KIRKLAND — Imagine Mike Holmgren's shock Wednesday morning when he walked into the Seahawks' locker room and saw his MVP running back, the protective boot removed from his injured left foot, cavorting around the room as if he were auditioning for "Dancing With the Stars."

Had the CT scan lied? Was the crack that was detected in the fourth metatarsal bone just a glitch on the screen?

Or was this a miracle Holmgren was witnessing — the world's record for the fastest healing broken bone?

The swelling in Alexander's foot was down. The pain was gone. And, for a few hours at least, Alexander felt like dancing.

"I was pretty shocked," running-backs coach Stump Mitchell said. "He said he was healed. He said he felt fine. He thought that by Sunday night, he'd feel excellent."

Holmgren, of course, was skeptical. CT scans rarely lie. Running backs, however, are less reliable.

And, indeed, later in the day, after a second scan, Alexander was given the truth.

He did have a crack in a bone in his left foot and, barring some further miracle, which by the way he still believes could happen, Alexander will not play in the battle of the undefeateds Sunday in Chicago.

"Unless it was the Super Bowl, I don't think Mike would even let me think about playing," Alexander said standing outside the locker room.

But Alexander wants so desperately to play that he practically is willing the swelling and the aching to disappear.

"Shaun's a competitor and he wants to help this team to win, and regardless of the circumstances," fullback Mack Strong said. "Right now, he's hurt and I know that he wants to get out there as much as he can and help this team get a win on Sunday."

Alexander never has missed a game. Sunday would have been his 100th consecutive regular-season game.

The critics say Alexander doesn't run hard between the tackles. That he doesn't run hard enough in short-yardage situations. That, as many yards as he gains, he still leaves more yards on the field.

But Alexander does play hard. And he does play hurt.

Although he has rushed for only 187 yards in the Hawks' first three games, his slowest beginning since 2002, he never offered the pain in his foot as an excuse.

"I wouldn't be surprised by anything with Shaun," Strong said. "If he ends up shooting up and playing on Sunday it wouldn't surprise me at all. Not at all. People can say whatever they want to, but I know the kind of competitor, the kind of man, that he is."

The pain in his foot has been constant since opening day in Detroit. While analysts wondered what was wrong and speculated that he was missing departed left guard Steve Hutchinson, Alexander knew the truth.

"I hope it's [affected me] a lot, because I ain't really been doing too much," Alexander said with a laugh. "There've been some runs when I knew I couldn't get out of jams, or make runs like I normally do.

"I know I bruised it pretty good in the Detroit game and it just kind of got worse. But you know, it's football, no one's ever really healthy, so I was just doing what I think everybody in this building would do and that's just play football and do the best I could.

"There came a point in the Arizona game where I was like, 'I probably need to get Mo [backup Maurice Morris] in here to gets carries, because I couldn't do all the stuff I was doing. Then, against New York, I felt like there was fire in my foot."

The surprise shouldn't be that Alexander still hasn't had a 100-yard rushing game. The surprise should be that he has gained 187 yards and scored twice playing on a foot that should have left him on crutches, on the bench.

"I always laugh at that business that he doesn't run between the tackles," center Robbie Tobeck said. "Our best running play is just off the guard. I think, for all of us, including him, that's our favorite play. I think we've gained more yards off that one play than all the other running plays combined, so I think he runs pretty well between the tackles."

Alexander spent most of Tuesday at the Hawks' training facility getting a barrage of treatments. He said he had a bone machine and "all kinds of gadgets" delivered to his house and by the end of the day he was "feeling pretty good."

Even now, with a second opinion that is as exact as a tide chart, he won't let himself quit on the idea of playing against the Bears.

"I'm an incredible healer," he said. "I've still got inside me just a little bit of wishful thinking that I can play. I could have practiced today the way my foot felt, but he [Holmgren] was like, "Oh, no, no, no, we're not going to let you do that.' "

But believe that Shaun Alexander wants to play Sunday. And believe he is tough enough and resilient enough to return sooner than science — or Holmgren — could predict.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com

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