Hawk Talk highlights: Brandon Browner’s injury, future

By Brady Henderson

The Seahawks are relatively healthy heading into their bye week, though one of the two injuriues they’re dealing with is a big one.

Cornerback Brandon Browner missed Seattle’s last game after hurting his groin in Week 10. The injury could be season ending, but the fact that Seattle has not placed Browner on injured reserve means there’s at least some hope he could return at some point.

Cornerback Brandon Browner is out indefinitely with a groin injury that could cut his contract season short. (AP)

“Hopefully by the end of this week, we’ll know more,” coach Pete Carroll said told reporters Monday. “He had a pretty good exam today, I know that. But he has a serious groin pull. It’s legit. It’s not just a pulled muscle. He had some tissue damage and stuff.”

Browner is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, so the possibility that his contract season could be cut short is significant from his standpoint.

Browner’s injury and future in Seattle were among the topics discussed in the latest edition of “Hawk Talk” with Danny O’Neil. The full transcript can be read here. Highlights are below.

Beast, noting that Carroll mentioned this week a four-to-six-week recovery period for Browner, asked whether that timeframe is based on when the injury occurred or from now.

Danny O’Neil: I’ve had this question in several places, but let’s stop and consider this. The Seahawks don’t now about the specifics of the injury just yet. Carroll has said they hope to know more by the end of last week or the end of this week. It’s a hazy estimate to begin with and the idea of narrowing it down to when it applies is getting overly analytical in that it won’t give you a better idea of when (or even whether) he’ll be back.

Chris Moody asked whether Browner or receiver Sidney Rice has a better chance of playing for Seattle next season. Rice is under contract, scheduled to count $9.7 million against Seattle’s salary cap.

Danny O’Neil: Browner by a significant margin. My opinion — without knowing the market or number of potential suitors for Browner — is that it’s more likely than not Browner is back next year. That’s based on two things: 1) Less than half of the teams in the league would even consider Browner as a starter because the defense needs to play press man to have him be effective. 2) The free-agent market for cornerbacks last year was brutal.

Bootin Tuten asked whether the raise Seattle gave Browner before the season would factor into his decision on whether or not to return.

Danny O’Neil: Well, maybe it’s a coincidence that the raise corresponded with the money he lost in salary due to suspension last year. But yes, that raise would make it more likely for Browner to return. Not to take less money necessarily, but certainly increase the likelihood that all thins being equal in terms of a contract, he would choose to stay.

Evil Penguin said Russell Wilson’s flip to Marshawn Lynch that resulted in a Seahawks touchdown against Minnesota was reminiscent of Brett Favre.

Danny O’Neil: Totally agree. It was imaginative and almost impossible to defend. I don’t often quote Jerome James in this space, but when I do, it’s worth it. After Shaquille O’Neal had a great free-throw shooting night, James remarked that it wasn’t fair. That poor free-throw shooting was the one thing that made Shaq relatively mortal. And if he made free throws, it was patently unfair. If you let a quarterback play with Brett Favre’s flair and unorthodox effectiveness and eliminate the boneheaded gunslinger. It’s not fair.

MikeH asked whether Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell or offensive-line coach Tom Cable will get a head-coaching job first.

Danny O’Neil: Bevell. I think with the crop of quarterbacks in the draft this year, as many as half a dozen head-coaching jobs opening up and Bevell’s success in developing Russell Wilson that he’s going to get a gig.

Tony (Hawaii) asked whether Gus Bradley, the former Seahawks defensive coordinator who’s now the head coach of the 1-9 Jaguars, is in danger of losing his job.

Danny O’Neil: I don’t think so. And to be clear, he shouldn’t be. It seems that team was prepping for a tank job in this year when the draft is rich with quarterbacks. That said, you have a new owner in Jacksonville so you never know.