KIRKLAND — Just when it looked like the Seattle Seahawks might get their entire receiving corps together for a game, another setback might leave them shorthanded.
Coach Mike Holmgren said Thursday that starting wide receiver D.J. Hackett would be a “game-time” decision for Saturday’s playoff contest at Green Bay because of an ankle that has hampered him for most of the season.
Hackett’s Wednesday practice ended before the conclusion of practice, and the receiver did not participate in Thursday’s session.
“Instead of making it a little worse,” coach Mike Holmgren said of holding Hackett out of practice, “I think I’d rather have him on Saturday.”
Hackett missed six games in September and October after originally suffering a high ankle sprain in the regular-season opener. He aggravated the injury in a Nov. 25 game at St. Louis and missed four more games before returning to play the regular-season finale and last Saturday’s playoff opener.
Hackett apparently suffered another setback at Wednesday’s practice, leaving his status for the Green Bay game in peril.
Fellow starter Deion Branch missed the past two games with a strained calf muscle but returned to the practice field earlier this week. Holmgren said Thursday that he expects Branch to play.
Branch and Hackett have played just two full games together this season.
Also on the practice field Thursday were left tackle Walter Jones (shoulder), defensive end Patrick Kerney (knee) and defensive tackle Rocky Bernard (groin). All three players were held out of practices earlier this week, but Holmgren said he expects them to play Saturday at Green Bay.
Linebackers Kevin Bentley (illness) and Niko Koutouvides (knee) were limited at Thursday’s practice.
The official injury report comes out this afternoon.
Running on empty: As the regular season closed in on its midway point, the Seahawks and Packers had a similar weakness that could not be overlooked. Neither team could run the football.
One team all but abandoned the run, while the other team went out and fixed it.
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” Seahawks offensive lineman Rob Sims said. “We’ve got a lot of big-play guys and a great player in (quarterback) Matt Hasselbeck, who’s been getting it done, so that’s the way we went.
“But when we’ve needed to run, we’ve run. I think we’ve just got to keep building on that.”
Sims was understandably disappointed when the coaching staff announced in early November that it would feature more pass plays, but he admits now that Holmgren made the right decision for this team.
The Packers, meanwhile, continued to force-feed the run despite a comatose attack that ranked dead last in the league eight weeks into the regular season. Eventually, with first-year player Ryan Grant taking over for injured Vernand Morency and Brandon Jackson, Green Bay got things going.
The Packers averaged 127.5 yards per game — 55 yards better than their pace over the first half of the season — to finish 21st in the NFL in that category with a season total of 1,597 rushing yards.
Seattle had 1,619 rushing yards during the regular season, which ranked 20th in the league. The pass-first mentality actually loosened things up for the ground game, leading to an average of 114 rushing yards per game over the final five weeks.
Barnett hurt: Packers linebacker and leading tackler Nick Barnett was limited in Thursday’s practice because of a sore hamstring. But coach Mike McCarthy downplayed the injury.
“He was sore, we were just being smart, so we just limited him today,” McCarthy told reporters in Wisconsin on Thursday. “We’ve had a lot of work over the last 10 days. Nick will be fine.”
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