Seahawks’ Branch to have knee surgery

Published 11:37 pm Tuesday, January 15, 2008

KIRKLAND — Deion Branch’s knee injury didn’t just knock the Seattle Seahawks wide receiver out of Saturday’s playoff game at Green Bay. It will probably force him to miss the start of the 2008 regular season.

Coach Mike Holmgren said Tuesday that Branch suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

He was injured in the first quarter of Saturday’s 42-20 loss to Green Bay and went to Birmingham for a second opinion earlier this week. Branch is scheduled to undergo surgery there, from famous sports surgeon Dr. James Andrews.

Surgery often requires up to a year of recovery, but Holmgren said that nine months is a realistic target for Branch’s return.

“Really, in the past, while (players with torn ACLs) can come back and play, sometimes it’s longer than that before they can really go the way they can go,” Holmgren said. “But he’s a hard-working guy.”

Branch caught 49 passes for 661 yards and four touchdowns during the regular season. He missed four games in October and November because of a foot injury, then was held out of the regular-season finale and the playoff opener because of a strained calf muscle.

Branch was on the field for just three snaps in Saturday’s game.

He is not the only Seahawks player who will undergo offseason surgery. Holmgren said that running back Shaun Alexander plans to undergo a procedure to help mend the broken bone in his left wrist.

“That crack, we thought it would heal by itself,” Holmgren said.

Alexander, with just 716 rushing yards, had his least productive season since taking over as starter in 2001.

While there is plenty of speculation about whether the 30-year old can still play, Holmgren said Tuesday that he has not given up on the former Pro Bowler.

“I think he can” return, Holmgren said. “Much is made of a running back’s age and when running backs start to lose their effectiveness. Absolutely, he’s capable — maybe not of getting the 1,800 (rushing) yards he had in 2005, but of being a very productive back.

“I believe he can. But it’s going to take a lot of improvement from our running game. That will be a point of emphasis in the offseason.”

Alexander suffered the wrist injury in the season opener and wore a brace for the rest of the year. He missed four games in the middle of the season because of a knee injury after sittting out out part of 2006 with a foot injury.

Yet Holmgren thinks Alexander, who will turn 31 in August, can still be productive.

“Hurting his wrist really affected him,” Holmgren said. “Hearing noises (boos) from the stands that are usually reserved for me may have affected him; he’s human.

“He has had a couple years where he has gotten nicked up a little bit for the first time in his life. But there’s no reason to think that he can’t come back and be a very, very productive back.”

Quick slants: Holmgren confirmed Tuesday that assistant coach Jim Mora will interview for the head coaching job with Washington’s NFL team. Mora went 26-22 in three seasons as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons before getting fired one year ago. Reports out of Washington, D.C., are that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is the leading candidate to replace Joe Gibbs as head coach. … Seahawks offensive quality control coach Gary Reynolds will join receivers coach Nolan Cromwell on the staff at Texas A&M, Holmgren said Tuesday. Reynolds and Cromwell will work under former Seahawks assistant Mike Sherman, who was recently hired as the Aggies’ head coach. … Holmgren said that 37-year-old offensive lineman Chris Gray has not decided whether to return for a 16th NFL season, adding that the veteran would probably work as a backup guard and center if he were to be back with the Seahawks.