Alexander heals slowly
KIRKLAND, Wash. – The crack in Shaun Alexander’s foot still isn’t healed, and the league Most Valuable Player will almost certainly miss his sixth consecutive game Sunday when Seattle hosts St. Louis for the NFC West lead.
Coach Mike Holmgren said Tuesday that consecutive days of MRIs and CT scans on last season’s NFL rushing leader showed the fourth metatarsal on Alexander’s left foot still is cracked.
“He is healing. I think he’ll do some running at the end of the week,” Holmgren said. “But I wouldn’t expect him to be able to play this week. Now, I suppose there’s an outside chance, but that’s how they are looking at it.”
For weeks, Holmgren has been saying doctors are waiting on the bone to “knit” completely before they will clear last season’s NFL rushing leader to play. They don’t want Alexander risking a more complete break that would require surgery and cause him to miss the rest of the season.
The third round of pictures in eight days showed that knitting – which Seattle expected to be sewed up more than two weeks ago – remains frayed.
“I wish I could tell you I had better news,” Holmgren said. “Some people heal up faster. Some people take a little more time. There is a certain frustration built into that.”
A smiling, limp-free Alexander has been painlessly walking around the Seahawks’ locker room and training room for weeks, adding to the expectation of an imminent return. Seattle is 2-3 without him, and 1-1 since Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck sprained a ligament in his right knee.
“The crack, over a few weeks, gets smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller. And it is healing,” Holmgren said. “But what throws us off just a little bit, I think, is that he feels good. It’s not sensitive to the touch, necessarily.
“And so you get this hope that he can play. But these last pictures, there’s still a little crack there. So I think they are just being safe.”
Holmgren said Hasselbeck may also practice some by week’s end.
“But the reality of it is, he probably won’t play this week, either,” the coach said.
Holmgren said he wants to get some practice for his two offensive stars this week, if they can, merely for “getting the rust off” in advance for what he hopes is clearance to play Nov. 19 at San Francisco.
Bobby Engram, the team’s leading receiver in 2005 who has been out for more than a month with a thyroid condition, may also return against the 49ers. Holmgren said Engram is slowly regaining the strength and 8 pounds he lost because of an accelerated heart rate and fatigue. Engram will practice more this week.
The urgency to get back Alexander, Hasselbeck and Engram lessened when the Rams lost Sunday and the Seahawks ran for a season-high 207 yards in a shutout of Oakland on Monday night. Alexander’s replacement, Maurice Morris, set career highs with 30 carries for 138 yards. That was far more than Seattle needed to beat Oakland’s awful offense, which allowed nine sacks and gained 185 total yards.
It was far more than Morris is used to doing in a game – or an entire week of practice.
“No, I’m good,” a tired Morris said after his busy Monday.
Despite Monday’s less-than-conclusive 16-0 win – in which the offense punted on eight consecutive series after taking a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter – the Seahawks remain atop their sickly division. They have just two games remaining against teams with a winning record: Dec. 3 at Denver and Dec. 24 against San Diego.
“The fact we’re 5-3 at the halfway mark, considering we’ve been a little unlucky in the injury department, I think is OK,” Holmgren said. “Now, hopefully, we start getting some guys back for the stretch. … Honestly, our expectation level was higher. But sometimes seasons don’t unfold exactly the way you hoped.”