KIRKLAND – About an hour after Seneca Wallace stood in front of a horde of reporters outside the Seattle Seahawks’ practice facility, the man he will replace was working his way around the locker room with a pair of crutches under his arms and a smile on his face.
“I’m good. I’m doing really well,” Hasselbeck said shortly after the team announced that he would likely miss three games with a second-degree sprain to the medial collateral ligament in his right leg. “The news on the MRI was really good today, and I feel really lucky.”
Hasselbeck’s even-keel demeanor has set the tone in the Seahawks’ locker room before, and it was happening again Monday.
While fans might be panicking over the possibility of not having their Pro Bowl quarterback for three games, the Seahawks coaches and players are giving off a positive vibe. It was as if Alfred E. Neuman (“What, me worry?”) and Bobby McFerrin (“Don’t worry, be happy”) were providing the stock answers in the locker room Monday.
“We believe in Seneca’s abilities,” wide receiver Darrell Jackson said. “We believe that if one man goes down, the next person on the team will step in.
“Everybody who’s in this league has the ability to play; it’s just about getting the opportunity to play.”
Wallace finished a game for the sixth time in his NFL career Sunday, but he’s yet to start one. That’s likely to change this Sunday, when the Seahawks (4-2) go to Kansas City to face the Chiefs (3-3).
“I just have to take advantage of it,” Wallace said Monday, about 24 hours after Hasselbeck had suffered the injury in a 31-13 loss to Minnesota. “It is very rare that you get this opportunity, and you have to step in and just play; relax, and play football.”
Relaxing might not be that easy for Seahawks fans who can’t imagine life without Hasselbeck. He had started 27 consecutive games, including the postseason, and had a 20-7 record to show for it.
“It always hurts when you lose a guy like Matt, who’s a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback,” defensive tackle Rocky Bernard said, “but things like that happen in football. … We feel confident (in Wallace). He’s proven that he can go out and play.”
Coach Mike Holmgren delivered Monday’s news to the media with a mixture of concern and relief. The injury could have been a lot worse – had Hasselbeck’s anterior cruciate ligament been damaged, he likely would have been lost for the season – and so Holmgren handled the injury with a glass-half-full optimism.
“I guess it’s kind of good news for me,” he said.
Asked where the team goes from here, Holmgren added: “Just plug in Seneca, and off we go.”
Wallace has thrown just 52 passes in his four-year NFL career, and 25 of them came in the second half of Sunday’s game.
Yet Holmgren has confidence that he’ll be able to carry the torch in Hasselbeck’s absence.
“I’m sure he’ll make the most of it,” Holmgren said, “and I have confidence in his ability to play.”
Wallace’s first start won’t be easy. Seattle will travel to Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, where the Seahawks have won just two of their past 20 games. After that, he’s expected to start in back-to-back home games against Oakland (1-5) and St. Louis (4-2).
“I welcome all challenges; that is what my job is,” Wallace said. “I have to step up to the plate and produce.”
The only other healthy quarterback on the roster is second-year player David Greene, who has yet to throw an NFL pass. Holmgren said that the team planned to bring in some veteran quarterbacks for tryouts today, but the options don’t inspire a lot of excitement. The team has considered former Denver quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt and ex-Tampa Bay and Indianapolis signal-caller Shaun King in the recent past, while former Seahawk Jeff George, 38, is also free to sign with any team after the Raiders gave him a brief look at training camp.
“Whether we sign one or not remains to be seen,” Holmgren said. “Teams in this league do go through quarterbacks. … There are some options. If we don’t (sign one after today’s workout), we’re not going to do it.”
The Seahawks hope that they won’t have to look that far down. For now, they’re more concerned with getting a backup quarterback ready to play this Sunday’s game against the Chiefs.
“He’s a very talented quarterback, and everyone knows that,” Hasselbeck said of Wallace. “As upset as I am at not being out there, I’m excited that he’s going to get a chance to play and show what he can do.
” … I think he’ll be all right. He’s played in big games before – maybe not in the NFL.”
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