KIRKLAND — This might turn out to be the perfect week for the Seattle Seahawks’ lone 2007 appearance on Monday Night Football. The extra day of preparation will give Seattle’s hobbled team more time to heal.
At Friday afternoon’s practice, which is typically the one that goes a long way toward determining who will be available for a Sunday game, 10 players were sitting out. Coach Mike Holmgren said that just two of those players have been ruled out for the game: offensive lineman Ray Willis, who hasn’t played since Week 4 because of a knee injury, and reserve linebacker Will Herring, who pulled his hamstring Sunday.
Holmgren added that starting linebacker Leroy Hill is “doubtful” due to a sore hamstring.
That leaves seven players as questionable, including five starters: running back Shaun Alexander (knee), wide receiver Deion Branch (foot), tight end Marcus Pollard (knee), defensive tackle Rocky Bernard (groin) and defensive end Patrick Kerney (oblique). Backup defensive lineman Baraka Atkins (ankle) and reserve linebacker Niko Koutouvides (hamstring) are also ailing.
“We’re going to test them pretty good” today, Holmgren said. “We’ve tried to let them heal up as best we can, but I’ve got to see (today).”
The Seahawks will hold a short practice this afternoon, although it is closed to the media.
Branch worked on sprints and pass routes with trainers this week, and there’s a chance he’ll play for the first time since Oct. 7.
“His game is quickness and speed,” Holmgren said, “so he has to be able to do that (at practice today). Otherwise, I’d be doing him a disservice. We’ve got to be smart with him.”
Alexander worked with trainers behind the scenes. Holmgren said that he spent the week running on treadmills and doing other kinds of conditioning. Alexander twisted his left knee during the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cleveland but returned to the game before sitting out the entire fourth quarter.
Holmgren said earlier this week that Alexander did not have any structural damage in the knee.
If Alexander can’t play, Maurice Morris would make his first start of the season. Morris rushed for 445 yards in five starts in place of Alexander last year. He had 55 yards on nine carries in Sunday’s loss.
“A lot of people didn’t know if I could carry the workload,” Morris told reporters this week. “But I think I’ve played four quarters and proven I can get the job done. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
The Seahawks will do whatever it takes at several positions, no matter who is in the starting lineup against San Francisco on Monday.
“I don’t think our game-planning was too much different,” Holmgren said. “We’re going to have some of (the injured players) back.”
A familiar face: The return of Darrell Jackson didn’t get much attention this week.
Holmgren said he didn’t know what kind of reception the former Seahawks wideout would get at Qwest Field this week, while Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck offered, “I don’t really care.”
Jackson, who played his first seven seasons in Seattle before being traded to the 49ers in April, hasn’t been the topic of much discussion in the Bay Area, either.
In a game preview on the 49ers’ Web site earlier this week, Jackson was quoted as saying: “I am just looking forward to getting out there and playing well, moving the ball, having fun, and it would be great to get a win in the stadium I used to play in.”
Jackson hasn’t been having much fun this year. His 20 receptions rank third on the team, and a quadriceps injury has kept him out of the starting lineup in each of the past two games.
“Our offense hasn’t been as productive, and you can’t fault any one person or anything like that,” 49ers coach Mike Nolan said. “But Darrell has come in, and he’s done a good job working in the offense. I’m sure that he’d like to have more production; the kind of numbers that he had in Seattle.”
Déjà vu: Last week, the Seahawks got torched by a 6-foot-4, 250-pound tight end who was once the sixth overall pick in the NFL draft. Cleveland’s Kellen Winslow caught a career-high 11 passes for 125 yards as the Browns beat Seattle in overtime.
This week, Seattle will face a 6-3, 253-pound tight end who was once the sixth overall pick in the NFL draft: San Francisco’s Vernon Davis.
“Winslow had a great game last week against us,” Holmgren said of the sixth pick in the 2004 draft. “It presents problems when you have a tight end like that. Hopefully, we’ve learned from last week’s game.”
Davis has had a rather quiet career since being selected early in the 2006 draft, but he’s come on as of late. Over the past three games, Davis has 17 receptions and a touchdown.
Historical return: With his 94-yard return last Sunday, Seahawks wide receiver Nate Burleson became the first player in NFL history with three punt-return touchdowns of 90 yards or more in his career.
Despite just 24 games as a Seahawk, Burleson already ranks seventh in franchise history in career punt-return yards (684) and ranks second in career return touchdowns (three, one behind Joey Galloway).
Quick slants: In a recent poll conducted by Sports Illustrated, Qwest Field ranked seventh in the NFL in terms of “fan value experience.” The poll was based on a number of factors, including prices, concessions and overall atmosphere. Green Bay’s Lambeau Field was first in the poll. … This will mark the fourth year in a row that the Seahawks have appeared on Monday Night Football. From 1993 through 1998, Seattle didn’t have a single MNF game.
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