Jones sits as Morris has his best game of season
The plan all along was for Maurice Morris to start for the Seattle Seahawks, no matter what the public address announcer said.
And Morris had his best game of the season on Sunday, running for 103 yards on just 14 carries and catching a 4-yard touchdown pass in the Seahawks’ 20-17 loss to Washington. But during the fanfare of pregame intros it was Julius Jones who was announced as the Seahawks’ starting running back.
“Everyone got kind of panicky there because no one ran out,” coach Mike Holmgren joked.
But the plan was always for Morris to start and get a chance to establish himself against the Redskins. He did so early with a 44-yard run on Seattle’s second offensive series, and averaged more than 7 yards per carry for the day.
“We knew it was going to be a physical game, so we were going to just hit them as hard as they hit us,” Morris said. “We just went out there with a physical mentality.”
The trade-off was a far more limited role for Jones, who had just two carries for 21 yards and played only a handful of snaps the entire game. The plan for most of the season was for Morris and Jones to trade off carries and then Holmgren would go with whoever was having the most success. But getting just two carries was a career low for Jones.
“When they have both been healthy … if one guy is hot to start with it, we let him play a little bit more,” Holmgren said. “Mo had a really fine game, I thought, running the ball today. (Against Dallas), it could be different. But that’s how we tried to handle the both of them all year.”
Quick turnaround
The Seahawks players had Monday off while the coaching staff started game planning for Thursday’s matchup with the Cowboys in Dallas.
For a number of players, the quick turnaround will be a first.
“I’ve personally never done that. I’ve been around for eight years and this is a first for me. I think you just go into recovery mode as fast as you can,” Seahawks safety Brian Russell said. “Get some good rest, massage, hot tub, whatever it takes, because you got to go full-speed on Thursday.”
Two years ago, Seattle played at Arizona on a Sunday, then returned home to face San Francisco on a Thursday night. That quick back-to-back wasn’t very successful – the Seahawks lost both games.
“It’s going to be tough, but they have to do it, too,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “To be honest, I can’t wait to play another football game, because (Sunday) was not my best efforts.”
Cowboys banged up
The Cowboys had 11 players on the injury list Monday. Left guard Kyle Kosier will not play against the Seahawks after re-injuring his foot Sunday and could miss the rest of the season. Rookie cornerback Mike Jenkins is probably out with a hamstring strain, which means Alan Ball would probably become the fourth corner. Safety Pat Watkins (stinger) was limited Monday but told coach Wade Phillips he should be available Thursday.
Terence Newman (groin) played Sunday after not practicing Friday. He said he will play against the Seahawks despite not working out Monday. Tight end Martellus Bennett was limited because of an ankle injury, but Jason Witten, bothered by shoulder and rib injuries, had a full practice.
“Every week it’s who’s banged up and who can play and how you adjust from special teams to offense to defense,” Phillips said. “And a shorter week, it’s even more hectic, I think. You have to go through who’s going to play here, what sub packages can you use offensively and defensively. And special teams is a big factor.”
Prime-time game gone
The Seahawks were scheduled to host New England on Dec. 7 at 5:15 p.m. in the Sunday night game broadcast by NBC. Instead, the network used its ability to switch late-season games and moved the Washington Redskins-Baltimore Ravens matchup into the prime-time slot. The Seahawks-Patriots game will now kick off at 1:05 p.m. and be broadcast by CBS.