Seahawks
Notebook: Hawks become sad sacks

By Greg Bishop and José Romero
Seattle Times staff reporters

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KIRKLAND — The small crack in Grant Wistrom's left knee gave way to a big crack in the Seahawks' pass rush during his four-game absence. Or no cracks, if you were an offensive line fortunate enough to face the Seahawks defense.

Before Wistrom injured his knee against New England, the Seahawks boasted 13 sacks in their first five games. In the four games since, that number dipped to seven.

The bad news is that teams figured out the best approach against the Seahawks' defensive line, dropping six or seven blockers into "max" pass protection more than they usually would.

"Lately, (teams have) been doing that," defensive tackle Rocky Bernard said. "That's the way teams are going to play us. It's working. On film, it showed (St. Louis) running some six- and seven-man (protection). But in our game, they did it a whole lot more."

The good news is Wistrom spoke authoritatively on the subject of his return yesterday, easing lingering doubts about his knee with four words that give the pass rush hope.

"I'm playing this week," Wistrom said.

Doctors originally expected Wistrom to miss at least four weeks, but he aimed for the game on Sunday, against his former St. Louis Rams team, as the return date. Wistrom warmed up before the game, still hoping, but the knee did not respond sufficiently for team doctors.

Wistrom watched the game with family and friends from a suite he rented from injured Rams tackle Kyle Turley.

Forthcoming suspension for Robinson
 
Seahawks wide receiver Koren Robinson is scheduled for a hearing today, the outcome of which could result in his long-discussed four-game suspension for a repeat violation of the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

ESPN.com reported that Robinson's case will be formally reviewed, and that a suspension could come as soon as hours after the hearing. If the proposed suspension is upheld, Robinson could begin serving it as early as Sunday. In that case he would miss the Miami, Buffalo, Dallas and Minnesota games, the first three of those at home.

Offensive passing

There would be no passing fancy for the Seahawks on Sunday against the Rams, nor would there be much passing period. The FCC nearly fired off a complaint after fans were subjected to the offensive display of passing.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck posted his second-worst game this season, completing 15 of 36 passes for 172 yards and one interception.

"For the obvious reasons," coach Mike Holmgren said. "We dropped passes. We missed passes we should have hit. Why? We had some chances, we just didn't convert them, we didn't make plays. I expect us to do better than that. We are our own worst enemy. There is no question about that."

Holmgren said he was not considering making any starting lineup substitutions for the Miami game this week. And Hasselbeck, who injured his knee when he bumped into Shaun Alexander on the offense's first play, should start Sunday.

"I wouldn't think (it would affect him Sunday)," Holmgren said. " I wouldn't think so, but he's not going to be moving very well."

Hasselbeck would like to practice, but that won't likely happen until later in the week. He called his injury "a function issue" because the pain isn't overbearing. And he said the offense is "fixable this week."

Notes

• In other injury news, Tracy White left the game early, and Holmgren said he will miss "a few weeks." Anthony Simmons also hurt his wrist and could miss practice time this week.

• About 1,000 tickets remain for Sunday's game against Miami at Qwest Field. They can be purchased by calling 1-888-NFL-HAWK.