Charlie Whitehurst preparing to start Sunday in Cleveland

[travisduncan]

By Travis Duncan

The Cleveland Browns are an unkown at this point in the season and a team of opposites.

They are a team with a lot of potential and talent at certain positions but are still looking to put it all together to contend in their respective conference and division-much like the Seahawks.

Defensively, the Browns are great against the pass, but against the run not so much.

They can score a lot of different ways, and have dynamic players like Peyton Hillis and Josh Cribbs but are ranked 24th in the league in offense.

Both teams have a 2-3 win-loss record and are in the progress of "rebuilding" if you will.

Like Seahawks fans, some Browns fans don't believe their quarterback is a franchise player.

"They have a big offense," said Pete Carroll. "The quarterback allows them to do a lot of different Colt [McCoy] is a very versatile kid. It's hard to zero-in on this team because of the expansive stuff they don on offense."

McCoy has completed just 55-percent of his passes this season with eight touchdowns and three interceptions. He has a quarterback rating of 78.1.

The Browns rank 24th in the NFL in total offensive yardage and rank 28th in points scored per game.

What the Seahawks see from the Browns could have a lot to do with the health of running back Peyton Hillis. Hillis has missed practice this week because of a hamstring issue and possibibly could miss Sunday's game or at the very least be limited.

Defensively Carroll said the Browns want "to slug it out with you."

The Browns have the 7th ranked defense in the NFL giving up just 321 yards per game. Against the run, they rank 27th in the NFL though giving up 129.8 ypg. Against the pass they are ranked 4th in the NFL giving up just 192 yards per game.

-Tarvaris Jackson did light work on Wednesday but the team is moving forward with Charlie Whitehurst as the starter for Sunday. Whitehurst is taking first-team reps in practice. Josh Portis also practiced with the first-team Wednesday so likely Jackson would be ruled out on Sunday or at least be the third quarterback.

-The Seahawks have signed linebacker Heath Farewell, a former Pro Bowler no less, to a contract and have released running back Allen Bradford. The team signed Bradford last week. Farewell made the Pro Bowl with the Vikings in 2010 on special teams.

-This week the Seahawks also signed defensive tackle Jason Shirley and placed cornerback Marcus Trufant on injured reserve.

Carroll said that with Trufant on IR, he will remain the defensive captain and needs to be "a big voice" with the younger players.

-Carroll said that the Bengals never made Carson Palmer available to them or any other team for that matter. He said the Seahawks believed Bengals owner Mike Brown was going to stick to his guns and not trade Palmer. Carroll said that there was nothing between the 'Hawks and the Bengals about obtaining Palmer during the offseason.