KIRKLAND – Tired of having to juggle his roster every weekend, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren ended any suspense by placing punter Tom Rouen on injured reserve Friday and ending the veteran’s season.
Rouen has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, although the team had to wait until Saturday of each week to deem the 35-year-old unfit to play. That meant the Seahawks had to sign Donnie Jones from the practice squad and release a veteran.
Now that Rouen is officially on injured reserve, Jones will take over as punter for the remainder of the season. Jones was added to the 53-man roster Friday, marking the third time he’s been signed this year.
Rouen played in four games for the Seahawks this season, averaging 42.0 yards per punt while ranking among the NFL leaders with 10 kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. He pulled his hamstring while covering a punt near the end of the St. Louis game three weeks ago and hasn’t played since.
Jones, a rookie from LSU, has averaged 39.7 yards on nine attempts. He had a punt blocked last week, but part of that was due to a bad snap and a missed block by safety Terreal Bierria.
“There were a lot of things that went wrong on that particular play, myself included,” Bierria said earlier this week.
Rouen was hoping to play in Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers, and he took a few snaps from long snapper J.P. Darche on Wednesday. But when he tried to punt Thursday morning, the hamstring flared up again.
By the end of Friday’s practice, Holmgren appeared to be getting impatient.
“I’ve got to kind of see where the training staff feels that he is with this injury now,” Holmgren said early Friday afternoon. “We have to make a decision, instead of (altering the roster) every week.”
Shortly thereafter, Holmgren met with the trainers and opted to place Rouen on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
Trufant returns: Cornerback Marcus Trufant, who missed two days of practice this week because of a shoulder injury, returned to the field Friday and is expected to play against Carolina.
Trufant’s playing status was in question during the week because a shoulder injury flared up. If he couldn’t play, veteran Bobby Taylor would replace him in the lineup.
Also returning to practice was outside linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski, who surprised coaches by making it back on the field five days after suffering a sprained ankle. He was originally listed as “doubtful” for Sunday’s game, but it’s looking more and more like he can play.
Kacyvenski could provide depth behind Chad Brown, who is expected to make his debut Sunday. The 12-year veteran should be in the starting lineup Sunday after missing the first six games of the season with a broken leg.
Brown practiced all week with the No. 1 defense.
Terry questionable: While the news on Trufant, Brown and Kacyvenski was good, the status of starting right tackle Chris Terry is still up in the air.
Terry didn’t practice all week because of a lingering shoulder injury and will be a game-day decision. Floyd Womack started in his place last Sunday against Arizona.
The right tackle position is especially important this week because Carolina has star pass rusher Julius Peppers at left defensive end.
Wide receiver Bobby Engram (ankle), linebacker Anthony Simmons (shoulder) and defensive end Grant Wistrom (knee) are all expected to miss the game for Seattle.
Koutouvides waits his turn: Although he is still probably weeks away from making his first NFL start, rookie Niko Koutouvides should play his way into the lineup at some point this season.
Koutouvides has seen extended playing time recently, including a performance last Sunday in which he recorded a career-high six tackles. “I’ve just got to be ready, and whatever happens happens,” the Purdue product said of eventually taking Orlando Huff’s starting job.
“We’ve just got to win football games. Forget about who’s starting, who’s not starting. Forget about who’s down and who’s not down. It’s time to start winning football games again.”
Koutouvides said he believes he has progressed a lot, but he understands why the coaching staff has kept him on the bench for now.
“I’ll know when I really have a good performance for myself,” he said of being ready to take over as starter. “Last week I did all right, but it wasn’t what my critique expects. I could have made a few more plays, been in better position to make plays. But it’s the first time really getting my feet wet.”
Quick slants: Sarah Hasselbeck and other Seahawks wives have organized a walk to benefit the Pat Tillman Foundation. The three-mile walk, known as “Race for Pat,” will be held Nov. 6 at the Marina Park Pavilion in Kirkland. Registration costs $20 and begins at 8 a.m. … A retro version of Steve Largent’s No. 80 jersey is on sale at the Qwest Field Pro Shop as well as www.seahawks.com. … The Seahawks encourage fans to dress up for Sunday’s Halloween game, but people with offensive costumes will not be allowed in the stadium.
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