Wednesday has become Matt Hasselbeck's routine day for rest this season. And he has almost as many aches as weeks in the season.
The battered, 34-year-old quarterback sat out another practice with a sore throwing shoulder, but Seattle Seahawks coach Jim Mora said Hasselbeck is probable to start in Sunday's game against the Houston Texans.
"He's just sore," Mora said of Hasselbeck before backup Seneca Wallace ran the Seahawks' offense through practice. "Nothing structurally wrong, and he should be back out there (Thursday)."
Mora called Hasselbeck's soreness a product of "wear and tear."
There has been plenty of both this season.
Sunday, Hasselbeck was hit by San Francisco 49ers safety Dashon Goldson at the end of a third-down scramble in the third quarter. The quarterback was on his back for a tense moment with a doctor and trainer over him. Yet he finished Seattle's victory and even was 12-of-13 passing after the injury.
"I just needed a minute," Hasselbeck said about the scare.
It was the second time this season that Hasselbeck was hurt while trying to run against the 49ers. Linebacker Patrick Willis broke the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback's ribs on his dive for the goal line on Sept. 20, and Hasselbeck was rushed to Stanford Medical Center for fears of heart or lung problems.
Hasselbeck missed two games, then admitted that he returned before he was fully healthy, with the aid of painkilling injections after Seahawks doctors determined he wouldn't damage the ribs any more by playing. Then he banged his throwing shoulder while making a tackle on an interception early in a Nov. 8 game against the Detroit Lions. Trainers rubbed Hasselbeck's shoulder, and he stayed in the game, rallying Seattle from 17 points down while throwing sidearm to avoid pain and not being able to throw deep.
That shoulder was just getting better when Hasselbeck hurt it again Sunday. And he said he again felt pain in those ribs on Goldson's tackle.
This is after a 2008 season in which Hasselbeck missed a season-high nine games because of a disk issue in his back. The broken year called into some question how long the quarterback's run as Seattle's starter could continue. Yet Mora said he doesn't believe Hasselbeck is breaking down behind pass protection that has been injured and generally ineffective for the last two-plus seasons.
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"(He's) pretty good for this point in the year, considering some of the shots he has taken," Mora said.
Mora also said Wednesday that the Seahawks have retired their neon-green jerseys after just one game. The team was widely panned for wearing the jerseys during a Sept. 27 home loss to the Chicago Bears.
Mora chooses the uniforms combinations that the team wears each week, with input from the players.
Asked why he's saying goodbye to the green, the coach said "we didn't win in them" and that he likes the traditional Seahawks blue better.
Mora does like another change made recently -- wearing the blue "home" pants under white jerseys while on the road.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
