Seahawks' Wistrom breaks bone in knee

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Seattle Seahawks defensive end Grant Wistrom will be out 4-to-6 weeks with a small fracture in his left knee.

Coach Mike Holmgren said Monday that Wistrom hyper-extended his leg tackling Corey Dillon in Sunday's loss at New England. He will be replaced by Antonio Cochran.

Wistrom, who spent his first six NFL seasons with the St. Louis Rams, signed with the Seahawks in the offseason, getting a $33 million, six-year contract that included a $14 million signing bonus.

Holmgren also said Monday that wide receiver Bobby Engram sprained his left ankle and may miss next Sunday's game at Arizona.

After their 30-20 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots to drop their record to 3-2 after a 3-0 start, the Seahawks got the surprising and disheartening news about Wistrom. Seahawks doctors initially believed Wistrom had only hyper-extended his left knee.

"It was a little bit more than I heard right after the game," coach Mike Holmgren said. "He has a little crack. The slight fracture has to heal first of all."

The Seahawks have been playing all season without injured starting linebacker Chad Brown, who is expected back for their game against Carolina Oct. 31. Brown broke his left leg in training camp Aug. 23.

Wistrom will be on crutches for a couple of weeks.

Holmgren said the loss of Wistrom is a major blow to their defense, which is allowing only 15.2 points per game.

"It's a hit," he said. "There's no question about it. He was our number one acquisition in the offseason. He brings a lot of energy and started the season well for us."

Wistrom won't be able to play against the Rams at St. Louis Nov. 14, a game he was looking forward to playing.

"This really comes at a bad time," he said. "I really need to get on the field and help these guys."

He said he was his worst injury since his rookie season with the Rams in 1998 when he pulled a hamstring and missed a couple of weeks.

"I've never really had to sit and watch for an extended period of time," he said. "That's going to be tough. I'm really not looking forward to it."

If the Oakland Raiders release wide receiver Jerry Rice, the Seahawks might want to sign him as a free agent.

"Certainly, we'd consider it," Holmgren said. "I had our pro personnel people look at Jerry and see how he's running and see how he's doing. Yeah, we're exploring it."

The Seahawks tried to talk Rice, 42, into signing with them when he was released by the San Francisco 49ers four years ago. They brought him to Kirkland, but Rice elected to sign with the Raiders instead because he wanted to stay in the Bay Area.

"Really, it's up to the Raiders," Holmgren said. "It's really their call."

Holmgren refused to talk about a CBS-TV report on Sunday that wide receiver Koren Robinson is facing a four-game suspension for a second violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy. The team has not been notified by the league about any suspension of Robinson.

"Until we really get some notification, we really have no comment," Holmgren said.

Holmgren isn't allowed to ask Robinson, a fourth-year player, about the report.

"I'm really not supposed to do that," he said. "The league is very clear on how that's supposed to work. It's a privacy issue and a confidentiality issue."