With running back Clinton Portis clutching his pulled oblique muscle and looking like he needed to come out of the game, Alexander figured it was time for him to go in. He grabbed his helmet and headed toward the field, intent on getting his team into the end zone.

But two things were very different: Alexander is not the star running back for the Washington Redskins like he once was for the Seattle Seahawks , and this isn't 2005.

Instead, he was called back by the Washington coaching staff and Ladell Betts was sent into the game. And it was Betts, not Alexander, who plowed into the end zone from 1 yard out to give the Redskins their first touchdown of the game.

Alexander called it a personnel mix-up.

"I was going to run the goal-line run, but we just didn't know what was going on with the personnel," Alexander said. "Different personnel, it would have been my touchdown run. That's just how the game works."

According to coach Jim Zorn, there was no mix-up with the personnel, other than Alexander being the wrong person trying to go into the game.

Instead, Zorn credited Alexander for being eager to help the team when he saw Portis ailing.

"He's willing to play and he's ready to play," Zorn said. "He was ready to go if we needed him."

But the Redskins never did. Zorn thought he might use Alexander some in the second half if Portis' pulled muscle tightened up more, but Portis played through the pain.

So for the rest of the game, Alexander stood stoically on the visitors sideline with his helmet in his hand and elbow pads on and ready. His chance never came.

"Football is funny like that," he said. "You score a touchdown, and then they put you back in the game. I'm really close to playing a lot more."

As it was, Alexander was like one of the 67,771 fans in attendance, a spectator.

"I was watching the game," he said, "watching Matt (Hasselbeck) audible, watching Bobby (Engram) make catches, watching Deion (Branch) catch the slant on third down."

Alexander has made it clear that he believes he can be playing and not watching. But since many teams are still skeptical - he wasn't picked up by the Redskins until a month ago - he'll have to wait for his chance. He has just 11 carries for 24 yards in four games with the Redskins.

"I told them from the very beginning that I will not be a distraction, even as hungry as I am to go out there and score touchdowns again," Alexander said.

For now, he will remain the third running back for a team that may or may not even suit him up from week to week.

"This is a team that can really go to the Super Bowl or at least create some major damage in the playoffs," Alexander said. "I need to take the humble road. It's not my time yet."

Plack's back

Besides Zorn, Alexander, defensive back Shawn Springs, safety Mike Green and running backs coach Stump Mitchell, former Seahawks punter Ryan Plackemeier returned to Qwest Field for the first time since being released after the first game of the season.

Plackemeier resurfaced with the Redskins and only punted three times on Sunday.

"It was a plus for the team because that meant our offense was moving the ball really well," he said.

On the negative side, Plackemeier averaged just 31.7 yards per punt and had a net average of 28 yards - the type of numbers that led to his release by Seattle.

His release caught him a little bit by surprise, considering it was after just one game and he had been with the team two years.

"I thought I had a little bit of tenure, but after the game I had at Buffalo, that's the way the league works," he said. "That's what you sign up for. You're on the chopping block every week. I don't blame them. It was a result of how I punted the Football."

But while players say decisions are made based on business, they rarely are prepared for it.

"It was my first taste of the bad side of the business," he said.

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Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483