Hawks down Raiders

SEATTLE – Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander looked pretty good … in baseball hats.

Marcus Pollard made a couple of nice catches … in warmups.

Safeties Deon Grant and Brian Russell were in constant communication … on the sidelines.

When the Seattle Seahawks hosted the Oakland Raiders in Thursday’s preseason finale, the fans among a sellout crowd weren’t the only ones idly looking on. Seventeen starters took the night off, making the 19-14 win all but meaningless to those fans who were hoping to get a feel for the 2007 Seahawks.

But along the way, the unimportance of a preseason finale did have a couple of storylines worth following.

Defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs and rookie cornerback Josh Wilson, both of whom were expected to see plenty of playing time this season, left the game with injuries. Coach Mike Holmgren downplayed Wilson’s injury, while Tubbs could be out for a while.

“It appeared to be rather serious,” Holmgren said after the game.

Tubbs limped off the field late in the first quarter and had to be taken to the locker room on a cart. Tubbs, who is coming back from microfracture surgery on his left knee, hurt his right knee and did not return to the game.

“It’s hard – very, very hard,” Holmgren said. “He worked hard to come back and was looking forward to playing.

“Call it unlucky, call it whatever, but the injury bug has kept him from fulfilling his potential on the field.”

Wilson was injured in the third quarter, hurting his left hip at the end of a Justin Fargas run.

“He’s pretty sore, but I think he’s going to be OK,” Holmgren said.

The injuries served as reminders of why players like Hasselbeck, Alexander and Walter Jones were not on the field. Without them, the Seahawks looked like a shell of the NFC contenders they are expected to be.

There were a few reasons for concern, despite the lack of star players.

The first came from a 90-yard punt return by Oakland’s Johnnie Lee Higgins that came against a coverage unit that included many of the Seahawks expected to be playing special teams during the regular season.

Also raising a red flag was the early play of Wilson, a 5-foot-9 speedster who struggled with 6-5, 230-pound wide receiver Mike Williams and 6-1, 210-pound Travis Taylor during the first half.

Of the players trying to earn roster spots, tight end Leonard Stephens didn’t exactly make the most of his first preseason start. Stephens was called for two false starts on the Seahawks’ opening drive, the second of which came on fourth-and-inches.

Among those who helped themselves were wide receiver Nate Burleson, who has had a good month of practices but hadn’t made much of an impact in the first three preseason games. Burleson had a game-high three receptions for 52 yards, including a second-quarter touchdown reception from Seneca Wallace.

Defensive tackle Craig Terrill also had a good game, highlighted by a fourth-and-1 play in which he stuffed Oakland running back Dominic Rhodes.

QBs fail to impress

In what was supposed to be the final audition for the Seattle Seahawks’ third-string quarterback job, Derek Devine and David Greene got an incomplete – grade, that is.

That’s because neither player even got to throw a pass.

Devine, an undrafted rookie from Marshall, came into the game midway through the fourth quarter but handed the ball off on his first 10 snaps before kneeling down twice to run out the clock. Greene, who has struggled since being taken in the third round of the 2005 draft, didn’t get in the game.

Both players are hoping to win the No. 3 QB job behind starter Matt Hasselbeck and backup Seneca Wallace. But it’s just as likely that the third-string quarterback will be a player who’s not yet on the roster.

Even before the conclusion of Thursday’s game, a rumor started circulating out of the Washington D.C., area that the Seahawks were on the verge of acquiring former University of Washington quarterback Mark Brunell from the Redskins.