Shoulder injury to sideline Watters for at least four weeks

By Scott M. Johnson

Herald Writer

KIRKLAND – The weekly mantra at the Seattle Seahawks’ practice facility over the past 14 months has been that things can’t possibly get any worse. And yet somehow, they always do.

On Monday, one day after the team suffered its second consecutive blowout loss, the Seahawks learned that veteran running back Ricky Watters will be out at least four weeks due to a cracked bone in his right shoulder. Watters’ streak of 116 consecutive games – the longest current streak for NFL running backs and second all-time to Walter Payton’s 170 – will come to an end Sunday.

“You kind of used to having certain guys with you all the time,” Holmgren said. “He hasn’t missed a game in I don’t know how many years. … Losing our best offensive player for a while, that hurts.”

Considering what was originally feared, Watters’ timetable for return isn’t that bad. Holmgren thought Watters may have a torn rotator cuff, which would have ended his season. As it stands now, the timing of Watters’ return depends upon whether or not the 32-year-old decides to have surgery.

“He has a decision to make whether to operate on it and fix it or whether we let it knit naturally,” Holmgren said. “The surgery itself would get him back a little sooner.”

Watters underwent an MRI on Monday morning, and is expected to see a doctor again today. He suffered the injury while trying unsuccessfully to convert a fourth-down play during the first quarter of Sunday’s 38-14 loss to Oakland.

Watters hasn’t missed a game since 1993, when a knee injury kept him out of three contests while he was with the San Francisco 49ers. Since spending his entire rookie year in 1991 on the injured list, Watters has played in 142 of his teams’ 145 games.

Watters has been Seattle’s top offensive weapon over the past two seasons, and is the Seahawks’ only offensive player that ranks among the AFC’s top 15 in any category. He is currently seventh in the conference with 191 rushing yards.

The injury means Shaun Alexander will make his first NFL start in Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Alexander had conflicting emotions, at first despondent about the injury to his friend and teammate, then eager to prove himself at the professional level.

When the media descended upon him after a light workout Monday, Alexander broke into a toothy grin.

“It’s finally here,” he said, raising his arms to welcome the swarm of reporters. “My people have come.”

Alexander, the team’s No. 1 pick in the 2000 draft, has 27 yards on 17 carries this season in a reserve role. He saw the most action of his career in Sunday’s loss, leading the team with seven receptions. But his rushing totals – 10 carries for 18 yards – were hardly impressive.

“He’s a good player,” Holmgren said. “This is why I drafted him, to play. I didn’t want to do this at Ricky’s expense.”

Alexander was selected with the 19th overall pick in last year’s draft, and has sat behind Watters without grumbling. But being able to make his first start comes as some kind of a relief. Alexander is the eighth running back drafted in 2000 to make his starting debut.

“Patience is a very big thing,” he said, “and if you have it you can do some great things when it’s finally your turn to go.

“It’s going to be cool,” Alexander added. “It’s a great opportunity for me, and it’s a great opportunity for our team to show how close our team is when a great player like Ricky goes down. Are we going to sit around and cry about it, or are we going to go out and play?”

In addition to having to replace a running back that accounted for nearly 40 percent of the team’s offense last season, the Seahawks will be without their emotional leader.

“Not everyone is as emotional and shows their emotion like Ricky does,” Holmgren said. “What that does to the football team, we’ll see. I hope it doesn’t hurt us too much.”

Said Alexander: “Ricky’s a fireplug, and he’s always been like that. That kind of energy was always good. There’s going to be times where I’m going to have to do some things, and I don’t know how I’m going to do it yet. Ricky and I are different people.”

The only other healthy halfback on the team is Rodnick Phillips, a first-year player who is on the practice squad. Holmgren said the team is scouring the waiver wire for an experienced backup, but added that Phillips could be activated for this week’s game.