(AP photo/Ben Margot)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was taken to the locker room with a rib injury after taking a hard hit late in the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday.
With 26 seconds left before halftime and a 2nd-and-goal, Hasselbeck was hurt when he tried to dive for the end zone and was hit at the back by line breaker Patrick Willis. Hasselbeck fell short of the goalline. He got up and groggily walked to the sideline. He fell to his knees and Seattle coaches and trainers attended to him immediately. As he walked into their locker room, Hasselbeck clearly looked like he was in pain.
Backup quarterback Seneca Wallace came on in the next play where he threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Julius Jones to pull Seattle within 13-10. Wallace took over the QB duties in the second half, as Hasselbeck remained in the locker room.
Seahawks coach Jim Mora said the preliminary diagnosis of Hasselbeck’s rib injury is that the starter will be “OK.”
“It’s very preliminary, but we feel he’s going to be OK. I understand the feeling out there that, oh boy, Matt’s down and everybody is hurt. But that’s not the feeling in this locker room.”
Mora added that Hasselbeck had X-Rays and a CT scan during the game. They did not reveal broken bones and Mora said Hasselbeck likely has bruised ribs. Hasselbeck’s availability for next week is uncertain. He missed eight games last year with a back injury.
“He’s doing much better,” Mora said after a 23-10 loss in San Francisco (through Seattle Post-Intelligencer).
