RENTON — Pete Carroll talked Monday about the Seahawks needing to quickly put their blowout loss to Oakland in the rearview mirror.
“The importance of this is that we deal with it, it’s done today,” Carroll said.
What Carroll and his team can’t immediately make go away, however, are the numerous injuries that came out of Sunday’s 33-3 loss in Oakland.
Seattle came into the game missing several starters, and many more went down as the game went on, including quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who suffered what Carroll called a slight concussion. Carroll expects that Hasselbeck will be able to play when the Seahawks host the New York Giants Sunday.
“He still has to go through the process to make sure he’s alright, but we think he’ll play,” Carroll said.
The news isn’t as positive for defensive end Red Bryant, who suffered a knee injury when teammate Chris Clemons fell into Bryant’s leg. Bryant was on crutches after the game and wearing a large brace on his leg, and Carroll didn’t sound optimistic about Bryant’s prognosis, though more tests will be done this week.
“He’s going to be out a while, at best,” Carroll said.
Guard Ben Hamilton also suffered a concussion, and Carroll called the injury, “pretty significant.” Chester Pitts, who had knee surgery last season, made his Seahawks debut in place of Hamilton, and will get the start this week if Hamilton can’t play.
Also suffering injuries in the game were defensive tackle Colin Cole (ankle), tackle Tyler Polumbus (knee sprain), receiver Golden Tate (ankle), and receiver Mike Williams (knee bruise). Carroll said Tate was wearing a protective boot Monday.
The news isn’t all bad on the injury front, however. Several of the players who missed Sunday’s game could return to practice this week and play this weekend.
“The way I’m looking at it also this week is that we have a number of guys that can come back,” Carroll said. “We should get Kelly Jennings back and we should get Walter (Thurmond) back. We’ll get Matt McCoy back and so some guys will be coming off the injured list that will help us. I don’t know about Michael Robinson, hope to get him back as well, we’ll have to wait and see on that one.”
Carroll later added that defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, who has missed three games with a calf strain, could return to practice this week, as could left tackle Russell Okung, who missed Sunday’s game with a high ankle sprain. If Okung can actually play this weekend, that would be a big boost to the line given Polumbus’ injury and the fact that the Giants feature a fearsome pass rush that has knocked four opposing quarterbacks out of games this season.
“Yes, I think it is possible he’ll practice on Wednesday,” Carroll said. “We’re looking forward to that and then we’ll have to see how he handles that, if he can. And we’ll know later in the week.”
With all of those injuries, there is a good chance the Seahawks may need to add help in the next couple of days.
“There’s some work being done, yeah,” Carroll said. “(General manager) John (Schneider)’s guys are scurrying up there a little bit to figure this out and we’ve been in conversation about it all day.”
Washington to return punts
Leon Washington, who has two kick return touchdowns in one game this season, returned punts on Sunday for the first time as a Seahawk. Washington had 81 yards on three returns, including a 43-yarder on his first return.
Based on those results, and the fact that Tate’s status is up in the air this week, Washington will keep returning punts this week.
“He’s an exciting, electric football player, obviously, and we need to keep him in those situations,” Carroll said. “We need to keep getting the ball in his hands on both kickoff and punt returns. He’s just too good. So he’ll do that for us this week.”
No Moss talk
Reports surfaced Monday afternoon that the Vikings were releasing Randy Moss, and by Monday evening the team announced the move. Given that Seattle has injuries at the position, and that Carroll and Schneider have shown a willingness to take chances to upgrade the roster, questions were bound to come up regarding the possibility of adding moss.
“As far as I know that’s not official that he’s even available,” Carroll said. “I don’t know that, but I haven’t called him yet.”
A report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, however, said that the Seahawks and Miami have shown interest in Moss according to his agent. The Seahawks are 16th in the waiver order, meaning they may not even get a chance to add Moss if they are interested.
When Carroll was asked if, hypothetically speaking, the Seahawks would be interested should a high-profile receiver became available, Carroll joked: “You mean a real tall guy that wears number 84? Is that what you’re saying? No, I’m not doing hypotheticals, but it was a good try.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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