Matt or Charlie? That’s Seahawks’ QB question

Published on December 28, 2010 by T.C.     

Matt Hasselbeck or Charlie Whitehurst?

That question might not be answered until kickoff for Sunday night’s game against St. Louis at Qwest Field.

Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Hasselbeck suffered a hip injury Sunday during the first quarter against Tampa Bay.

Hasselbeck pulled up and winced in pain as he crossed into the end zone on a bootleg for Seattle’s only touchdown in the first half. Hasselbeck went to the locker room for treatment and did not return.

Hasselbeck said he initially suffered the injury while taking a helmet to the hip earlier this season against San Diego, and later aggravated the injury at Arizona.

“We’ll have to see how that works out,” Carroll said. “We’ll give him all week to sit on it, and then we’ll see how it works out. Right now we’re going to get Charlie ready to go, and put together a game plan that gives us a chance to win in Qwest when we go home.”

Hasselbeck said he’ll get a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) today.

“It had been kind of bothering me off and on, just a little bit, nothing major all season,” Hasselbeck said. “I tweaked it a little bit against Arizona at their place, a little bit against Carolina. And so really it was never really that bad. Today it just got real tight on me, pulled back and I came into the training room to try and get it right, tried to get it to a point where I could run. And I was unable to do it.”

Hasselbeck said the injury is not related to the back issues that forced him to miss nine games two years ago.

“It’s not my back,” he said. “My back was like 2008. It’s embarrassing, it’s more my butt.”

Whitehurst struggled after replacing Hasselbeck, finishing with 66 yards and a 68.3 passer rating as the Seahawks called more conservative plays for the Clemson product.

Seattle’s 84 total passing yards marked the team’s lowest total since Oct. 19, 2008, a 20-10 loss at Tampa Bay.

“When I’m called upon, I need to be more productive,” Whitehurst said. “But you know, we got beat by a pretty good team today. It’s really behind us. We have to move forward to next week.”

“I’ve got all the confidence in the world in Charlie,” Seahawks receiver Mike Williams said. “Charlie’s a good player. He can make all the throws. He can make all of the plays. He’s a smart guy. But it’s about reps, and the reality is Matt takes the reps during the week. And when you lose Matt, then your playbook kind of shrinks a little bit.”

Tags: 2c, Bad Today, Bootleg, Charlie Whitehurst, coach pete carroll, E2, End Zone, First Quarter, Game Plan, Helmet, Kickoff, Locker Room, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Matt Hasselbeck, Passer Rating, Qb Question, Qwest, Qwest Field Seattle, Seahawks Qb, Touchdown