A quarter of the way through the regular season, the 2-2 Seahawks are healing their offensive woes while growing the injury list. Seems as if that it is always the way of the first week of October. At his weekly presser Monday, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll went over the lengthy list of casualties after the 46-18 win over Indianapolis:
- Rookie RB Chris Carson will have surgery Tuesday to repair a “really serious high ankle sprain.” He also has a less serious leg fracture. Carson has “an outside chance” to return this season.
- DE Cliff Avril had “some serious stingers” during the game and “it will be a while for us to figure out what he’s got.”
- LT Rees Odhiambo was released from the hospital Monday morning after a bruised sternum caused him to be gurneyed out of the post-game locker room Sunday by EMT personnel as teammates watched and worried.
- CB Jeremy Lane has a groin pull that forced him early from the game, seriousness unclear.
- RB C.J. Prosise and CB Neiko Thorpe are close to returning after sitting out the Colts game with sprained ankles.
The most concerning development is Avril’s injury. As he was tackling the legs of Colts QB Jacoby Brissett from behind, his chin was struck by Brissett’s heels. Avril’s head snapped back, and Carroll reported Avril had temporary numbness in his hands.
The Seahawks already made a roster move Monday to compensate, re-signing DE Quinton Jefferson, a fifth-round draft choice two years ago who was on the practice squad of the Los Angeles Rams.
The Seahawks travel to Los Angeles Sunday (3-1) to play the NFC West division leaders in an unexpectedly notable game. The Rams were 4-12 a year ago, but under Sean McVay, at 31 the NFL’s youngest coach, suddenly have a formidable offense led by second-year QB Jared Goff. He has the NFL’s second-best passer rating among starters (112.2), trailing only New England’s Tom Brady.
If Avril can’t go, DE Frank Clark likely will start in his place, and Marcus Smith, who had a strip sack of Brissett Sunday, will back him up.
Carson, the Seahawks’ leading rusher with 208 yards on 49 carries, was placed on injured reserve, meaning he can’t return for eight weeks. That opens the door for the return of Thomas Rawls, last year’s leading rusher who has been a healthy inactive the past two weeks in the Seahawks most mysterious position carousel.
Rawls has five carries for four yards as he recovered from an ankle sprained in preseason.
“Thomas gets to step up that’s just good fortune and good planning and all of that,” Carroll said. ““He’s handling it admirably but he’s frustrated because he wants to play.
“We had a number of guys there at the running back spot. We were trying to decide how we were going to handle this. It was uncomfortable to not have Eddie (Lacy) up or not have Thomas up because those guys are ballers, and they need to be playing. But here it is, and now they will be going side by side, battling.”
Lacy led Seattle Sunday with 52 yards in 11 carries, mostly late in the game. More RB drama will develop if Prosise returns healthy as the third-down back, because he has new competition for the job from rookie J.D. McKissic, who dazzled Sunday with touchdowns on his first NFL rush and his first NFL catch.
Odhiambo, the second-string tackle after George Fant was lost for the season to a knee injury, was hit in the chest during an interception return in the third quarter. He had a hard time breathing, but somehow stayed in the game. It wasn’t until he was sitting at his locker shirtless and bent over that the training staff was alerted.
He was hospitalized overnight. ESPN reported Monday morning that he had a cardiac contusion, or heart bruise, a condition often found in drivers after car accidents. But that was wrong.
Carroll called the report “made up . . . He’s fine and all. I’m not sure what that means for the week. It is nothing beyond that.”
