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Now, as Seattle Times staff reporter Danny O'Neil suggested Friday, one-quarter of the way through his second season, he'd settle for catching a break.

O'Neil went on to explain that Baldwin has had a sore hamstring that kept him out all of August, suffered a couple of broken teeth in Week 1 that required hours of dental surgery and had a sore shoulder that kept him out of Seattle's third game.

But after two weeks in which Seattle has struggled on third downs, expect the Seahawks to make a point of trying to find the guy who proved his importance last season.

"This is an important week, I think, for Doug," head coach Pete Carroll said. "We've got to get Doug back into things."

Baldwin caught 51 passes last season, but it wasn't just the total that was impressive. It was the timing. Twenty-five of those receptions were on third down, tied for seventh-most of any player in the league.

That sounds like just the kind of security blanket a rookie quarterback could use on third down, doesn't it?

"The biggest area we're struggling is third down," said Darrell Bevell, the team's offensive coordinator. "That's not a secret. Last week, the good thing was we only had nine of them. The bad thing is we converted only two of them."

And both of those were on third-and-one.

Russell Wilson is 1-for-10 passing on third down over the previous two games, getting sacked twice and intercepted once. In 20 third-down plays over the past two weeks, the only four that Seattle has converted came via a run.

"We need to do a better job there," Bevell said.

Baldwin has caught four passes for 23 yards so far this season.

Some of the trouble for Baldwin has been adjusting to a new quarterback in Wilson after building a rapport with Tarvaris Jackson a year ago.

"I haven't had much time with Russell, particularly on third downs," Baldwin said. "I kind of grew with Tarvaris last year. He always knew where I was going to be and when I was going to be there last year. I had that chemistry with T-Jack. It's just a growing process with Russell."

The real problem?

As pointed out in this week's Team Notes, the Seahawks have thrown the least amount of any team in the league, with Seattle averaging 25 throws a contest. Wilson is averaging a league-low 130.8 yards a game through the air.

They have just six passing plays of 20 or more yards, worst in the league.

That has to change before guys like Baldwin, Sidney Rice, Golden Tate and Zach Miller can start putting up realistic and consistent Fantasy production. ...

One last note here. ... Marshawn Lynch practiced fully on Friday and is listed as probable after taking time off earlier this week to rest his body. The listing is as "non-injury related."