Seahawks cut leading rusher Christine Michael

According to a report by NFL.com, the Seahawks Tuesday waived RB Christine Michael. With rookie C.J. Prosise coming up big in the club’s 31-24 win at New England Sunday night, and Thomas Rawls expected back Sunday after recovering from a fibula injury, Michaels became expendable.

Michaels has started for Seattle for much of the season as Rawls rehabbed and is the team’s leading rusher with 469 yards and six touchdowns on 117 carries. But he did not start Sunday night in Foxborough, opening the way for Prosise, who drew raves from coach Pete Carroll after leading the Seahawks with 153 yards rushing and receiving on 24 touches.

Sportspress Northwest’s Art Thiel chronicled Prosise’s rise to prominence in a column Monday.

Rawls, out since Week 2 with a hairline fracture, is “practicing to play’’ against the Philadelphia Eagles, Carroll said Monday.

Michael was selected by the Seahawks in the second round of the 2013 draft out of Texas A&M, and was speculated to be the heir apparent to Marshawn Lynch. But Michael sometimes did not do what was asked of him, and had problems with fumbles and pass protection.

Finding him unreliable, the Seahawks traded him to the Dallas Cowboys for a seventh-round draft pick early in the 2015 season. After the Cowboys released him weeks later, he spent one month with the Washington Redskins.

In the absence of the injured Marshawn Lynch, Michael, proclaiming himself to have matured, was reacquired and played a big role in Seattle’s running game over the last quarter of the season.

Seahawks coaches talked frequently about Michael making the most of a second chance. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell even described Michael’s second coming as “an awakening.”

Playing on a one-year contract worth $725,000, Michael had a solid training camp and became the starter after Rawls was injured. He had his best game with 106 rushing yards against San Francisco. But his production and playing time slowly decreased. Seahawks coaches, especially RB coach Sherman Smith, spoke about Michael’s lack of physical play after he ran out of bounds in order to avoid contact.

Prosise, meanwhile, drew plaudits from coaches and teammates for a 38-yard catch Sunday night at New England, in which he “laid wood,” as Carroll described it, on a Patriots defender at the end of the play.

Michael, who landed on the injury report last week with a hamstring injury, was healthy enough to carry five times for 22 yards against the Patriots. But the emergence of Prosise and the imminent return of Rawls made dealing with Michael’s unpredictability unnecessary.

Carroll indirectly indicated that a change was in the works during his press conference Monday.

“With C.J., the versatility of all the things he seems to be able to do, and knowing that there’s a really style to Thomas that we’re really looking forward to seeing, it could be a real nice match-up,’’ Carroll said. “Well see how that works.”

The Seahawks also waived DT Sealver Siliga Tuesday and signed former New Orleans third-round pick DT John Jenkins. The 27-year-old, 346-pound Jenkins, a University of Georgia product, was released by the Saints Tuesday.

The Seahawks host the Eagles at 1:25 p.m. Sunday (CBS).