KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Shaun Alexander's pictures are worth
1,000 yards.
Alexander hasn't played for more than a month. Unless he breaks
loose when he finally returns from a broken left foot, he will not
gain 1,000 yards rushing this season -- for the first time since he
became Seattle's featured runner in 2001.
Yet the NFL MVP continues to be photographed more than Paris
Hilton.
Each Monday, Alexander gets a session of MRIs and X-rays on his
broken left foot. The latest photo shoot still showed a crack in
the fourth metatarsal, the same break that has been there since
Sept. 24.
So the Seahawks (4-3) had to scrap plans for last season's
league rushing leader to have a nationally televised return Monday
night against Oakland (2-5).
"If the pictures show the doctor what he wants to see, he will
play," coach Mike Holmgren said Wednesday. "If they don't, he
won't. It's that simple."
That deflates Seattle's already moping fans. More important, it
suppresses -- and depresses -- an already flat-lining Seahawks'
rushing offense that is partly why the defending NFC champions have
lost three of their last four games.
The fact that Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has been out,
joining Alexander in the training room for treatment on a sprained
right knee ligament, hasn't helped. Plus, the defense has been
getting run over on a weekly basis.
Then came this assessment from Holmgren on Wednesday about
Alexander and his pictures.
"It's conceivable the same thing, the same deal, will happen
next week," the coach said. "I hope not. I hope he'll be back."
Amplifying that hope: After the Raiders, Seattle hosts NFC West
co-leader St. Louis.
"I get disappointed, too, believe it or not. I know the fans
want to see him. I want him to play. And when I get the injury
report on Monday, it's a little grim," Holmgren said. "But when
we think he's ready, he'll be back."
Until then, it's another week of rehabilitation that includes
electric stimulation therapy and Alexander's deep belief in the
power of prayer. Holmgren said Alexander will not have any on-field
work this week.
Though he has been pain-free for weeks and has been bugging
Holmgren to play, Alexander said he agrees with team doctors'
insistence that he will not be cleared to play until the crack is
completely gone. The doctors fear that if Alexander returns before
the bone has fully meshed, he might sustain a displaced fracture
that would require season-ending surgery.
"I told the trainers and doctors, I totally trust them,"
Alexander said last month. "They are not going to just throw me
out there because I feel good."
Alexander has even suggested that missing the first five games --
or more -- of his seven-year NFL career might even turn out to be a
benefit to the Seahawks, because it will be a changeup to opposing
defenses.
That would be better than this changeup: Seattle is 1-3 since
Alexander broke his foot in a win over the New York Giants. The
lone win came on the last play at St. Louis on Oct. 15. The
Seahawks, with replacement back Maurice Morris, rushed for a
season-low 47 yards Sunday against a Kansas City defense that had
been allowing an average of 124 yards rushing.
The Seahawks are averaging 92 yards rushing this season. Last
year, with Alexander healthy and romping for 1,880 yards, they were
third in the NFL at 154 yards per game.
It all led Holmgren to say this week, "Right now, we can't run
worth a darn."
Then again, it's not like Alexander had been rolling on the foot
that he badly bruised in the season opener Sept. 10.
He has 187 yards through three games. His paltry average of 2.9
yards per carry is nearly two full yards below his career average.
Last season, he had five touchdowns through three games en route to
an NFL-record 28. This season, he has two.
Holmgren said Alexander has been out so long now, he might not
be able to run Alexander as much as usual -- whenever the star
finally does return.
"He usually doesn't need quite as much time as a lot of other
guys," Holmgren said. "In preseason, he doesn't carry the ball
much. Usually, in the regular season, he doesn't miss a beat.
"I don't know how that's going to go. My tendency is to leave
him in there. But I must be smart with that."