Sports

Branch on injury: Only time will tell

• Ex-Monroe High School star Deion Branch impresses in sprints and agility drills, but only time will tell if he plays in Seattle’s season opener at Buffalo after tearing his ACL in last year’s NFC playoffs.

Scott Chancey

SEATTLE — Deion Branch’s timetable for returning to the Seattle Seahawks’ starting lineup may be going into overdrive.

Branch, a receiver who starred at Monroe High School and was MVP of the 2005 Super Bowl with champion New England, told The Herald before Monday’s practice his torn left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) suffered in a second-round playoff loss against Green Bay last year appears to be healing ahead of schedule.

Currently, Branch is on the team’s physically unable to perform list “Everything’s going pretty good,” said Branch, who has reportedly looked impressive while running sprints and agility drills. “I have to go on how I’m feeling and I’m feeling pretty good.”

A torn ACL normally takes nine months to heal, meaning Branch — who had 49 catches for 661 yards and four touchdowns in 11 games last season — is supposed to miss the first month of the regular season. Although Branch won’t play in the Seahawks’ preseason game Friday at Minnesota, Seattle coach Mike Holmgren is optimistic Branch will start the regular-season opener Sept. 7 at Buffalo (1 p.m.).

“We’re hopeful that we will have him for the first regular-season game,” Holmgren told The Herald (not-affiliated with Albany) in Everett, Wash., in its July 26 issue. “We’ll see how that goes.”

Branch,during his six-year career, has 315 catches for 4,130 yards and 22 touchdowns and has been with Seattle since a trade in 2006. He caught the pass that set up the winning field goal against Carolina in the 2004 Super Bowl, and then tied a Super Bowl record in 2005 with 11 catches, and set one of his own with 21 total catches over the span of two Super Bowls.

This year, Branch’s torn ACL is just one of the injuries he has dealt with during the past 365 days.

He injured his right calf against Baltimore on Dec. 23 and reaggrevated it in practice Dec. 26, causing him to miss the regular-season finale against Atlanta and the first-round playoff win against Washington. Earlier in the regular season, Branch also missed four games with a sprained foot.

Although the Seahawks’ receivers situation behind Branch, Bobby Engram and Nate Burleson is somewhat shaky, Branch said that won’t make him push himself too much to get back on the field.

“I don’t want to get myself excited and find out I can’t play before Week 1, 2 or 3,” Branch said. “The guys out there are doing what they have to do to fill the void and they’re doing a pretty good job right now.”

Branch, therefore, takes things one practice at a time.

“We haven’t set a time frame yet to return,” Branch said. “We’re just going to play it by ear and see how it goes. With this type of injury, you don’t want to come out there one week and then have a minor setback and then miss five or six games. I want (the ACL) to heal right the first time so I don’t go through this again.

“I want to get as healthy as possible and get back to practicing as fast as possible. I won’t step onto the field and put myself in that situation again. I’m only hurting myself and the team if I do.”

More Sports>>