RENTON — Rookie linebacker Aaron Curry will likely miss a game for the first time in his NFL career this week. Long snapper Kevin Houser, meanwhile, is just hoping to get home in time for Christmas.
Curry has a stinger that forced him out of Sunday’s loss to Tampa Bay, marking the second straight week he was unable to finish a game after leaving with a hip pointer the week before. Seahawks coach Jim Mora said Curry is doubtful to play Sunday in Green Bay, but that diagnosis is a lot better than the one given to Houser.
Houser ended up in the hospital Sunday with a collapsed lung, and was still there Monday, though he was able to sit up in bed and watch cartoons with his kids.
“Hopefully he’ll be out (today),” Mora said. “I talked to him a couple hours ago, and I talked to his wife, who was with him. He was sitting up in a chair, and doing much, much better. But they had to do what they had to do to get that thing re-inflated. They’ll keep him in at least until (today), and potentially Wednesday. Kevin, he was hurting in that game. He was hurting.”
Houser suffered the injury on punt coverage in the second quarter, and stayed in the game for an extra point attempt later in the quarter, as well as another punt. Eventually he was removed from the game, forcing cornerback Kelly Jennings, one of the lightest players on Seattle’s roster, to serve as the long snapper on a punt.
Jennings, who was able to get off a good snap, will not keep that job for the next two games. Houser will likely be placed on injured reserve, and the team plans on signing Jeff Robinson, who served as Seattle’s long snapper last season. The 39-year-old Robinson, who is from Kennewick, has not played this season.
“I would say right now the leader of the clubhouse is Jeff Robinson,” Mora said. “I don’t know yet that that’s finalized, but we’re moving down that path. It’s nice to have a guy that close, yes … If you’re a competent long snapper, you can last a long time. He’s good at it. Those guys are kind of just old, tough warhorses.”
The Seahawks will likely also be without receiver Nate Burleson for a second straight week, Mora said. Burleson, who has a high ankle sprain, is out of the protective boot he wore last week, but isn’t expected to be ready for the Green Bay game. Mora said the team won’t place Burleson on injured reserve, meaning he could return for the season finale in two weeks.
Mora was pro-Holmgren
Mike Holmgren was named president of the Cleveland Browns Monday, and Mora said he, like a lot of Seahawks fans, wished that the former Seattle coach was instead returning to Seattle.
Mora went so far as to reach out to his bosses last week to try to bring Holmgren back to the organization.
“I was hopeful that he would be back,” Mora said. “It’s no secret that I’m a Mike Holmgren fan, and I was an advocate of him coming back to the point that I made my feelings know to the people that make those decisions. I’m probably as disappointed as anybody that he’s decided to reject our offer and go onward.”
Asked why he felt compelled to advocate for Holmgren, Mora said, “I just wanted to be clear about where I was and how I felt about him so that there was no doubt.”
Housh excused from practice
Receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh will not be with the Seahawks today in order to attend the funeral of former teammate Chris Henry.
“I just feel like it’s really important,” Mora said of Houshmandzadeh’s attending the funeral. “That was an important person in his life, and T.J. was an important person in Chris’ life. He was almost like a big brother to him. They had spoken recently, and I think it’s very important that he’s there for that.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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