The signing of kicker Ryan Longwell by the Seattle Seahawks Tuesday afternoon no longer seems to be just an insurance policy.
According to Aaron Levine of Q13 FOX-TV, the Seahawks have informed kicker Steven Hauschka he will be placed on injured reserved. Hauschka suffered a calf injury in the first half of the Seahawks 24-14 win over the Washington Redskins in the Wild Card round of the playoffs on Sunday. Punter Jon Ryan had to handle kickoff duties for most of the game after Hauschka strained his calf. Despite the injury, Hauschka managed to make all three field goal attempts against Washington from 32, 29 and 22 yards.
Head coach Pete Carroll said Hauschka had felt better on Monday but that they were still unsure of what his availability would be.
“He feels better today (Monday) than he did yesterday. He really did a great job kicking through it and making the plays we needed him to make,” Carroll said. "...We’ll wait and see. There are a lot of scenarios here for us so we’ll have to see what happens tomorrow, and then see what happens the next day. I’ll let you know when we have that feel.”
Longwell has not kicked in the league this season since being released by the Minnesota Vikings in May. Longwell grew up in nearby Puyallup and has played 15 seasons in the NFL for the Vikings and Green Bay Packers. Longwell was 22 of 28 (78.6-percent) on field goal tries in 2011 with Minnesota. It was only the second time in his career his field goal percentage was less than 80-percent.
