SEATTLE - Seated in front of his locker stall, David Reed spoke in a quiet, dejected voice.

It was a troubling game for the Baltimore Ravens' primary kickoff returner as he was benched during a 22-17 loss Sunday for losing a pair of fumbles on kickoffs that directly led to two field goals for the Seattle Seahawks.

"It's a little hump I've got to get over," Reed said. "It's very frustrating, just got to bounce back. I let my teammates down. It was bad. I don't feel good at all."

As a rookie last season, Reed led the NFL in kickoff return average and set a franchise record with a 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

However, Reed has now fumbled three times in the past two games with two lost.

"I've got to just put two hands on the ball when I'm in traffic like that," Reed said. "Just squeeze the ball tight and keep my hands on the ball. I've just got to get through this. It's a little hump I've got to get over, and I will."

In the first quarter, Reed fumbled it back to the Seahawks when he ran into the back of fullback Vonta Leach.

That set up a 22-yard field goal for former Ravens kicker Steve Hauschka, who hit five against his old team.

The Ravens had seen enough after Reed fumbled again in the second quarter on a hit by rookie linebacker Malcolm Smith as Chris Carr and Torrey Smith handled the rest of the workload on kickoffs.

Reed stood by himself on the sidelines until director of player development Harry Swayne gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"I think anybody's confidence would be shook," coach John Harbaugh said. "You can't turn the ball over. Hey, this is the NFL. When you run up in there, you have to protect the football. He knows that. He will stop that.

"David Reed is a tough guy. He's a competitive guy. I have a lot of confidence in David, I have a lot of respect for David and he's one of our guys."

Afterward, Reed's teammates offered him encouragement.

"He's a young guy, he's going to grow from this," Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "Everybody realizes you can't put the ball on the ground. You can't have turnovers, but we're not worried about it. We know David didn't want to fumble the ball. Without struggle, there is no progress."

There was no finger-pointing.

"It's the business," middle linebacker Ray Lewis said. "You want to say, ‘Oh, you're the reason,' but no one man is ever the reason. What he has to understand is that he has to ask himself, ‘How do I get better?' I'll probably speak to him so he is not so hard on himself."

Reed also committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a return after another Hauschka field goal.

Smith had one return for 24 yards, and Carr had a 20-yard return.

"He's our guy," Smith said. "Hopefully, nobody will lose faith in David. He's our guy and we need him. We know what he can do. It was a tough one, but we know what he's capable of doing."

What can the Ravens do going forward?

"I think that fumbles are easily correctable," Harbaugh said. "I also think that we can block better, too. We can hit the holes a little better. We missed some holes in there. We didn't run to the right spot all the time. Those things are correctable, no question."

BIG GAME: Tight end Ed Dickson was the obvious bright spot in an otherwise rough game for the Ravens' offense.

He caught a career-high 10 passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns.

However, the disappointment of the loss dampened the moment for the former third-round draft pick from Oregon.

"I would trade that for a victory any day, I'll trade all my stats right now," Dickson said. "I knew a breakout game would come because of the way I work in practice and the way our team works in practice. I'm not at all worried about this team because we're going to get it straight."

One of his scores came on a throw from running back Ray Rice on a one-yard halfback pass in the first half.

"We had it in since Week 1, we've worked it a little bit," Dickson said. "It was a prime time to call the play, and Ray Rice threw a good ball and I was wide open. It was a well-executed play."

Dickson's other score came on an 11-yard pass from quarterback Joe Flacco in the fourth quarter to close the Seahawks' lead to five points.

"The game plan was pretty good, I just exploited whatever they gave us," Dickson said. "A lot of credit goes to Joe for finding me, and the line for giving a lot of protection. It was nothing different, just making plays."

For the season, Dickson now has 40 receptions for 356 yards and three touchdowns.

As the primary replacement for former Pro Bowl tight end Todd Heap, Dickson now ranks third on the team in catches behind Ray Rice (46 catches, 470 yards) and wide receiver Anquan Boldin (43 catches, 649 yards).

The timing between Flacco and Dickson appears to be improving, but it's a work in progress.

"I don't have the chemistry that he had with Heap, but I'm building on it each week," Dickson said. "I'm instilling confidence in him and in himself."

BOTCHED KICKS: Pro Bowl kicker Billy Cundiff missed two field goals against Seattle from beyond 50 yards, including a botched 52-yarder at the end of the first half that sailed wide right.

Only one can definitely be called his fault.

That was a missed 50-yarder where he kicked it short after long snapper Morgan Cox sent his snap skidding to holder Sam Koch.

"I just came up low and stayed low on it," Cox said. "I really can't speak on whether it threw it off, but it certainly didn't help."

Now, Cundiff has made only 1 of his six kicks from 50 yards and longer.

CHALLENGE LOST: Harbaugh entered the game successful on 7 of 8 replay challenges.

However, he lost one at the end of the game Sunday.

Harbaugh challenged whether a first-down ruling after an eight-yard Marshawn Lynch run.

The Ravens thought that Lynch coughed up the football prior to going down to the ground, but the ruling on the field was determined to be correct.

"I think at that point in time the guys felt very strongly that the ball was out before he was down," Harbaugh said. "We didn't have a look at it upstairs. We would have liked to have had it back.

"As it turned out, they got the first down anyway. It wouldn't have helped us anyway, so maybe that was our last, best chance to get the ball back. That was probably a low-percentage possibility. We understood that."

EVANS SIDELINED AGAIN: Not surprisingly, the Ravens scratched veteran wide receiver Lee Evans for the seventh game in a row.

Evans has been sidelined since the second game of the year with a lingering left ankle injury.

He returned to practice last week and was limited for three consecutive days with no apparent setbacks.

Harbaugh had indicated Friday that Evans was unlikely to play. The Ravens want Evans to strengthen his ankle before they put him back on the field.

Evans has caught two passes for 45 yards since being acquired via a trade from the Buffalo Bills.

INJURY UPDATE: The Ravens reported no new injuries.

Strong safety Bernard Pollard had his knee wrapped in ice after the game, but downplayed the severity of the ailment.

"It's nothing," he said.

BACK IN PLACE: After being sidelined for one practice during the week, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs (knee) and free safety Ed Reed (shoulder) both started.

Meanwhile, reserve linebacker and Pro Bowl special teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo was cleared for contact and played after suffering a mild concussion a week ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

LINEUP LOOP: Besides Evans, the Ravens also deactivated rookie wide receiver Tandon Doss, rookie running back Anthony Allen (hamstring), linebacker Dannell Ellerbe (hamstring, groin), center Bryan Mattison, cornerback Chykie Brown (knee) and linebacker Sergio Kindle.

A second-round draft pick from the University of Texas who missed his entire rookie season with a fractured skull, Kindle is a fixture on the inactive list each week.

DECENT WEATHER: Even though the forecast called for heavy precipitation and cold temperatures, it was a dry field and 50 degrees.

QUICK HITS: The Ravens' game captains were former Seahawks defensive end Cory Redding, offensive tackle Michael Oher and reserve linebacker Edgar Jones. ... The Seahawks scratched former University of Maryland quarterback Josh Portis, wide receiver Deon Butler, safety Jeron Johnson, cornerback Ron Parker, linebacker David Vobora (concussion), tight end Cameron Morrah (toe, knee) and offensive tackle Jarriel King. ... The Ravens only sacked Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson once, and he escaped pressure to make several big plays. That included a 50-yard throw to Doug Baldwin. "I thought Tarvaris Jackson did a heck of a job in those two situations, making those two plays," Harbaugh said. ... Tight end Dennis Pitta caught four passes for 49 yards as he and Dickson combined for 14 receptions for 128 yards.