Marshawn Lynch “had a really good week” of practice, coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday, indicating that the star running back has bounced back in a short week and will play Thursday in the NFL’s marquee Thanksgiving game at 5:30 p.m in Santa Clara with the 49ers.
“The tempo really helped him get through and he came out of last week feeling pretty good,” Carroll said. “So he’s in good shape this week.”
Because of the limited practice time, the Seahawks didn’t pad up, figuring rest and recovery were more important. Lynch sat out some series against Arizona due to chronic back pain and some nausea.
TE Cooper Helfet, who scored the game’s only touchdown in 19-3 win over Arizona Sunday, will not make the trip after spraining his ankle late in the game. With Zach Miller done for the season, the Seahawks will start Luke Willson. Newcomer Tony Moeaki will back him up.
LG James Carpenter, who missed three games with a sprained ankle, seems likely to start, as does Lemuel Jeanpierre at center, although Carroll was noncommital.
“He seems to be back in the groove,” he said. “He’ll play more than he did last week.”
Jeanpierre, who earned a Super Bowl ring last year as Max Unger’s backup, was re-signed last week after Unger and Steve Schilling were out with injuries. Youngster Patrick Lewis went all the way at center against Arizona, which had seven sacks of quarterback Russell Wilson.
DT Demarcus Dobbs (knee) and rookie LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (shoulder) were questionable for Thursday, along with CB Jeremy Lane (groin).
The 49ers reported three players would miss the game: TE Derek Carrier (foot), RT Anthony Davis (concussion), DT Glenn Dorsey (forearm). Of the three, Davis is important because he would have been in charge of keeping the Seahawks’ top pass rusher, DE Cliff Avril, away from Colin Kaepernick.