Seahawks finally on the mend
KIRKLAND, Wash. – For the first time in a long time, Seattle was ahead of the game in the injury department Friday.
“I think we have kind of weathered a little bit of a storm,” said coach Mike Holmgren, whose Seahawks (7-4) play Sunday night at Denver.
Matt Hasselbeck took direct snaps in practice for the first time this week, though the Pro Bowl quarterback still wore a compression wrap and black glove over his sore left hand. The team lists him as probable for the game against the Broncos (7-4), but he will start his second game after being out four weeks with a sprained knee.
Hasselbeck likely will wear the same brace on his right knee that he’s been wearing since the injury Oct. 22. He said the knee was “pretty sore” following his three-touchdown, three-interception game Monday night against Green Bay, but “with a shorter week, you have to feel better.
“My knee feels good,” Hasselbeck said. “So that is a good thing.”
In other good news for the Seahawks, league MVP Shaun Alexander said his cracked left foot felt fine following his 40-carry, 201-yard rushing breakout Monday.
He had averaged 56 yards per game in his first four games, which were sandwiched around a seven-week absence for a foot that has a crack in the fourth metatarsal.
Alexander has an explanation for why he thinks he’s now back to his 2005 form – when he led the league in rushing – just in time for Seattle’s playoff drive.
“I think the best thing that I do is I help set up blocks for our lineman. Without your feet you can’t really do that that well,” he said. “I think that that helped our line do already what they are good at (Monday), and that is getting on people and running.”
Starting right tackle Sean Locklear, who hasn’t played since Oct. 22 following a one-game suspension and a high left ankle sprain, was back at practice. He is listed as questionable for Sunday.
“He’s close to coming back,” said Holmgren, who added that Tom Ashworth likely will start his sixth consecutive game for Locklear.
The coach said defensive tackle Rocky Bernard, listed as questionable with a right foot injury, will play.
Not all the injury news was positive. Bobby Engram, downgraded to probable Thursday, will miss his eighth consecutive game. The team’s leading receiver last season continues to battle fatigue when he takes new medication to slow an accelerated heart rate caused by a thyroid condition.
Holmgren said Engram will be tested again Monday to see if he can play at Arizona on Dec. 10.
Pro Bowl center Robbie Tobeck, out with an abscess on his hip, will also be tested Monday to see if his infection has dissipated.
Starting safety Jordan Babineaux was added to the injury list as a probable after banging shoulders with a teammate in practice Thursday. Starting cornerback Kelly Herndon, a former Bronco, is probable with a toe injury.