Hawks Notebook | With award, Tatupu campaigns for less

KIRKLAND — Lofa Tatupu walked up to Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren on Wednesday and tried some reasoning.

Tatupu, the Seahawks' middle linebacker, was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week earlier in the day. Today, defensive end Patrick Kerney is to be named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November. And linebacker Leroy Hill had two of his best games in Week 11 and 12.

The common denominator? All three have been either held out or limited in practice over the past three weeks, then went on to have huge games.

And Holmgren should think about that, was Tatupu's point.

"I was not joking. I was serious," Tatupu said, chuckling. "I'm looking for [center Chris] Spencer to have the game of his life, too, now that he's getting the week off."

Spencer is not practicing this week because he suffered an oblique-muscle injury.

Tatupu had three interceptions and 11 tackles last weekend at Philadelphia. Kerney had seven sacks for the month, all in three games. He also had an interception and a forced fumble.

Mora on UCLA list

Jim Mora, the Seahawks' assistant head coach, is among the candidates for UCLA's vacant head-coaching job, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Mora came to Seattle to coach the secondary after he was fired as Atlanta's head coach in the offseason.

He came back to Seattle to work on the Seahawks staff. He attended Interlake High School in Bellevue and then went to Washington as a walk-on.

UCLA fired Karl Dorrell on Monday. Steve Mariucci, a former NFL coach, has been mentioned as a potential candidate as well as Mike Leach (Texas Tech), Rick Neuheisel (former Washington Huskies coach and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator) and Norm Chow, the Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator who used to work at USC.

Scobey comes home

Josh Scobey walked back into Seahawks headquarters and immediately felt at home after being signed Tuesday when Seattle waived fullback Fred McCrary.

"The past two years I was here, I had a phenomenal two years," Scobey said. "It's like I haven't missed a beat."

Scobey broke a shoulder bone in Week 13 last season. He then left the Seahawks in free agency to sign with Buffalo. The Bills released him Sept. 25 of this year.

Scobey, who turns 28 next Tuesday, was a special-teams captain for the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. He was a kickoff returner and a top special-teams player with 35 tackles in 28 games. He admitted he regretted leaving because he loved working for Holmgren.

The Hawks also placed safety C.J. Wallace on injured reserve, and signed cornerback Kevin Hobbs off the practice squad. They added former Washington State cornerback Omowale Dada to the practice squad.

NOTES

• K Josh Brown wasn't at practice because of an excused absence.

• CB Josh Wilson, WR D.J. Hackett and DT Rocky Bernard missed practice because of injuries, and LB Will Herring was limited. Wilson will miss at least two weeks with a quadriceps injury, Holmgren said.