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Seattle cuts ties with James

RENTON, WASH. — The Edgerrin James experiment in Seattle is over.

The struggling Seahawks cut ties with James on Tuesday, releasing the backup running back who never provided the pop Seattle hoped to get when it signed the 31-year-old in late August.

James’ release was one of a handful of moves Seattle made two days after a lackluster 38-17 loss that dropped the Seahawks to 2-5. Seattle also released safety C.J. Wallace and cornerback Travis Fisher.

The two-time NFL rushing champ signed with Seattle near the end of training camp hoping to revitalize a career that fell flat after moving from Indianapolis to Arizona. He was released by Arizona in the offseason, and remained unemployed until the Seahawks came calling.

James gained just 125 yards on 46 carries with no scores.

Mangini mum on GM’s ouster

The convoluted ouster of George Kokinis as Cleveland’s general manager barely made a ripple in the Browns’ locker room.

These guys are accustomed to losses.

Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas hardly knew Kokinis, who was hired in January and left the club under unexplained circumstances on Monday.

“He wasn’t around too much, and when he was, he was pretty quiet,” said Thomas, a former University of Wisconsin standout.

Browns coach Eric Mangini offered no details about the team’s decision to move on without his longtime friend and hand-picked GM.

Bears feel need to improve

Jay Cutler was on the run and bleeding for much of the game, yet he insisted afterward he was fine. No reason to worry.

Even so, the Chicago Bears (4-3) did little to calm their anxious fans in a 30-6 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Lopsided score aside, it was far from a perfect performance by a team that had dropped two straight and was coming off a 45-10 beating at Cincinnati.

But the Bears weren’t about to be picky. Not after what happened the previous week.

Linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer was quick to acknowledge Monday that the Bears’ confidence was “definitely” shaken after that blowout by the Bengals.

“Even though Cleveland’s struggling on offense, it felt good to go out there and execute defensively,” Hillenmeyer said.

Extra points

-- The San Francisco 49ers have signed cornerback Keith Smith to a one-year contract, boosting their secondary a day after learning Nate Clements would be sidelined up to eight weeks with a broken shoulder blade. Smith was released by Detroit before the season.

-- Dan Snyder is embarrassed. He feels terrible. He’s also hurt, frustrated and apologetic. Name a downbeat adjective, and he’s all over it.

The Washington Redskins owner made some rare in-season comments about his team Tuesday, speaking at an event in Clinton, Md., to celebrate the franchise’s charitable program to renovate football fields at Maryland high schools. He received nothing but cheers, a change of pace from the reception he and his team have heard during a 2-5 start.

“We feel frustration and are disappointed for our fans,” Snyder told the crowd.

“Obviously our performance to date is not what we expected, and we hope to turn that around.”