But Holmgren said on Monday that it was Hasselbeck's ribs that
were injured, preventing him from taking part in practice this week as the Seahawks
prepare for a division game against St. Louis, which like the Seahawks is on
a two-game win streak.
It is unclear exactly when Hasselbeck suffered the injury because when he grabbed
at the ribs after being chased out of bounds by Brian Urlacher, he had not been
hit on the play. But he was knocked around on previous plays.
"He got a shot in the ribs," Holmgren said. "It was a pretty
good bang in there. He had ice all over his body when I went down (to the training
room) this morning."
Holmgren said there did not seem to be any doubt that Hasselbeck, who threw
for 337 yards on Sunday, would play. "He is liking (the new offense), so
nothing is going to keep him out," Holmgren said.
Holmgren said his one concern is that Hasselbeck will not be able to get down
his timing with his receivers, especially since all are healthy again and back
playing. "I talked to him about that," Holmgren said. "What he
has to do is prepare himself without getting the practice time. I think he can
do this. It is not unprecedented at the quarterback position. They can pull
it off. And hopefully he will get some throws in at the end of the week.
Running back Shaun Alexander, who Holmgren has said won't play
until he can practice a full week, has been lobbying the team's medical staff
to remove the cast on his left wrist, which has protected a cracked bone in
his wrist since the first week of the season. Holmgren said the doctors compromised
by making the cast smaller. "We are going to try to make it ... a little
bit more natural," Holmgren said. "It has bothered him all season
in allowing him to do some stuff." Still, it is unclear if Alexander will
play this week. Holmgren said if he does not practice Wednesday because of a
sprained left knee, he will not play.
--
One of the best plays of Sunday's win over Chicago was kicker Josh Brown tackling
return specialist Devin Hester, then jumping up and flexing for the crowd. Holmgren
said while the play was good, he was going to have a discussion with Brown about
avoiding that in the future. "He used to run down there and want to be
in on every tackle," Holmgren said. "You can't do that. You can't
do that. We'll lose our kicker. He is too valuable. I have to chat with him
again."
PLAYER PERSONNEL NOTES
--OT Walter Jones will not practice so he can rest a sore shoulder. He will
play Sunday.
--DT Rocky Bernard will not practice much this week to rest a sore groin. He
is expected to play Sunday.
--DE Darryl Tapp will not practice this week to rest a shoulder stinger but
should play Sunday against St. Louis.
--RB Shaun Alexander will not play Sunday if he cannot practice on Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday. He has a sprained left knee. It still is unknown if he
will practice on Wednesday.
--QB Matt Hasselbeck is not expected to practice this week because of sore ribs
but should play against St. Louis on Sunday.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
REPORT CARD VS. BEARS
PASSING OFFENSE: A -- QB Matt Hasselbeck was 30 of 44 for 337 yards and two
touchdowns with no interceptions and a 106.0 passer rating. His 30 completions
tied his career best. It was his 15th 300-yard passing game. WR D.J. Hackett
had career highs of nine receptions for 136 yards, as well as a career-high
59-yard pass reception-and-run.
RUSHING OFFENSE: B -- For the second consecutive week, Maurice Morris had 87
yards while standing in for the injured Shaun Alexander. Only this week, instead
of a sub-4.0 average per carry, he averaged 4.8 yards a rush. He also had a
rushing TD for the second straight week, this one from 19 yards out.
PASS DEFENSE: B -- The secondary allowed Bears QB Rex Grossman to throw for
266 yards, but it did not give up a deep touchdown, which Grossman was able
to complete last season in two Bears wins. Also, the pass rush recorded five
second-half sacks after getting none in the first half, and Patrick Kerney forced
a fumble on one of them.
RUSH DEFENSE: B-minus -- Cedric Benson broke off a 43-yard TD run on the second
play of the game, which Mike Holmgren said was an assignment error. Then he
had a 20-yard run, which Holmgren said was the same thing. It also gave up a
five-yard touchdown run to Adrian Peterson. But it held the Bears to 24 second-half
yards and allowed Peterson just 11 yards on five carries.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B-minus -- Coach Bruce DeHaven decided to try to kick away from
Devin Hester, which kept giving the Bears good starting field position. Finally,
they kicked to him and were able to contain him, one time with PK Josh Brown
making the tackle on a kickoff.
COACHING: B -- Holmgren successfully challenged the spotting of the ball on
one play, which gave the Seahawks back the ball on a crucial possession. And
he made a creative play-call on a fourth-and-one situation, gaining 20 yards
on a bootleg-and-pass to tight end Marcus Pollard. Defensive coordinator John Marshall also made adjustments at halftime that allowed the front seven to get
five second-half sacks.