Matt Hasselbeck Practices, Charlie Whitehurst Still Expected Starter

Filed under: Seahawks, NFC West

In a bit of a surprise, hobbled quarterback Matt Hasselbeck took some time to work with the Seahawks' first team offense Friday, but that doesn't mean he'll start on Sunday at home against the Rams.

Coach Pete Carroll said that he was a bit surprised himself that Hasselbeck's left hip injury allowed the quarterback to practice, but said he still was going with Plan A -- backup QB Charlie Whitehurst under center.

"Charlie's going. We've been committed to that,'' Carroll said. "That's what we can count on and that's what we know. Charlie had a good, solid week. He did everything that we needed him to do. So he's ready for the game plan.''

So what's with Hasselbeck working out, then?

"He's out there getting a little bit of work,'' Carroll said, "seeing what he can do, seeing where he is right now.''

The key words right there were "right now.'' Carroll said that it was at least possible that Hasselbeck could be a game-day decision.

"Yeah,'' he said. "We'll go to game time and see what happens.''

As for now, Hasselbeck's on the injury list as "questionable.''

"I was a little bit surprised today that he was able to move around as much as he did today,'' Carroll said. "He's not ready to play a game today, but he got some work done. He needed the feel of getting in the huddle and making his calls -- that's going to make him feel better about the plan if he has a chance to play. So I think we've done everything we can do at this point.''

Whitehurst, at the helm of the workouts for almost all of the week, got good grades from Carroll for the buildup to the game that will either put Seattle in the playoffs or end the Seahawks' season.

"Charlie did very well,'' Carroll said. "We've done a lot of good stuff with him. We've looked to him in tailoring the plan, the things that he loves to do and the things that he's really confident at -- as you do any week with your starter -- but this is the second time we've had a chance to do this, with a lot more information than we've had before.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/01/01/matt-hasselbeck-practices-charlie-whitehurst-still-expected-sta/

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