To the surprise of almost no one, Seahawks SS Kam Chancellor looks ready to play in Sunday’s home opener against Chicago (0-2) .
“He’s looked like he’s just in rare form,” Carroll told KIRO 97.3 FM Friday. “He’s been working out really hard. He’s really lean and ready to go. He was anticipating coming back, with the thought that he worked out really hard to get here.”
Chancellor ended his 54-day holdout Wednesday, returning in time for for practice that day and Thursday, the week’s hardest days.
“He looked great both days,” Carroll said, “so he looks like he’s going to be able to play some football. We’re looking forward to that.”
Chancellor missed all of training camp, the four exhibition games and the first two regular season games. It cost him two game checks of $267,000 each, plus whatever fines the Seahawks choose to deduct for missing camp and fake games. Neither side is disclosing what financial settlement was made, only that nothing would take place in 2015.
Upon his return Wednesday, Chancellor said he was ready.
“I know I can play Sunday,” he said. “I’ve been in the same defense for five years now, so it’s pretty much the same thing. We never change. We run the same stuff all the time. It’s like clockwork. It’s not very hard at all.
“It’s small terminology you have to kind of get a grasp of when you get back. You hear guys saying things: ‘OK, that’s what it was. Now I won’t forget.’ I’m one of those guys who you may tell me one time and I won’t forget it. It’s a smooth transition.”
Carroll said the Seahawks will monitor his snaps.
“We’re going to have to see how his timing is, making his tackles,” Carroll said. “He knows where he’s supposed to go. But practice is important, and there is something to that. Some guys can handle it a little better than others, and I think Kam’s one of those guys. But he may be a little rusty, and we’ll try to protect him and make sure he doesn’t play too much.
“When you are a seasoned vet and in a system that has really been built around your talents, which is really what’s happened here after years of being with Kam, it’s very familiar to him, and he’s very, very good at it. There’s nobody that understands it better than he does.”
Lynch questionable; Bears’ QB Cutler out, Clausen in
RB Marshawn Lynch is listed as questionable for the Bears game with a calf injured in Green Bay Sunday. He will be a game-time decision.
“He’s got a calf that we’re working on,” Carroll said Friday. “We’ve been able to condition him some but we just wanted to make sure and take care of him during the week. He’ll run (Saturday) and we’ll see if he’s okay. But it will go all the way to game day.”
Backup CB Tharold Simon remains out with a dislocated toe, and backup safety Steven Terrell has a hip flexor strain from Green Bay and will sit out as well. Backup LB Mike Morgan, who missed the first two games with a strained hamstring, is listed as probable.
In Chicago, QB Jay Cutler was, as expected, declared out Friday after straining his hamstring in Sunday’s 48-23 home loss to Arizona. Backup Jimmy Clausen took all the practice reps during the week and will start. As a starter, Clausen has a 1-10 record.
“I thought (Clausen) had a great week,” said John Fox, in his first season as head coach in Chicago. “I thought the whole football team was very focused this week, as they well should be going to play a team and in a venue like Seattle. So much like most everybody, I think a good week of preparation.”
Also out with a hamstring strain is Bears WR Alshon Jeffrey. In his place could be Marquess Wilson, a third-year vet from Washington State who was at odds with Cougars coach Mike Leach.
6 Comments
With Kam back we will see over the next few games (Chicago probably won’t be much of a test) how the defense jells. With Richard as the new DC and having lost at least one assistant coach (Norton) on the D, we will see whether Richard was the right choice to fill Quinn’s shoes.
Some say Norton, the DC at Oakland now, was the person for the job, as he has had much more experience and has been in various systems, Richard is home grown (always a Hawk) with little experience, comparatively.
This is of course great news. The hope now is that the Hawks will not get complacent, thinking Chicago will be an easy win and come away with long faces. It’s on the coaches to convince all players that this in definitely not tiddly-winks, despite Chi’s second string QB.
I was expecting more Art in this Article. A little disappointed that it read like any other article from any other news website. C’mon Art. I come here for you.
Time to put the Bam back into the Boom.
Jimmy Clausen may be in a bit of a pickle. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
unlikely the hawks will need either one against da sad bears