If you want to grouse about the meaninglessness of the Seahawks’ fourth preseason game, just don’t do it in front of coach Jim Mora.
True, the starters will play sparingly in Thursday night’s finale against the Oakland Raiders at Qwest Field. But this game does have significance; even if a few layers of the pigskin need to be peeled away to discover it.
“To a lot of these players in this locker room, and to this team, it’s very important,” Mora said Monday after an up-tempo practice that left many of those players bordering on breathlessness.
“There will be some decisions that are made based on what happens Thursday night.”
Those decisions will be made by Saturday, when NFL teams must reduce their 75-man rosters to 53 players.
So while the game against the Raiders might be a no-worries outing for players like 
“After a long offseason, a long (training) camp and three preseason games, you’d think that all the decisions have been made,” Mora said. “But they really haven’t.”
And in some cases, that decision progress has only been muddled because some players have exceeded expectations, while other are striving to meet them.
“You can’t be too dogmatic when you come into camp, with these preconceived notions of who’s going to be on your team and who’s not,” Mora said. “They change over the course of camp.
“There are races that are coming right down to the end. And we as a team, as an organization, have to make the right decision.”
Like at wide receiver. The first four spots appear settled, with
There’s Ben Obomanu, a seventh-round draft choice in 2006 who missed all of last season after breaking his collarbone in this now-traditional final preseason game against the Raiders. There’s also
“We’re feeling like the battle for the fifth or sixth, if we keep a sixth, spot will make us probably have to release a player that certainly is capable of playing at this level,” Mora said. “So it’s a good problem to have.”
There’s a similar situation on the defensive line. The additions of nose tackle
If the club can carry only eight or nine, and is worried it can’t get Reed or Bennett through waivers to stash them on the practice squad, it could cost a former high draft choice his roster spot.
“What we did Saturday night,” Mora said of the game against the Chiefs in Kansas City, “we tried to get a couple of those young guys in early, because Kansas City has a good set of guards, really good guards.”
The idea was to see if Bennett, Reed and
“We like what we saw out of those guys,” Mora said.
There’s also a redundant situation at kicker. Will it be veteran
“There are just some races that are too close to call,” Mora said.
Asked specifically about the Mare vs. Coutu competition, Mora first offered, “It’s very close. Very close.”
Then he caught himself and laughed about using a redundant phrase to describe the redundant competition. “I mean, it’s neck and neck. How about that?” he said. “Instead of ‘very close,’ I’ll give you ‘neck and neck.’ That’s a better cliché.”
But as clichéd as the perception of these finale preseason games is, there is nothing trivial about what this one last chance means to many of the players.
“This become very important,” Mora reiterated. “I always think it’s really an exciting preseason game to go to because in that second half, you’re seeing guys that are just battling for their livelihood. I mean, just scratching to make the team.
“The passion comes out and there’s some great energy on the field.”
