Key injuries piling up for battered Seahawks

SEATTLE – First Jerramy Stevens. Then Shaun Alexander. Then Bobby Engram.

And now Matt Hasselbeck.

Roll call isn’t much fun for the Seattle Seahawks’ offense these days. The silence that fell over the 68,118 at Qwest Field as Hasselbeck pounded his fist on the turf in frustration over an injury to his right knee now yields to an uncomfortable 24-hour waiting period.

Hasselbeck will have “pictures,” as coach Mike Holmgren called it in his post-game comments, of his knee today to determine the severity of the injury. Shortly after Hasselbeck was hurt, it was reported on the Seahawks radio broadcast as a sprained MCL, which typically results in a 2-4 week absence, but Holmgren declined to talk specifics.

What is known is Sunday’s game took a U-turn after Hasselbeck departed early in the third quarter. Minnesota broke a 10-10 stalemate by scoring a touchdown even before Hasselbeck, accompanied by trainers, could make the slow walk down the sideline toward the locker room.

The Vikings cruised to a 31-13 win. The Seahawks failed in their first attempt to go forward without their Pro Bowl quarterback.

“When you lose your quarterback, that’s a fairly substantial thing,” Holmgren said. “We have lost people at other positions and it’s not quite as dramatic. When you lose a player, I expect other groups to gear up.”

The Seahawks are finding out that it’s nearly impossible to replace so many key missing parts. Stevens returned Sunday after a lengthy absence with a knee injury. Alexander, league MVP last season, is still out with a foot injury and might miss another week. Engram, who led Seattle in receptions last year, wore sweats and watched from the sideline.

And the Seahawks understand that no sympathy cards are heading their way.

“Fair doesn’t have crap to do with football,” said Stevens, who used a somewhat more descriptive word. “It sucks that a couple of our premier players got hurt. But ‘Mo’ (Maurice Morris) has been stepping up for Shaun and Seneca (Wallace) is going to have to step up for Matt for however long he’s out.”

Hasselbeck stayed relatively injury free last year, starting all 19 games behind an offensive line that featured three Pro Bowlers. But he’s absorbed numerous hits this season as the line struggled to deal with the defection of guard Steve Hutchinson to Minnesota and injuries early on to Floyd Womack and Chris Gray.

Hasselbeck had just released a pass when Minnesota’s E.J. Henderson, trying to navigate around a block by fullback Mack Strong, rolled into the quarterback’s right leg. He left the field without putting any weight on his leg. He wasn’t available to the media after the game and apparently left the stadium on crutches.

“I was just blocking E.J. and I threw him to the ground,” Strong said. “I thought it was a late hit. He kind of crawled into Matt’s leg, but they didn’t make the call. It’s one of those things that’s unfortunate.”

Wallace entered having thrown two passes this season. His last meaningful reps were in training camp. And to be fair, he was playing against a talented, physical defense that kept Hasselbeck in check for most of the first half.

“Their defense was doing a good job when Matt was in there,” left tackle Walter Jones said. “We just really couldn’t get anything going. They came in and played us tough.”

Wallace’s first pass was behind Deion Branch and his next one was intercepted. His second series was a three-and-out. He directed a 72-yard drive that netted a field goal on the next possession, but it was tough sledding from there.

“As the game went on and I got hit a little bit, I just got more confident,” said Wallace, who finished 14 of 25 for 134 yards. “It’s hard to step in, coming off the bench and stepping in right away.”

The Seahawks voiced their belief in Wallace, a splendid athlete who made a clutch reception as a wide receiver in last year’s NFC Championship game. Coaches have toyed with the notion of using Wallace as a punt/kick returner, but felt there was too much risk of injury to the only experienced backup to Hasselbeck.

“If we would have to play without Matt it will probably change some things, yes,” Holmgren said of future game plans, “but I’m not nervous. Seneca’s a good player and with a week of practice under his belt he’s expected to go in and play the position as well.”

How long Wallace plays the position should be revealed today with the results of the tests on Hasselbeck’s knee.

“It will do us no good to cry about it because the team we’re playing doesn’t care who we don’t have,” center Robbie Tobeck said. “People expect us to go out and play at a high level and I expect that. We go with who we have. It’s kind of cold, you want your buddies out there, but that’s just how it has to be.”