Seattle loses Payne and Wallace to injuries

Seneca Wallace had his receiving gloves on, ready to shed his quarterback label and finally break out as the athletic wide receiver the Seattle Seahawks always tempted using, but only in the rarest of situations.

One wrong step in pregame warmups ended Wallace's day. One big hit early in the first quarter on Sunday sent Logan Payne to the sidelines too, only adding to the almost comical injury situation facing the Seahawks receivers.

"It's really amazing what's happening right now," quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said.

Wallace and Payne were the latest two injuries to Seattle's depleted pass catchers, joining Bobby Engram, Deion Branch, Nate Burleson and Ben Obomanu on the sidelines. Wallace strained a calf muscle in pregame warmups and Payne suffered what coach Mike Holmgren called a "kind of significant" knee injury on Seattle's fifth offensive play, less than 4 minutes into Sunday's 33-30 overtime loss to San Francisco.

Burleson (knee) and Obomanu (clavicle) are done for the season, both placed on injured reserve. Engram and Branch won't likely return until after Seattle's bye on Sept. 28. The status of Payne and Wallace should be clearer on Monday, although Holmgren said Payne has a torn ligament in his right knee.

The injuries left unproven Courtney Taylor as the leader of a three-man receiving group that included Billy McMullen, who was signed earlier this week, and Michael Bumpus, who was signed off the practice squad on Saturday. McMullen wasn't even expected to play as Seattle planned to use Wallace and Bumpus as their Nos. 3 and 4 receivers.

McMullen finished with three catches for 48 yards. Taylor and Bumpus each had two receptions.

"I hadn't planned on using Billy at all unless an emergency took place," Holmgren said. "An emergency took place."

Using Wallace as a full-time receiver is a move Holmgren was reluctant to do in the past. But with the growth of backup quarterback Charlie Frye and the injury situation, Holmgren went ahead with plans to use the athletic Wallace as a pass catcher.

Hasselbeck said he saw Wallace go down during warmups.

"It's just awful for Seneca. I feel badly for him. He was excited," Hasselbeck said.

Payne was injured making his only catch of the day, a leaping 14-yard reception across the middle. Payne was hit in the knees by San Francisco safety Dashon Goldson and immediately knew the injury was bad.

"As I was coming down, my right foot had just landed and he kind of put his helmet right in the side of my leg," Payne said. "It was just a bad thing all around."

Without any familiar receivers on the field, Hasselbeck was often stuck holding the ball in the pocket, waiting for his targets come open. Often times the receivers struggled to break from coverage, especially early when Seattle's offense was trying to alter its game plan on the fly.

Hasselbeck started just 4 of 12 passing, but hit on 14 of his final 24 throws, finding a better rhythm with his new options. His favorite target became rookie tight end John Carlson, who caught six passes for 78 yards.

Holmgren said the first step in resolving the situation is signing some new guys early in the week to get ready for next Sunday's game against St. Louis. After that, the Seahawks have two weeks to regroup and likely get Engram and Branch back in the mix.

"It's just been crazy. No one could have written this story," Bumpus said. "It's just going to be better in the end because we're going to feel like we've overcome all this and still be at where we want to be at the end of the year."