KIRKLAND, Wash. --The Seattle Seahawks' first victory of the season came at a high cost.

Starting guard Steve Hutchinson will be lost for at least eight weeks with a broken right leg. Tight end Jerramy Stevens, the team's top draft choice this year, will be sidelined for a minimum three weeks with a high sprain of his left ankle.

Hutchinson, injured in Sunday night's 48-23 Seattle victory over Minnesota, underwent surgery after the game and had threw screws placed in his right fibula.

"On the positive side, it would be an eight-week thing,'' coach Mike Holmgren said Monday. "On the negative side, it would be a season-ending injury. But it appears he will be able to play before the season is over.''

Stevens made his first start in the Vikings' game.

"In all likelihood, he'll miss three weeks,'' Holmgren said.

Despite the two new injuries, the Seahawks (1-3) should have several key players returning in time for their next start, an Oct. 14 Monday night game against San Francisco in Seattle.

Holmgren hopes to have Pro Bowl defensive tackle John Randle, who returned to practice last week after undergoing surgery on his left knee after last season. Randle did not take part in the Seahawks' training camp, exhibition games or play in the team's first four games.

The Seahawks also expect to have starting cornerback Shawn Springs (sprained right foot) and defensive lineman Brandon Mitchell (calf) ready for the 49ers' game. Springs has missed one game and Mitchell two.

The Seahawks have a bye week this week.

Holmgren said he hasn't decided how to replace the 6-foot-3, 313-pound Hutchinson in the Seahawks' offensive line. In Sunday night's game, right guard Chris Gray moved to Hutchinson's left guard spot and Floyd Wedderburn came off the bench to become the right guard.

The loss of Hutchinson, the 17th pick in the 2001 draft from Michigan, is a big one, Holmgren said.

"It's really a shame,'' he said. "I think he deserved to go to the Pro Bowl last year as a rookie. He is really a good football player. He and Walter made a very formidable left side of our line. They're really solid.''

Walter Jones is the Seahawks' Pro Bowl starting left tackle.

Hutchinson's teammates are going to miss him a lot regardless of who replaces him.

"All you can do is pray for him and hope things are better than they look,'' said Jones, who missed Seattle's first two games this season in a contract dispute. "It's a very tough game. You never know when something is going to happen, when you're going to be gone.''

Quarterback Trent Dilfer took Hutchinson's injury personally and emotionally.

"I'm pretty devastated by it to be honest with you because he's a good friend, a guy who is so valuable to what we do,'' Dilfer said. "He's got that warrior mentality to him that I think feeds over to everybody else. It's a tough loss. I'd be lying if I said we'll move on because you can't move on losing a guy like that.''