Alexander to miss one more game
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Just when the Seattle Seahawks didn’t think it could get any worse, it did.
One day after getting run over by the Kansas City Chiefs, the Seahawks found out that the help they expected will not be on the way. Monday tests on Shaun Alexander’s broken left foot showed that the Pro Bowl running back is still another week away from playing.
Instead of playing Monday night against the Oakland Raiders, Alexander is now targeted to return for the Nov. 12 game against St. Louis.
Alexander has already missed four games with the broken bone, but he was cleared to start running last week. Holmgren initially said he’d be back practicing this week.
“I’m a little disappointed he can’t play (against the Raiders), but we’ve been playing without him so it’s not that big of a shock,” coach Mike Holmgren said at his Monday press conference.
In Alexander’s absence, the running game has become non-existent. Fill-in Maurice Morris is averaging 45.8 yards per game as the starter, and just 2.9 yards per carry on the season.
Holmgren is unwilling to place the blame solely on Morris’s shoulders, saying that the run blocking has also been subpar.
“We’re not running the ball the way that we’re used to,” Holmgren said. “It just is a problem right now that we have to try and fix.”
Holmgren admitted that the lackluster ground game has affected his play-calling.
“The strength of our football team is our receivers,” he said Monday. “I want to strive for balance, but at the same time I have to make sure I move the football – somehow and some way. So to do that, we have to become more effective in our rushing.”
Even before the cracked bone was discovered after a Week 3 win over the New York Giants, Alexander was struggling as well. He averaged 62.3 yards per game in his three starts and has the identical yards-per-carry average as Morris (2.9).
“We can’t bide our time until he gets back; you can’t approach games that way,” Holmgren said. “And quite honestly, when he comes back, if we keep making the mistakes we’ve been making, it won’t make a difference anyway. We’ve got to fix these other things.