CHENEY – A preseason loss to Denver became the least of the Seattle Seahawks’ problems on Monday morning.
With a cracking sound so loud that teammates heard it from as far as 20 yards away, outside linebacker Chad Brown suffered a broken leg that’s expected to keep him out eight weeks. Coach Mike Holmgren is holding out hope that Brown can be back for the final 12 games of the regular season.
“It’s a goofy way to hurt yourself,” Holmgren said. “We weren’t in pads; we weren’t banging around. Those things just happen.
“But he’ll be back. He’s a tough guy.”
Brown was injured with just a few minutes left in Monday’s morning practice, when his left leg got tangled up with teammate Itula Mili during a 7-on-7 drill. The fibula bone just above his left ankle snapped, and Brown laid face down in a heap while an eerie silence fell over the practice field.
“It’s tough,” teammate Anthony Simmons said of Brown’s injury. “You’re tired, it’s the last couple of days (of training camp), and everybody wants to get out of here. To see something like that happen, it’s kind of tough.”
For the time being, fifth-year veteran Isaiah Kacyvenski will man Brown’s spot at strongside linebacker. D.D. Lewis, who is nursing a shoulder injury, could eventually replace him in the starting lineup.
“It’s frustrating to see a team leader like Chad go down,” Kacyvenski said. “The linebackers just have to come together and rally round him.”
Kacyvenski started nine games at middle linebacker during the 2002 season, but with underwhelming results. He eventually lost his starting job and was moved to outside linebacker last summer.
“Last time, I was kind of tossed into the fire, and I felt like there was a lot of adversity,” said Kacyvenski, who played with a harness to protect an injured shoulder that year. “Now, I’m going into my fifth year and don’t feel like I have to go 1,000 miles per hour all the time. I can settle down and concentrate on what needs to be done.”
Holmgren said that Kacyvenski’s experience is an asset he didn’t have as a third-year player in 2002.
“He’s a little older, a little wiser, and a better football player now,” Holmgren said.
Lewis, meanwhile, started five games in place of Brown and Simmons last season. The third-year player has already missed a week of training camp due to the shoulder injury, and is not expected to play in Friday’s preseason game at San Diego.
Holmgren said that Lewis could return to practice next week, with the possibility of him playing against Minnesota a week from Thursday. That game would serve as a test for Lewis’ shoulder, which might eventually need surgery.
Brown, 34, enjoyed a career that was relatively injury-free until late in the 2002 season. He suffered a foot injury in November of that year, underwent surgery, and was limited by the foot throughout last season.
He had been held out of only two practices this camp.
“He worked his butt off to come back,” Kacyvenski said. “He’s been a man on a mission, a leader by example for all the young guys.”
Brown is currently in the second year of a five-year, $28.5 million contract extension he signed at the beginning of the 2002 season. He is slated to make more than $4 million this season.
Brown played in 14 games last season, finishing second on the team in sacks (7.0) and third in total tackles (86). He has had 100 tackles or more in five of his 11 NFL seasons.
“He’s a great player, but we have played without him,” Holmgren said. “Right now we’re not planning any dramatic moves. You just move the next guy up and play.”
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