Seahawks Sign Merton Hanks

The Seattle Seahawks signed former San Francisco 49er free safety Merton Hanks, who was released last week.

Hanks played eight seasons with the 49ers and was selected to four Pro Bowls.

In Seattle, where the secondary is made up of Shawn Springs and Willie Williams at cornerback and Darryl Williams and Jay Bellamy at safety, Hanks will be used in the nickel defense.

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Linebacker Chad Brown, who left the field in an ambulance with a neck injury in Seattle’s loss to Detroit, may be able to play Sunday in Chicago.

Brown could not move his neck and his head as he lay on the Kingdome field in the 28-20 loss to Detroit. He was taken to a hospital, where X-rays of his neck were negative and he was released. Brown ran with teammates in practice Monday. He said he had a stiff neck, but otherwise felt fine.

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Thurman Thomas, Buffalo’s all-time leading rusher and most versatile running back, will be sidelined for at least six weeks, Coach Wade Phillips said. Thomas bruised his liver and kidneys on the first play of the team’s loss at Indianapolis when he reached up to catch a high pass from Doug Flutie. He was hit in the ribs by cornerback Tyrone Poole. . . . The Cleveland Browns, after losing 43-0 to Pittsburgh, may make a quarterback switch. Coach Chris Palmer said he may go with Tim Couch as the starter sooner than he wanted to, replacing Ty Detmer. . . . Rookie cornerback Charles Fisher suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Cincinnati Bengals’ loss at Tennessee.