KIRKLAND – Although it comes a week later than he may have expected, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Peter Warrick is likely to make his NFL playoff debut this weekend.
And he’ll do it in a new role.
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren backed up his threat to make changes on his punt return unit Wednesday by tabbing Warrick to replace Jimmy Williams as the punt returner for Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the Carolina Panthers.
“It’s exciting,” said Warrick, who was a healthy scratch from Saturday’s win over the Washington Redskins after five playoff-less seasons. “I’ll just take it slow, be thankful and let it come to me. I can’t try to do too much.”
Warrick played in 13 games during the regular season but was inactive Saturday so the team would have more available players on their coverage teams. He originally had the punt return job when arriving in Seattle in September but struggled to be consistent.
The team signed Williams three weeks into the regular season and was satisfied with his play up until Saturday’s game, when he muffed one punt and also fumbled on a return.
“It has to be better,” Holmgren said, “and my feeling is it will be better.”
Warrick served as the Cincinnati Bengals’ punt returner for most of his first four NFL seasons before a knee injury derailed him in 2004. He averaged just 4.8 yards on six returns with the Seahawks this season before being replaced by Williams.
“He really looked very uncomfortable back there,” Holmgren said when asked why he took Warrick out of the return role in September. “So, why throw him into the frying pan?” Then Holmgren stopped chuckled and added: “Which is what I’m doing now. Why do it? It’s the championship game and we’re throwing everyone into the frying pan.”
Recalling his conversation with Warrick, Holmgren cautioned about just how risky a move it is at this point in the season.
“Look, I know what kind of a position I’m putting you in,” Holmgren recalled telling Warrick during his Wednesday press conference. “Because you’re going to go out there, and the whole world is going to be watching. They’re going to be mad at you, and they’re going to be mad at me, if things go bad. But that’s the way it’s going to go.”
Warrick doesn’t mind the timing. After going five seasons in Cincinnati without a sniff of the postseason, and then having to sit out Saturday’s playoff game, he’s is ready to show what he can do.
“I’ve got this opportunity, and I’ve got to make the best of it,” Warrick said. “I’ve got to show coach Holmgren that I’m worthy of this.”
Locklear, Alexander to play: Holmgren made two other announcements Wednesday that had been expected, saying that starting right tackle Sean Locklear and running back Shaun Alexander will play against the Panthers.
Alexander suffered a concussion against the Redskins but has been cleared by doctors to play this weekend. He practiced Wednesday, when the team took part in its typical session without pads.
“I am feeling blessed,” he told reporters in North Carolina during a Wednesday conference call. “I didn’t think I would be able to heal that fast.”
Locklear’s status was in jeopardy because of a weekend arrest for domestic assault. He met with Holmgren on Wednesday morning before apologizing to his teammates.
“It is a very, very serious issue – as it should be,” said Holmgren, whose wife Kathy is active in campaigns against domestic abuse. “But after talking with Sean, the club made the decision we made.
“If at the time of the (Feb. 13) hearing, a decision comes down that is unfavorable to him, clearly the league at that point gets involved. Then, we as a club will get involved with some sort of action. I think it is very, very important to let the process happen and then we will know at the time which direction we have to go.”
Locklear, who spent more than two days in jail during the holiday weekend, made a brief statement following Wednesday’s practice.
“I would like to start off by apologizing to the community and everybody,” Locklear said. “I’m not proud of the things I’ve done.
“…This is not characteristic of my actions, and I apologize. I want to put this behind me so that the team can get ready to play the Panthers on Sunday.”
Starting receivers questionable: Wide receivers Darrell Jackson (knee) and Bobby Engram (lower back) did not practice Wednesday and are listed as questionable on the injury report. Defensive tackle Rocky Bernard (foot) is also questionable on the official injury report, which was given out Wednesday.
All three players have a 50-50 chance of playing in Sunday’s game, although Holmgren indicated earlier this week that he expects them to be available.
Peppers sits out: Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers did not practice Wednesday and remains questionable for Sunday’s game.
Peppers, who injured his shoulder in Sunday’s win over Chicago, is one of four Carolina starters who are listed as questionable. Fullback Brad Hoover (ankle), center Jeff Mitchell (knee) and guard Tutan Reyes (toe) joined him, along with reserve defensive tackle Kindal Moorehead.
Defensive tackle Jordan Carstens (illness) and safety Mike Minter (wrist) are probable.
Quick slants: The Seahawks placed defensive end Alain Kashama (hamstring) on injured reserve and activated defensive end Robert Pollard from the practice squad. Pollard is a second-year player out of Texas Christian University who spent most of the 2004 season on the San Diego Chargers’ practice squad. … The Seahawks signed tight end/long snapper Mike Gomez to the practice squad.
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