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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Injuries mount for Seattle

Multiple players sitting at training camp

Seahawks center Chris Spencer left practice with an injury Friday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Danny O’Neil Seattle Times

RENTON, Wash. – Center Chris Spencer left the practice field Friday morning aboard a cart, his right ankle on ice and Seattle’s injury concerns beginning to smolder.

“Hopefully, it’s nothing serious,” coach Jim Mora said after practice. “It didn’t appear to be.”

This is the time of year that NFL coaches cross their fingers and often hold their breath. Winning meaningless exhibition games isn’t nearly as important as the possibility of losing players to injury.

The Seahawks’ hopes this August extend beyond their ambitions for the regular season.

Among their hopes: Receiver Deion Branch’s surgically repaired knee doesn’t swell like it did earlier this week, causing him to miss three consecutive practices before returning to the field Friday night at Husky Stadium; left tackle Walter Jones will get beyond his back spasms; and cornerback Marcus Trufant will recover from the back injury that has left him unable to practice so far.

Seattle’s absences are adding up. First-round pick Aaron Curry remains unsigned and out. Mike Wahle, last year’s starting left guard, was gone before the season began, and then there’s Jones, Trufant, Branch and now a concern over Spencer.

Mora said there was no immediate prognosis on the extent of Spencer’s injury, but a preliminary diagnosis was the injury was not a high ankle sprain, which generally has a recovery period of about six to eight weeks.

No need to call FEMA for the Seahawks’ injury situation. This isn’t a disaster yet. These are mostly veterans. Staying on the field for training camp isn’t as important for players like Trufant and Jones as it is that they be ready for the regular season.

“What’s important is that we don’t put Marcus back on the field, and we don’t put Walt back out on the field – guys like that – until they’re really ready to go,” Mora said. “Because we don’t want them to have a setback. That just wouldn’t serve any purpose right now.”

Seattle had health concerns in training camp last season. Spencer was out with an injured back, Jones was getting a steady diet of rest and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck sat out the final three exhibition games with assurances that it was to preserve him for the regular season.

When the regular season started, and Hasselbeck lasted only four games before a nerve condition in his back put him on the bench. He ultimately missed a total of nine games.

Of course, that was just part of the problem. Injuries ran so rampant that the wide receiver who started the most games for Seattle last season – Koren Robinson – wasn’t on the roster until mid-September. By the end of the season, all five of Seattle’s starting offensive linemen were injured and out.

There are no signs any of these injuries are that severe. Mora has said he isn’t fearful of players like Jones or Trufant missing regular-season time, and he was hopeful Spencer’s ankle injury is not serious.

Seattle is still a week away from the first of four exhibition games, and there’s another five weeks until the regular season begins against St. Louis, which means there’s still time for the Seahawks to get out from under the growing pile of injured and absent players.