Seattle WRs Houshmandzadeh, Branch have surgeries

RENTON, Wash. (AP) - Seattle Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh is recuperating from hernia surgery, and former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch just had his third knee surgery in a little over two years.

Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Friday there's "always concerns" whenever a knee is operated on for a third time, but that Branch's arthroscopic surgery last week in Philadelphia was a "very minor" cleanup.

"There was a little something in there that they could fix up and clean up for the long haul. It was really a good decision," Carroll said.

The 30-year-old Branch shredded his left knee on a snowy field in a playoff game at Green Bay in January 2008. He had reconstructive surgery a month later.

He had a follow-up procedure in March 2009 but downplayed that as a minor clean-out that he said is common following knee reconstruction.

Branch has had seasons with 53, 49, 30 and 45 catches for the Seahawks since they acquired him 2006 from New England - and then gave him a $39 million contract with $13 million guaranteed.

Carroll says Houshmandzadeh's injury had bothered him since the end of last season and did not improve. He says Houshmandzadeh should be back on the field in a couple of weeks.

Houshmandzadeh had 79 catches in his first season with the Seahawks. They signed him as a coveted free agent last spring.

He's on the sidelines tutoring second-round draft choice Golden Tate during this weekend's mandatory minicamp.

Tate was brilliant at times in Friday's practice, once leaping and reaching high to snare a deep pass over the middle from Matt Hasselbeck.

"They drafted me for a reason," the Notre Dame star said. "I didn't come (here) to not play."