Marshall credits Rhodes
KIRKLAND, Wash. – With a revamped Seattle Seahawks defense carrying its weight during a 7-2 start, and a fill-in coordinator leading the way, the kudos and accolades seem inevitable.
Just don’t tell linebackers coach/sometime defensive coordinator John Marshall that he’s responsible for Seattle’s defensive success.
“It’s not that I’m not comfortable with it; it’s that it’s not right,” Marshall said. “This is Ray Rhodes’ scheme. He still has his hand on it – tightly, I might add. And it’s the players. The players are the ones out there playing hard and making plays.
“I don’t deserve any credit, really. The whole staff and the players, they deserve the credit.”
The Seahawks currently rank 16th in the NFL in yards allowed (313.6). During Rhodes’s first two seasons as defensive coordinator, they gave up 339.3 yards per game while finishing 19th (in 2003) and 26th (last season) in the NFL in total defense.
Marshall has been handling coordinating duties since the Sept. 11 opener, which came a few days after defensive coordinator Rhodes suffered a minor stroke. While Rhodes eventually returned to work, and even worked alongside Marshall in the coaches booth on game days, Marshall has continued to make the defensive calls each Sunday.
“John has always been recognized as a real fine football coach,” head coach Mike Holmgren said Wednesday. “… He did not come here thinking he was going to be the coordinator here. But fortunately he’s here, and I lucked out that way.”
Rhodes won’t make the trip this Sunday because he has a revamped schedule since feeling a relapse of symptoms on Nov. 4. Marshall will continue to call the defense with input from other defensive assistants.
“As Ray would say, the show must go on,” Marshall said. “Do I miss him up there? Is he a great asset up there for us? You bet he is. But he helps us plan the week and plan the game plan, and we watch a lot of film together. So it’s good.”
Premature criticism
This week’s Sports Illustrated features a poll of NFL players asking them to name the most overrated running back in the league.
The winner? Seattle’s Shaun Alexander.
The annual poll is actually given out at training camp, meaning the votes were turned in well before Alexander vaulted to the top of the league in both rushing (1,114 yards) and touchdowns (17).
Oh, and as of the numbers released this week, Alexander is also the leading vote-getter – regardless of position – for the Pro Bowl. Alexander, the only Seahawk who is currently leading at his position, had a league-high 499,289 votes in Pro Bowl balloting, NFL.com announced.
As for the SI poll, Alexander got 12 percent of the votes, followed by Washington’s Clinton Portis (10 percent), Pittsburgh’s Jerome Bettis (9 percent) and the New York Giants’ Tiki Barber (7 percent). Alexander, Portis and Barber represent three of the top four rushers in the NFC this season.
Injury update
The only Seahawks who did not practice were wide receiver Darrell Jackson (recovering from knee surgery), linebacker Jamie Sharper (staph infection in right knee) and defensive tackles Marcus Tubbs (calf) and Chartric Darby (knee).
Darby is probable for Sunday’s game, while Tubbs is questionable. Sharper and Jackson will not play.
As of the afternoon, Holmgren still had not received word from the doctor who operated on Jackson’s knee regarding the wide receiver’s return date.
“My feeling is if there was something bad, we would have heard,” Holmgren said.
Also on the injury report was offensive lineman Wayne Hunter, who returned to practice on a limited basis Friday and was back in action.
San Francisco’s injury report includes three starters: fullback Fred Beasley (questionable, neck), center Jeremy Newberry (questionable, knee/shoulder) and wide receiver Arnaz Battle (doubtful, knee).
No award
The Seahawks’ run of consecutive NFC player of the week honors ended at four.
While Alexander and the entire offensive line got nominated this week, Green Bay running back Samkon Gado earned honors after rushing for 103 yards and two touchdowns in his first NFL start.
A Seahawks player had won an NFC award after each of their previous four games. Alexander (twice) and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck won offensive honors, while kicker Josh Brown won the special teams award after his game-winning field goal against Dallas.
Plenty of targets
The Seahawks have had a different player lead them in receiving yards in each of their past seven games.
Jackson caught eight passes for 131 yards against Arizona in Week 3, followed by Bobby Engram (9-106 at Washington), Joe Jurevicius (9-137 at St. Louis), Peter Warrick (3-53 vs. Houston), Jerramy Stevens (5-60 vs. Dallas), Jerheme Urban (1-46 at Arizona) and D.J. Hackett (2-78 vs. St. Louis last week).