SEATTLE (AP) -- The Seattle Seahawks lost two of their three starting linebackers Sunday when outside linebacker Leroy Hill and middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu left the game against St. Louis, though coach Jim Mora thinks the injuries are minor.
Hill, out with a groin injury, spent Seattle's third defensive series of the first quarter on a training table getting his left leg checked by doctors. He did not return.
Will Herring, usually a special teamer, replaced him.
Tatupu left in the third quarter with a hamstring injury, after Seattle had built a 21-0 lead. Tatupu also did not return, though the defensive captain spent a few minutes riding a stationary bike behind the Seattle bench.
Mora left no reason to think either won't play next week at San Francisco.
"We were playing it safe at that point, especially with Lofa," Mora said of keeping Hill and Tatupu out with the big lead.
Tatupu was replaced by David Hawthorne, who then nailed Rams quarterback Marc Bulger with a hit under the chin on a scramble. Bulger got up and shoved Hawthorne in the face mask, part of a chippy day between division rivals.
Seattle signed Hill to a six-year contract worth a guaranteed $15.5 million in the spring. The deal could be worth $38 million. He stayed away from non-mandatory minicamps to protest the Seahawks placing the franchise tag on him and depriving him of free agency.