Seahawks
Notebook: Alexander, McAllister are ready for matchup

By José Miguel Romero
Seattle Times staff reporter

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KIRKLAND — Shaun vs. Deuce II is only two days away.

OK, maybe that's a bit of a stretch. Running backs Shaun Alexander and Deuce McAllister aren't exactly rivals. They're friends who share the same agent, played in the same college conference (Southeastern) and will play against each other on Sunday when Alexander's Seahawks visit McAllister and the New Orleans Saints.

Don't expect these two to engage in a war for statistics. There's plenty of mutual respect. But business is business.

"I know that we're going to fight for bragging rights because we'll run into each other in the offseason and it's always good to say my guys got your guys," Alexander said. "As soon as we found out we were playing each other, we stopped all talk just to kind of clear our minds of each other."

For the record, Alexander rushed for 108 yards against the Saints in last year's regular-season opener. McAllister gained 99 yards.

McAllister was named to the Pro Bowl at the end of the season, but an injury allowed Alexander to take his place. McAllister had 1,641 rushing yards to Alexander's 1,435, but Alexander scored 14 rushing touchdowns to McAllister's eight.

"It's not, 'Can you top this?' " McAllister said. "Whenever he's in the red zone, he's going to be able to score. Obviously, you want to go out and put up good numbers because you know the other guy is going to get his chance."

Enthusiasm, expectations tempered

Coach Mike Holmgren's biggest concerns about Sunday's opener are how relatively young his defense is and how his team will handle a road opener in a difficult environment — the din of the Superdome.

He hopes to see discipline and poise from his players. As for the high expectations heaped upon the Seahawks this season, Holmgren is simply hoping for a fast start.
 
"Starting fast is huge," he said. "It usually means you have a real good chance to get into the playoffs. We have high expectations for this group. You probably couldn't schedule two tougher opponents and two tougher games than the first two that we have on the road."

After New Orleans, Seattle travels to Tampa Bay in Week 2.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is still a bit incredulous of all of the hype, in part because Seattle isn't exactly the first team that comes to mind when talking about the NFL outside of the Northwest.

"It's funny to hear who's picking us (to go deep in the postseason)," Hasselbeck said. "People can't get right what division we're in. To hear people say that is humorous. We haven't done anything and we really haven't accomplished much yet."

Still, Hasselbeck said, there is a lot of good in all the talk about the Seahawks' fortunes.

"There's a lot of pride on our team," he said. "We bring in free agents for workouts and when you see a guy you know, he's like, 'Hey, this is where it's at. I need to be on this team.' It's a first for me."

Urban waived; Jones activated

In something of a surprise move, the Seahawks waived wide receiver Jerheme Urban yesterday so that they could activate left tackle Walter Jones for Sunday's game.

Activating Jones was a done deal, though the team had until game time to do it. Letting Urban go was the intriguing part.

Urban was one of the top players in training camp and made the final 53-man roster after being on the practice squad nearly all of last season. Because the Seahawks got solid efforts from a number of receivers, the team kept six after final cuts last week.

Urban might not be through in Seattle, however. If he clears waivers — meaning no other team signs him in the 24 hours after his release — Urban is eligible to join the Seahawks' practice squad, which has one more open spot.

Notes

• FS Ken Hamlin was added to the daily injury report with a sore foot. He did not practice yesterday after it appeared he hurt the foot during team drills Wednesday. He is questionable to play Sunday. Rookie Michael Boulware worked extensively with the No. 1 defense in Hamlin's place.

• WR Koren Robinson was given a day off to rest and is probable to play Sunday. He should be back for today's practice.

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