FOOTBALL

Seahawks’ Hasselbeck Out at Least Three Weeks With Knee Sprain

The Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck, will miss at least three weeks with a strained ligament in his right knee, coach Mike Holmgren confirmed yesterday.

An MRI showed the Pro Bowl quarterback strained the medial collateral ligament while getting rolled into by a Minnesota pass rusher during Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.

“There are three levels (of seriousness),” Holmgren said. “So he’s right in the middle.

A fourth-year veteran, Seneca Wallace, will make his first NFL start on Sunday at Kansas City (3–3). The Seahawks (4–2) are already without league MVP Shaun Alexander, who remains out indefinitely with a broken foot.

Chargers’ Merriman Suspended for Violating Steroids Policy

A Chargers linebacker, Shawne Merriman, will be suspended four games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, according to a report posted Sunday night on ESPN.com.

The 22-year-old Merriman — last year’s NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year — was initially to be suspended last week alongside two other players, the Web site reported, citing people with knowledge of the suspension whom the report did not identify.

Guard Mark Lehr of the Atlanta Falcons and a Detroit Lions defensive tackle, Shaun Rogers, began serving their suspensions this week. But Merriman’s suspension was delayed because he reserved the right to appeal, ESPN.com said.

Roethlisberger’s Latest Head Injury Another Worry To Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t saying if quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sustained his second concussion in slightly more than four months.

Roethlisberger was fit enough to fly home with the Steelers following their 41–38 overtime loss Sunday in Atlanta, and to drive his SUV to a team meeting yesterday, despite being briefly knocked unconscious during a helmetto-helmet hit with the Falcons’ Chauncey Davis.

By definition, a concussion is a disruption of the brain’s activities caused by a sudden blow to the head — much like the hit Roethlisberger absorbed while being sacked by multiple defenders.

BASKETBALL

Kings’ Bibby To Miss First Two Weeks of Season With Injured Thumb

A Sacramento Kings guard, Mike Bibby, is expected to miss the first two weeks of the regular season after injuring his right thumb in an exhibition game Sunday night.

Bibby, the Kings’ starting point guard and leading scorer last season, has a mallet thumb — an injury in which a finger tendon becomes detached from a bone, preventing the finger from fully extending. Sacramento’s team doctors diagnosed the injury yesterday after Bibby left the Kings’ 117–93 victory over the New Orleans Hornets midway through the third quarter.

— Associated Press