Receiver Deon Butler goes down with broken leg | Seahawks notebook

SAN FRANCISCO — Ruvell Martin saw the lump in Deon Butler's sock, and then he got a lump in his throat.

"My leg," Butler said to Martin in the fourth quarter.

"All I could do was just give him my hand and say a prayer for him," Martin said. "Comfort him as much as I could."

Butler suffered a broken right leg after catching the ball in the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Butler did his best to conceal the severity of the injury as he was taken to the locker room on a cart.

"He was unbelievably courageous and tough about it on the field," coach Pete Carroll said.

Carroll didn't specify the extent of the injury, but Butler remained in California after the game to be cared for.

Teammate Leon Washington went to see Butler immediately after the team's postgame meeting. Washington suffered a compound fracture of his leg last season while playing with the Jets.

Butler's injury is the latest — and most serious — to affect Seattle's receivers. Starters Ben Obomanu and Mike Williams were inactive Sunday because of injuries.

Obomanu was trying to play despite a severe hand laceration, but it proved to be too painful catching passes. Williams tested out his injured right ankle before the game, and while Carroll indicated he was close, the receiver missed his second game in the past three weeks.

Brandon Stokley left Sunday's game with a strained hamstring. Carroll indicated kicker Olindo Mare and safety Kam Chancellor also may have suffered hamstring injuries.

Slip-sliding away

Seattle's defensive slip-ups were quite literal at times Sunday. At least they were in the eyes of Carroll.

"We missed so many tackles," Carroll said. "We banged right off guys, because your footing doesn't dig in like normal."

Carroll, who served as San Francisco's defensive coordinator for two years, said he was familiar with the slippery grass at Candlestick Park. After the game, he wished he had done more to prepare his team.

"I should have done something about it," he said.

But the two teams were playing on the same field, so that didn't explain the result.

"No matter what the condition is, we have to make the tackles," safety Earl Thomas said.

Kicking it into

high gear

No danger of Washington letting up on a return this week. Not after he was tripped up by Carolina's punter on an 84-yard punt return last week.

"That was my focus this week — just finish," Washington said.

Washington's final kickoff return of the day was memorable — a 92-yard run for his third return touchdown this year. He finished the game with 222 yards on kickoff returns, the second-highest total in franchise history. Maurice Morris had 231-yard game in 2002.

But afterward, Washington was thinking about the one he didn't finish in the first quarter, falling at the Seattle 37 as he slipped while making a cut that would have taken him into the open field.

"(I) bust through the hole, and went to cut left and slipped," Washington said. "Maybe we get seven points, and it's seven points immediately and the momentum is different."

Running in place

Seattle's 161-yard rushing performance against Carolina was barely visible in the rearview mirror as the Seahawks ran for 84 yards in San Francisco.

Fullback Michael Robinson was the leading rusher with 33 yards on three carries.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com