The Seahawks' all-time leading rusher returns to the scene of his prime Sunday as the third-string - and possibly inactive - running back for the Washington Redskins when they play the Seahawks at Qwest Field.

Alexander has gotten just 11 carries and gained 24 yards in four games since signing with the Redskins on Oct. 14. That will happen when you're playing behind Clinton Portis, who is second in the NFL with 1,063 rushing yards, and Ladell Betts, who remains the first option after Portis.

But Alexander said he has no doubts that, at 31 and coming off two injury-filled seasons with the Seahawks, he still could carry the load if called upon.

"Do I want it to be more? Of course," Alexander said this week. "Do I think I could take 20 carries ... and go do some damage? Of course."

That's confidence talking, not reality.

"I'm the third-stringer," Alexander said. "I think reality has to set in, and that is my role on this team."

Alexander also said he was "actually surprised" that reporters in the Seattle area requested him to do the conference-call interview when the 6-4 Redskins have other players who have played a much larger role in the team's success under first-year coach Jim Zorn - the Seahawks original quarterback and Seattle's quarterbacks coach the past seven seasons.

Love him or hate him - and there seems to be no middle ground when it comes to Alexander - his legacy with the Seahawks is difficult to dispute: 9,429 rushing yards, 112 touchdowns (100 rushing), a then-NFL record 28 touchdowns in 2005, when he was voted the league's most valuable player.

What many fans prefer to remember, however, are the exasperating efforts the past two seasons, when Alexander played with a broken bone in his foot (2006) and a cracked bone in his wrist (2007) that needed surgery during the offseason.

"I said this - it had to be 50 times - Shaun was a lightning rod," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. "I thought it was unfair. For two years, he was hurt a little bit - and he'd never been hurt, and it affected how he did things. But when he wasn't hurt, he was great. Think about what he did. My goodness, he was great for us. He just got blamed for it all, and that was not fair."

Few realized just how injured Alexander was, because the team does not divulge such information, and whenever Alexander would talk about the foot or the wrist it was in that endearing/maddening, loopy way that he has of looking at the world.

This week, Alexander went into more detail about the injury to his left wrist - which was a broken scaphoid (the small bone at the base of the thumb) and involved surgery to take a bone chip from his radius to replace the break in the scaphoid.

Alexander said falling on his wrist in the season opener last season came with a good news/bad news visit with the team doctors and trainers.

The bad news? Backup Maurice Morris would miss two games because of a hip injury, so Alexander would need to suck it up. The good news? Alexander remembers the conversation going like this: "You broke your hand. You're going to be in agonizing pain. You probably won't be able to carry the ball in your left hand the rest of the year. You'll have to wear this big ugly cast. But it will hurt every time you get hit, every time you walk, every time you talk. It's going to hurt like crazy.

"But your legs are fine."

It was the recovery from surgery that delayed his release by the Seahawks. Although the club already had signed free agent running backs Julius Jones and D.J. Duckett in early March, Alexander wasn't released until April 22 - the day the doctor said his wrist had healed sufficiently.

Despite the obviousness of the move, it caught some coaches by surprise because they believed the team would not release Alexander until a better replacement had been acquired.

"No, I wasn't, if you want to be honest about it," Holmgren said when asked if he was 100 percent behind the decision to release Alexander. "But that happens. Not everyone agrees on everything all the time and their reasons for it. I thought he still had his quickness.

"No, let me put it another way: I wasn't sure he'd lost his quickness."

But that's all in the past, and Alexander is a live-in-the-present/look-to-the-future guy. So, what kind of reaction is Alexander expecting from the 12th Man at Qwest Field on Sunday?

"Well, I'm the third running back," he said. "I mean, what are we talking about here? I don't think it will even be a topic."

Sorry, it already is.

HAWK TALK: Cornerback Josh Wilson returned to practice after sitting out the end of Wednesday's session because he twisted his right ankle. ... Rookie defensive end Red Bryant did not practice. He has missed the past two games because of a sprained ankle. ... Rookie defensive end Brandon Miller practiced with the team for the first time. He was claimed off waivers Wednesday after his release by the Atlanta Falcons .\

HAWKS VS. Redskins

WHEN/WHERE Sunday, 1:15 p.m., Qwest Field

TV/RADIO KCPQ/13; KIRO-AM/710\

FOCUS ON: Matt Hasselbeck

Matt Hasselbeck admitted Thursday something that was obvious Sunday: The Seahawks' three-time Pro Bowl quarterback simply ran out of gas on the team's final two possessions against the Arizona Cardinals .

"I think my body just quit. It just had had enough," he said. "That's disappointing, because as a player you just feel like you let everybody down."

The Seahawks' next-to-last series in a game they lost 26-20 ended when Hasselbeck's second-down pass was deflected and he was hit again on an incomplete third-down throw that was almost intercepted. The final possession lasted only one play, as Hasselbeck's pass to Deion Branch was intercepted.

Hasselbeck's fatigue was understandable, since he missed the previous five games to rehab a bulging disc in his back that was causing numbness in his right leg. Hasselbeck did not practice Wednesday because he was "really beat up and kind of sore," as coach Mike Holmgren put it. But he was back Thursday as the club continued to prepare for Sunday's game against the Washington Redskins at Qwest Field.

"I don't know that I've ever had a game where I felt that bad afterward," Hasselbeck said.

- Clare Farnsworth

P-I reporter Clare Farnsworth can be reached at 206-448-8016 or clarefarnsworth@seattlepi.com Read his Seahawks blog at blog.seattlepi.com/Football.