KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) – Shaun Alexander joked that his concussion might have made him smarter. The Seahawks are simply satisfied to know their MVP running back will be back on the field Sunday against Carolina.

Seattle coach Mike Holmgren removed all doubt about Alexander’s status Wednesday, announcing that the league rushing leader would play in the NFC championship game. So will starting right tackle Sean Locklear, who spent two days in jail this week and was released after being charged with assault.

Alexander sustained a concussion last Saturday in the first quarter of Seattle’s win over Washington; he later said he was initially knocked unconscious, then was dazed for about 20 minutes.

Holmgren said Wednesday the All-Pro will be ready for the Panthers.

“Shaun’s full go,” the coach said. “He passed some tests we gave him yesterday. He participated in our walkthrough this morning. He’s going to be fine.”

In the full afternoon non-contact practice, Alexander split first-team practice time with backup Maurice Morris, who rushed 18 times for 49 yards in place of Alexander on Saturday.

Alexander, who rushed for a team-record 1,880 yards in the regular season, joked he learned something about himself over a four-day battery of doctors’ tests.

“Oh yeah. I took all the tests and realized the guy knocked some sense into me,” Alexander said of Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington, who appeared to hit the back of Alexander’s helmet during a 1-yard loss Saturday. “I am actually smarter than I was before.”

He also apparently has his sense of perspective back.

The potential free agent said on a conference call to Carolina reporters Wednesday he has an appreciation for the situation former Seahawks teammate Ken Lucas went through this past year.

When asked if he was sad to see Lucas leave Seattle, Alexander said: “I definitely was. But then, at the same time, who knows if I am going to be here or not?” “I told him you never know, I might be out there with you. Whenever you lose a teammate it’s rough. When you lose a friend it’s worse,” Alexander added.

Alexander has repeatedly expressed his desire this season to “win three or four Super Bowls for Seattle.” But he said last month talks with the Seahawks on a contract extension were put off until after the postseason.

Meanwhile, Holmgren told Locklear he will start Sunday.

Locklear was in a Seattle courtroom Tuesday, where he pleaded not guilty to an assault charge. He is accused in a police report of grabbing his live-in girlfriend around the neck and leaving red marks on her neck and chest outside a Seattle nightspot early Sunday morning.

He spent two days in the King County Jail and is scheduled for a Feb. 13 hearing.

“As he explained to me exactly what happened, I believe I understand what happened. At that point I have made the decision that he will play in the football game,” Holmgren said.

Locklear, 24, apologized to Seattle and his teammates.

“I want to start off today by apologizing to the community and everybody,” the first-year starter said. “I’m not proud of the things I’ve done.”

Locklear said Holmgren repeatedly talks to the team about ensuring personal affairs don’t become news. Those warnings became even more frequent in October, after starting safety Ken Hamlin was lost for the season with a fractured skull from a street fight outside a bar.

“He talks about it all the time,” Locklear said. “That’s his job. He’s supposed to talk about it.

“But we, as grown men, should know what we are supposed to do, the rights and wrongs.”

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AP Sports Writer Jenna Fryer in Charlotte, N.C., contributed to this report.

AP-ES-01-18-06 2010EST