An opportunity arises

KIRKLAND – As one of 18 siblings, Marquand Manuel spent most of his childhood waiting in line.

So don’t expect him to lose his patience despite an NFL career that has included just 10 starts in 49 games.

His job this week is to take over as the starting free safety for the Seattle Seahawks. Given the circumstances, Manuel would probably rather be waiting in line.

He’ll take over for Ken Hamlin, who was seriously injured in an incident outside a downtown Seattle night club that left him with a fractured skull and small blood clot on his brain.

Manuel was in a similar position two weeks ago when another starting safety, Michael Boulware, was taken off the field on a stretcher. Boulware quickly recovered from what was later determined to be a bruised spine, but Manuel had to fight through the human emotions and fill in during a 37-31 win over St. Louis.

While Hamlin is in many teammates’ thoughts this week, there seems to be very little concern about the ability of his replacement. The 26-year-old Manuel has been a vocal leader since he came to Seattle 13 months ago.

“He’s definitely a leader,” said Boulware, who will start along with Manuel this Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. “He’s been my mentor. He’s been coaching me up ever since he got here. I’ve been looking up to him, and now I get a chance to play next to him, side by side.”

Manuel’s only start in 21 games with the Seahawks came in an Oct. 2 loss to Washington, when Seattle opened the game in a three-safety defense designed to shut down the run. Other than that, Manuel has worked as a backup and on special teams.

But he got plenty of work in the preseason, when Hamlin was overcoming surgery. Manuel started the first two preseason games and saw the bulk of the playing time at free safety.

“I’m ready to go,” he said Wednesday. “We play as a team. When (the starter) is out, I have to go in, and everybody expects me to do my job.”

While no timetable has been set for Hamlin’s return, there is a chance Manuel could remain in the starting lineup for the rest of the season.

Hamlin’s representative, Joel Anderson of Capital Sports & Entertainment, told the Everett Herald in an e-mail that Hamlin was moved out of intensive care and into a private room Wednesday, but he remains at Harborview Medical Center and isn’t expected to be back any time soon.

“ Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said that as far as the team knows, the assault on safety Ken Hamlin was not connected to the subsequent homicide of a 31-year-old man. But a police spokeswoman said detectives are still looking into the possibility that the crimes were linked.

Tramaine Isabell has said his brother, Terrell Milam, was one of the men who assaulted Hamlin in the Pioneer Square section of downtown Seattle early Monday. A jogger found Milam’s bullet-riddled body 5 1/2 miles away, near a city park, three hours later.

When asked after his normal, Wednesday press conference if the team is concerned police are searching for a possible link between the two crimes, Holmgren said: “I don’t think it’s an issue. They’re not concerned about it, because there’s not a connection,” as far as the team knows.

Also, in a small step geared at avoiding another high-profile incident, Holmgren told his players and coaches that they were not allowed to hang out in Pioneer Square.

The area where Hamlin was seriously injured early Monday morning is off limits.

“It’s not necessary to go down there and hang out down there,” Holmgren said.