Just Blame All The Seahawks

Dennis Erickson tried to take the blame.

But his team wouldn’t let him.

The Seattle Seahawks coach had barely reached the podium in the interview room before he assumed culpability for his team’s sluggish play in a 16-10 loss to the Jets on Sunday.

“Number one, obviously, we weren’t ready to play,” Erickson said. “We came out flat, not ready to play, and anytime that happens, it’s my damn fault.”

But according to various Seahawks, Erickson did his best to motivate them into a strong effort against an unimposing 2-9 Jets team.

“You can’t let the coach be the fall guy, the coach had nothing to do with it,” Hawk cornerback Carlton Gray said. “It’s not his fault, he’s a professional and he’s trying to keep the heat off the players, but it’s the players’ fault.

“We knew exactly what they were going to do, we had a good game plan,” Gray said. “All week long, coach Erickson kept telling us, this is not a bad football team, don’t look past this team. He did everything he’s supposed to do to get a team ready to play, we just didn’t do what we were supposed to do.”

And that shortcoming left some of the Hawks feeling guilty, as if they owed the coaching staff an apology.

“It’s a shame because we deserve better for ourselves, the fans deserve better and most of all, this coaching staff deserves a better performance from its players than it got today,” Hawk Trey Junkin said. “This wasn’t the coaches’ fault; the coaches had a helluva game plan and we just didn’t go out and execute. They had us ready, but we didn’t do the job.”

Quarterback Rick Mirer said that the week of practice was not as sharp as those they’d had during their three-game winning streak.

”(Practices) weren’t great and I wasn’t great, but that happens from time to time,” Mirer said. “And a lot of times, you play the way you practice.”

But Erickson, Mirer said, is not the one to blame.

“We need to do our jobs better,” Mirer said. “We didn’t take (the Jets) lightly by any means, we just didn’t play well. Coach Erickson can’t do much more than what he did. He gave us a chance and we didn’t make the plays work.”

Early exit

Hawk reserve safety Tony Covington was tossed out of the game late in the second quarter after a personal foul on a punt.

“It was a bunch of bull,” Covington said of the expulsion that left Seattle shorthanded in the secondary. “I went down to cover a punt and this guy just smoked me from behind, so I turned to get his hands off me and swung a forearm, but he kept coming at me.

“As usual, the refs never saw the first part of it,” Covington said.

Rapid rookie

Seattle’s rookie receiver Joey Galloway had only three catches for 24 yards, but he made a real impression on the gasping Jets defensive backs who tried to cover him on repeated fly patterns deep.

“That is the fastest guy in the league,” New York corner back Aaron Glenn said. “That guy is unbelievable, you can ask any other defensive back in this locker room, he has speed that I haven’t seen in a long time.”

Jet linebacker Chad Cascadden attended Wisconsin when Galloway was at Ohio State, so he had an idea what to expect.

“I never actually had to play against him, but I never remember him being that fast,” Cascadden said. “He’s phenomenal; he’s like a horse.”

Galloway got open on several deep balls, but could not hook up with Mirer.

“I do my job and he does his, hopefully we can work on that next week and start making those plays,” Galloway said.

Galloway had something of a showdown with the league’s other leading rookie receiver, Jet Wayne Chrebet, who led Galloway 44-43 in catches coming into the game.

Galloway took over the rookie lead with his three receptions compared to Chrebet’s one.

Notes

Scheduled to start, Jets guard Carlton Haselrig was “excused for personal reasons,” Jets coach Rich Kotite said.

- The Jets came into the game with the worst rushing attack in the league, but Adrian Murrell picked up 116 yards on 24 carries and also pulled in seven receptions for 37 yards.

- Seattle’s 192 yards of offense was the lowest output of the year.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo Graphic: Jets 16, Hawks 10