Coming off the bench

SEATTLE – Hey, Rex Grossman, Matt Hasselbeck has been where you are.

No, the mild folks of Seattle have never placed a Good Matt, Bad Matt watch upon Hasselbeck each week.

But in 2002, after a rocky debut season as Seahawks quarterback, Hasselbeck started the opener only because Trent Dilfer was hurt. Though Hasselbeck’s stats looked OK that day, the Raiders pounded him into the dirt baseball infield at the Oakland Coliseum so much he looked like Charlie Brown’s old pal Pigpen. Seattle lost by two touchdowns to the eventual AFC champions and Hasselbeck was benched in favor of Dilfer.

Coach Mike Holmgren kept Hasselbeck sitting for six games, the same span Grossman has watched Brian Griese lead the disappointing Chicago Bears this season. But then Dilfer got hurt in a game at Dallas. Hasselbeck returned to lead the Seahawks past the Cowboys and has been starting ever since.

He has gone on to become a Super Bowl and Pro Bowl quarterback, plus a star of national soup and shoe commercials, something no one is calling Grossman for right now even though last season he, too, started in the Super Bowl.

So Hasselbeck has insight into the scrutinized Grossman upon his return to starting for Chicago (4-5) today at Seattle (5-4), now that Griese and his sore shoulder have yielded.

“The key is how you handled the benching,” Hasselbeck said. “For me, I was fortunate that I had real good people around me that kind of helped me through that and helped me handle it … in a way, that was really good for the team.”

So Hasselbeck thinks Grossman has already either won over his teammates or lost them forever – no matter whether he is Good Rex or Bad Rex in this matchup of the last two NFC champions who don’t look much like their Super Bowl selves.

“I think in a way I earned the respect of my teammates, not by how I played on the football field, but more how I handled getting benched, if that makes any sense,” Hasselbeck said.

“I don’t know much about the Chicago situation. But I do know as a quarterback your teammates have to believe in you, your teammates have to respect you.”

That may all be too deep for a guy who is in the last year of his contract. A guy who says he’s “probably missed the boat on the big one” and “I’m just going to go out there and play like it’s recess and just have fun.”

As Grossman added: “I’ve already been benched. What are they going to do to me?”

The Bears are 1-2 this season with Grossman starting. He has completed 52 percent of his passes, with two touchdowns and six interceptions.

“I didn’t even know if I was going to play again,” said Grossman, who threw a long touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian with 3:11 left to complete Chicago’s rally at Oakland last weekend.

“Not playing is not fun. … You never know if you’re going to have this opportunity again to play with this team, so I’m excited about that.”

He and the Bears would be more excited if the offensive line and halfback Cedric Benson would improve upon his average of 3 yards per carry this season. Or if the defense became more consistent, if not as dominant as it was last season. Both would lessen the burden on Grossman.

The Seahawks also have inconsistencies on defense. Their on-and-off pass rush has caused problems on third downs. Seattle has 23 sacks in its five wins, including three in a 24-0 rout of the hapless 49ers Monday night. It has three sacks in its four losses.

The Seahawks also are struggling with their special teams. Veteran special teams coach Bruce DeHaven said that before he can worry about Devin Hester, Chicago’s electrifying returner, he has to solve nagging issues over a new punt- and kick-coverage system.

Then there’s Shaun Alexander’s saga. The 2005 league MVP missed Monday night’s game with a sprained left knee and won’t start this one. Holmgren said he is searching for a way to use both Alexander and Maurice Morris, a loosening of Alexander’s seven-year grip on the lead runner’s job in Seattle.

Injuries, the main reason the last five Super Bowl losers failed to even reach .500 the following season until the Seahawks reached the playoffs before losing at Chicago last January, have limited the Bears’ defense. Six starters have missed at least one game, including safety Mike Brown, an emotional leader, and tackle Dusty Dvoracek. They ruptured knee ligaments during the season opener.

Defensive tackle Tommie Harris (knee) and linebacker Hunter Hillermeyer (foot) missed practice time this week. And six-time Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher is playing with an arthritic back.

“I haven’t been as consistent as I want to be, nor has our whole defense,” Urlacher said.

“You say, ‘It’s easy to fix.’ Well, then fix it. We just can’t do it for some reason.”

If they don’t do it soon, it won’t matter which quarterback plays. Or which Rex, for that matter.