Seahawks notebook: Browner benched, but not buried

By Danny O’Neil

RENTON – The fact that Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner was benched for the second quarter of Sunday’s game spoke to both the concern about his tendency to being beaten on the outside as well as the coach’s belief in the talent behind Browner on the roster.

The fact Browner was back on the field in the second half spoke to the fact that the benching was more of a purpose pitch than a permanent shift on the depth chart.

Cornerback Brandon Browner was temproarily benched during Sunday’s game after he was beat down the sideline by Tennessee’s Damian Williams. “I just wanted to give him a break,” coach Pete Carroll said of Browner. (AP)

“That’s just a coaching decision at the time,” coach Pete Carroll said. “I would never expect to be comfortable with that. I wouldn’t want any of our guys to want to come out of the game. He wanted to get back in. He did a good job when he went back in.”

Whether Browner remains the starter will depend on whether he continues to get beaten down the sideline. It happened against Indianapolis when Andrew Luck threw that 29-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton in the second quarter of Week 5. It happened again on Tennessee’s second possession when Kendall Wright caught a 32-yard pass, and it nearly happened again later in the opening quarter when Ryan Fitzpatrick overthrew receiver Damian Williams, who had gotten behind Browner.

It was after that incompletion that Browner came out of the game, replaced by Walter Thurmond.

“I just wanted to give him a break,” Carroll said of Browner, “because I wanted to make sure we got it clear to him what was going on, what was happening. They got up on top of him on two different plays there, and I just wanted to make sure it was clear and we could handle it.”

Carroll said that not only is Thurmond competing with Browner for the starting spot, but Byron Maxwell, too.

“We have tremendous depth and tremendous competition at the spots,” Carroll said.

Harvin not expected to practice

Receiver Percy Harvin is eligible to begin practicing as soon as this week. He’s just not expected to, but that has more to do with the practice logistics of this week in which Seattle will play at Arizona on Thursday.

“We’re not having very many opportunities to even go full speed,” Carroll said.

Harvin will continue working out as part of his rehabilitation from hip surgery, but isn’t expected to practice. Once he practices with the team, the Seahawks will have three weeks before they must decide whether to activate him from the Physically Unable to Perform list. Carroll said he couldn’t project when Harvin will be ready to make his Seahawks debut.

“I can’t tell whether that’s a month or three weeks,” Carroll said. “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. It’s really cool that we have a chance to really bring him back now.”

Clemons questionable

Defensive end Chris Clemons suffered a hyperextended elbow after he was in a pile in the second half, and while the injury isn’t serious enough to require surgery, there is a question of whether he’ll be able to play Thursday night.

“It’s going to be a challenge for him to get back in a short week,” Carroll said.

Notes

• TE Zach Miller is expected to play, Carroll said. Miller was close to being active for Sunday’s game against Tennessee, but if he had been in uniform, he would have been held out unless there was an emergency.

• LB Bobby Wagner is recovering quickly from a sprained ankle, and while it’s too soon to know if he’ll be available against the Cardinals, Carroll said the recovery is nothing short of remarkable: “Bobby is making progress that the trainers don’t even understand for the sprain he had. He’s up, running around already on an ankle that should have taken longer than that, so we’ll see what happens.”