Seahawks' workout includes QBs Hasselbeck, Whitehurst

SEATTLE -- For a few hours Thursday morning, Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry didn't feel locked out. Being around teammates, and even a few guys from other NFL teams, provided a bit of normalcy in an otherwise abnormal offseason.

"Workouts like this today are helping me get over the fact we're not playing football," Curry said. "It's just tough without doing it."

Curry and about 35 other players gathered inside the University of Washington's indoor practice facility for a planned but informal workout. It was spearheaded by Seattle running back Justin Forsett, but the mix of players was far from Seahawks specific.

There were those who are under contract and likely to be key players for the Seahawks whenever the season begins: Curry, Forsett, quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, cornerback Marcus Trufant, linebacker David Hawthorne and offensive lineman Max Unger.

There were a handful of college kids, including former Washington linebacker Mason Foster -- drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- and safety Nate Williams.

Then there was arguably the largest group -- the free agents, most of whom were connected with the Seahawks last season but face an uncertain future. At the top of the list was quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, but others such as offensive linemen Sean Locklear and Chris Spencer, safety Lawyer Milloy, defensive tackle Craig Terrill and defensive back Jordan Babineaux also participated.

"I think it was more, 'We're all locked out,' " Whitehurst said of the practice's purpose. "It was just get together, get some work and try to get better."

Whitehurst's presence was notable considering he's the only quarterback under contract with the Seahawks for the 2011 season. He flew in from Atlanta to participate in the largest gathering of Seahawks or Seattle-based players so far, although the workouts have been going on informally for a couple of months.

Hasselbeck has been the leader at many of those practices since he lives in the Seattle area year-round, but his future with the Seahawks is unknown.

"I'm always looking for a chance to get together with the guys I'm going to throw to," Whitehurst said. "I don't know if it matters what position you play, but the guys who came felt it was important. Quarterbacks, obviously every opportunity we get, we're going to take it."

The workouts likely will continue, at a time when the Seahawks normally would be in the midst of minicamp and prepping for their final month of rest before training camp in late July. No one has a good sense of when the NFL lockout might end, with Unger saying he has heard a resolution could come in two weeks and in the same breath saying the entire season could be missed.

"It's just weird not playing football right now," Unger said. "We'd normally have just less than a month of offseason and then we'd be off 'til fall camp. ... I don't really know, man; that stuff is up in the air. There is a lot of red tape to cut through."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Seahawks turn to Whitehurst at QB after Hasselbeck ruled out

RENTON, Wash. -- If the New York Giants are going to add to their knockout list of quarterbacks, it won't be Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck.

Hasselbeck, the Seahawks' starting QB, is out for Sunday's game against New York with a concussion, with Seattle coach Pete Carroll announcing Thursday that Hasselbeck had not been cleared to play. Charlie Whitehurst will make the first start of his career.

"I think it's a little more serious than I thought. I visited with Matt after the game and stuff and I didn't realize there was anything going on. Not till Monday did we really ... there were some symptoms and stuff like that and then we took it very seriously," Carroll said. "I'm surprised a little bit, but it's real. That's good for me to understand it better, too."

Carroll said Hasselbeck would still need to be cleared under the league-mandated concussion testing in order to play next week at Arizona.

Hasselbeck suffered his concussion late in last week's 33-3 loss at Oakland. Carroll said Monday and again Wednesday he hoped Hasselbeck would be cleared and able to play against the Giants.

Instead, it'll be Whitehurst, who was brought to Seattle in a trade with San Diego in the offseason, but has never thrown a pass in a regular-season game.

"The circumstances are good," Whitehurst said. "We're playing a good team. Playing at home. It's all you can really ask for. I plan on going out there and executing and helping this team win."

Outside of three snaps in garbage time last week, Whitehurst gets his first opportunity. Whitehurst spent his first four years in San Diego as the third-stringer behind Philip Rivers and Billy Volek.

The Seahawks acquired him in March for a swap of second-round picks in the 2010 draft and an undisclosed 2011 selection.

"He's ready," Carroll said of Whitehurst. "I've talked to Charlie from the first day he got here that he's coming here to play football. Nothing else. He's not coming here to be a backup or to do anything other than to make himself a spot. He has done a fantastic job up until this point. He's done everything that we've asked of him and we're real excited to see him play now."

The Seahawks will face an imposing Giants defense that has knocked out five quarterbacks this season and had 10 sacks against Chicago in Week 4. Seattle's banged-up offensive line allowed eight sacks of Hasselbeck last week in Oakland.

"I've got a lot to worry about. I'm not going to worry about that. I'm confident in the guys up front," Whitehurst said. "They can do their jobs and I know what they've done to quarterbacks this year, but we're confident we're going to go out there and play well."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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