativity around our team. I’ve heard people say that the season is over, we’ve got no chance,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “That’s ridiculous. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Hasselbeck insists that the players haven’t turned against each other, that the attitude is still right. The players have four days off to relax, then they will get back to trying to fix the problems that have led to a disappointing start.

“For us as a team, this is an opportunity for us to pull together and prove people wrong, but it’s also an opportunity where you’ve seen teams in the past, point the finger at each other, maybe whisper and doubt the plan that the coaches have put forth,” Hasselbeck said. “Mentally we’ve got to rise above all that stuff. It would be easy for us to make excuses about whatever, but what’s important is that we just block that stuff out and just continue to work hard and just stay together.”

The Seahawks obviously aren’t where they’d like to be heading into their bye. Fresh off a 24-point home loss to a division rival, it would be easy to assuming more losses lie ahead, and that Seattle is heading toward a repeat of 2008. But inside the locker room this week, the players have followed the lead of optimistic head coach Jim Mora, and insist that a turnaround is still within reach.

“There’s 10 games left,” receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. “There’s 10 games left. … The Broncos have won six in a row, the Colts have won six in a row, there’s a lot of teams that have won a lot of games in a row. So if we can string together six in a row, we 8-4, y’all like us again. So you never know what can happen.”

Houshmandzadeh and Hasselbeck have spent time this week after practice working together to improve timing and communication. Both hope it is just one step toward improving an offense that struggled to move the ball against the Cardinals last weekend.

“You can win every game you play as long as you approach it like that and prepare like that,” Houshmandzadeh said. “What you do now kind of shows you what’s going to happen in the future, so if we put that work in next week, the future should be great on Sunday. Every week is different, I’m very optimistic about the rest of the season. Very.”

Seahawks make move

The Seahawks signed Mike Gibson, a second-year guard from Cal. Gibson, a sixth-round draft pick last year, was signed off of Philadelphia’s practice squad. Kyle Williams, who was released Tuesday, was re-signed to the practice squad, and guard Mark Lewis was waived from the practice squad to make room for Williams.