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Seahawks

Houshmandzadeh had three main suitors courting him, Seattle, Minnesota and his former team, the Cincinnati Bengals.

Minnesota is 8-1 and leading the NFC North. The Bengals are 7-2 and atop the AFC North.

And the team Houshmandzadeh signed a five-year, $40 million deal with is 3-6, and on the outside looking in regarding the playoffs for a second straight season.

Any regrets?

"As of right now, it doesn't look like it was the best decision," Houshmandzadeh said. "But it's very early in the process, you know. I feel like I can play a lot more years, you know. I feel great, and so you can't just say one year, 'Oh it was a bad decision.' I feel like I can play a long time because I feel good. I haven't played a lot of football early in my career. Knock on wood, I've never had a major injury so I feel like I can play a lot more years to come so ask me that in some more years and we'll get an answer."

Houshmandzadeh said all three teams offered about the same amount of money, and his decision ultimately came down to choosing between Minnesota and Seattle. He chose the Seahawks because he felt the quarterback situation was better with Matt Hasselbeck at the helm.

But he signed before the Vikings finally coaxed Brett Favre out of retirement. His decision might have been different had he known Favre would wind up in Minnesota. The Seahawks travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings on Sunday.

"Had he been there I don't know what would have happened," he said. "He wasn't there, so I felt I had to do what was best for me. And if you look at both teams, yeah I knew Minnesota was going to be good, but I thought we were going to be really good, too.

"So hindsight is better than foresight, you know? And like I say, nine games into it, it doesn't look like I made a great decision, but it's too early."

Hasselbeck is pleased Favre wasn't with Minnesota at the time Houshmandzadeh was looking for future employment.

"I'm just glad Brett didn't come out of retirement around that time because he just probably would have picked Brett," Hasselbeck told Minnesota reporters in a conference call on Wednesday.

Even though Seattle has not won as much as he would have liked, Houshmandzadeh has been productive, totaling 50 catches for 582 yards, for an 11.6 yards-per-catch average. He also has three touchdowns on the year.

"It's just one of those things," he said. "You've got to make a decision and you make the most of it. It's not going the way I would have liked, and the way I thought it would. But we'll see what happens."

SERIES HISTORY: 11th regular-season meeting. Seahawks lead the series, 6-4. The two teams have split the last four games, with Minnesota winning the last contest 31-13 on Oct. 22, 2006.

Mora went on to say the four-time Pro Bowler has accepted his role as a part-time player for the Seahawks, but as a competitor Mora understands that Milloy wants to be on the field, and the Tacoma native has earned more time.

"I was pretty clear when I signed him that his role was to come in and be a backup safety and play special teams," Mora said. "And be there if and when we needed him in whatever role, and he said 'I'm fine with that.' And he continues to be. But that doesn't mean he doesn't want to be on the field, because he does."

--The switch of Brandon Mebane from more of a nose tackle to a pass rush guy on the inside hasn't exactly gone as planned for Seattle. Mebane tied for team lead in sacks last season with Darryl Tapp with 5 1/2, but only has one sack so far this season.

"(He's been) good in the run, but (we'd) would love to see more production in the pass game," Seahawks head coach Jim Mora said. "He works at it very hard, but we just haven't got the production yet.

"You see some really good rushes, but we just haven't had the finish yet. So I'd say we're still a little incomplete there. He does some really good things in the run game. We're looking for a little bit more in the pass, and we've got to help him that way."

--Seahawks head coach Jim Mora reiterated that running back Julius Jones is out for this week with a bruised lung.

"He's doing better," Mora said. "He was in meetings today. He said he's feeling good, but he won't be playing Sunday."

There is no timetable for Jones' return. But Mora hopes it will be next week.

BY THE NUMBERS: 0 -- The number of sacks Seattle had against Arizona last week, as the Seahawks struggled to get pressure on Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner.

48 -- The number penalties Seattle has on the season, the third least in the NFL.

34 -- The number of sacks Minnesota's defense has, which leads the NFL.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I don't really want to show them what I'm made of or anything like that. I definitely want to go out there and have a good game. I would love to get few people to stand up and clap for me, look in the crowd and hopefully see an 81 jersey up there. They gave me my first chance to play in the NFL, and I will forever be grateful for that." -- Seahawks wide receiver Nate Burleson on returning to Minnesota, where he began his NFL career.

PLAYER NOTES

--C Chris Spencer was limited in practice on Thursday because of thumb and back injuries. Spencer missed the last five games of last year with a disc issue in his back. He snapped with his left hand against Arizona last week because of an injury to his right thumb.

--CB Marcus Truftant returned to practice on Thursday and was a full participant after missing practice on Wednesday with a slight concussion. Trufant is expected to play on Sunday.

--DT Craig Terrill, who suffered a shoulder injury against Arizona last week, missed practice for a second straight day on Thursday and is questionable for Sunday's game.

--CB Josh Wilson, who suffered a head injury after making a tackle on Arizona running back Chris "Beanie" Wells last week, did not practice for a second straight day and is questionable for Sunday.

GAME PLAN: Offensively, Seattle will look to keep Minnesota's talented defensive front from teeing off on quarterback Matt Hasselbeck by using a variety of quick runs and screens. Defensively, the Seahawks have to find a way to contain talented running Adrian Peterson and not let him break loose for big gains. If they are can accomplish that daunting task, the Seahawks defensive front must get pressure on veteran quarterback Brett Favre.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Vikings DE Jared Allen, who has 10.5 sacks on the year, vs. Seahawks LT Sean Locklear. Seahawks head coach Jim Mora said Locklear was inconsistent against Arizona a week ago. Well, it doesn't get any easier for Locklear, who faces the league's second-leading sack leader in Allen.

Vikings CB Antoine Winfield vs. Seahawks WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Winfield is considered one of the best cover corners in the game, and likely will see some time against Houshmandzadeh, who spurned the Vikings in the offseason and signed with Seattle instead. Houshmandzadeh has a decided height advantage over Winfield, so he'll likely line up across from 6-foot Minnesota corner Cedric Griffin as well on Sunday.

INJURY IMPACT: Seattle will be without starting running back Julius Jones for at least a week. However, the Seahawks got pretty good production last week from reserves Justin Forsett and Louis Rankin.