Notebook | Seahawks' quarterback situation remains unsettled

RENTON — Seahawks quarterbacks Seneca Wallace and Charlie Frye split snaps in practice Wednesday morning, but by the afternoon it was Frye who got most of the plays.

Still, it's anyone's guess which of the two will start Sunday at Tampa Bay. For Wallace, he has to show that his calf injury is healed enough to allow him good mobility. If he can show that in practice this week, Wallace will start. If it's not enough for the coaches, Frye will start for the second week.

"I feel good out here," Wallace said. "We'll take it day by day and see what happens."

Wallace said he's excited about the chance to play again.

Frye, meanwhile, continues to prepare as though he will be the starter, as he was last week in the Seahawks' loss to Green Bay. The quarterbacks will continue to split time in practice today, with a decision on who starts made as soon as Friday.

Starter Matt Hasselbeck did not practice and is on a rehabilitation program for the bulging disk in his back. Coach Mike Holmgren said Hasselbeck will not play Sunday.

Holmgren discusses future

Holmgren was pressed to clarify his future after this season, which he has said will be his last in Seattle. He said he'll take time off and then consider — if he draws interest — working elsewhere.

"One of the reasons we came out and said what we said and made the decision is so that it would not be any kind of distraction to the team this season," Holmgren said. "When I say there's a possibility of coming back, I'm not eliminating anything, because I don't know how I'm going to react. There's a possibility that in the year off, life is so good that I just might want to ride my motorcycle all the time and go to the beach, you know?"

Gruden's gratitude

Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden views Holmgren as a role model for what he'd like to be later in his career. The two have a long history.

Holmgren was the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 1990 when he hired Gruden as offensive quality control coach (his first NFL job), and Gruden spent three seasons (1992-1994) as an offensive assistant and wide receivers coach when Holmgren was Green Bay's coach.

"His work ethic and intelligence were very obvious," Holmgren said. "I thought he'd just be perfect. He wanted it so badly that I could hardly say no."

Notes

• The Seahawks plan to use rookie RB Justin Forsett at punt returner, in place of Michael Bumpus, who was released and then re-signed to the practice squad. Forsett returned punts with the Colts earlier this season before being released. "It seemed rather natural to bring him in, give us a spark, we'll see," Holmgren said.

• LB Will Herring made his practice debut Wednesday. Herring, who has been dealing with swelling in his surgically-repaired knee, was removed from the physically-unable-to-perform list and can practice and not count against the active roster for three weeks. In that time frame, the team must decide whether to put the second-year pro on injured reserve or sign him to the 53-man roster.

• WR Deion Branch was expected to practice this week but didn't Wednesday. Neither did WR Koren Robinson, who will be limited this week and should be back today, and S Deon Grant, who was expected to practice but didn't.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com