Seahawks see signs Chris Carson can play at Miami. Jamal Adams? Not so much
The chances are better Chris Carson plays for the Seahawks at Miami than they are for Jamal Adams, Quinton Dunbar and Jordyn Brooks.
There is good and not-so-good news for Seattle on its six injured starters.
Carson, the team’s lead running back, sprained his knee in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s win over Dallas last weekend, when Cowboys defensive tackle Trysten Hill twisted his leg after a tackle. Pete Carroll said Monday he was “pissed” at how Carson got hurt, but the Seahawks coach sounded more upbeat about it Wednesday.
“Chris is really sounding positive,” Carroll said before Carson was one of nine starters who were limited participants in Wednesday’s afternoon practice.
Carlos Hyde would start and get the majority of rushes against the Dolphins if Carson can’t.
Adams missed practice. He has a strained groin that’s been paining the All-Pro safety all week since the Cowboys game.
“Yeah, he’s pretty sore. Talked to him a little while ago. He’s pretty sore right now,” Carroll said. “We’ll just keep going day to day and see what happens.
“He’s (getting) massive treatments to try to accelerate the return and all that. He’s doing like some of our guys do. I wouldn’t put anything past him that he wouldn’t pull off.
“At this point, he’s working really hard, and we’ll see what happens. I don’t know enough about the weekend to tell you at this time.”
The Seahawks signed safety Ryan Neal from the practice squad back onto the 53-man roster. That now has one vacancy.
Neal was the team’s hero of the end of the Dallas game filling in for Adams. He had an end-zone interception on the next-to-last play.
Safety Lano Hill missed the Cowboys game with a bad back. Carroll said Hill has a chance to return for the Miami game. If he does he and Neal are the options to play for Adams.
The team’s news was positive on rookie starting right guard Damien Lewis (sprained ankle) and center Ethan Pocic (knee).
Carroll said all three participated in the morning walk-through practice, though when the Seahawks were in sneakers and no helmets for the practice in the afternoon Carson was watching his teammates and tossing a ball to himself.
“Damien looked pretty good, and Pocic was all right,” Carroll said of the morning walk-through that also included Carson.
“So might get a real good turn from those three guys.”
Rookie starting linebacker Jordyn Brooks looks and sounds unlikely to play in Miami. Seattle’s first-round draft choice sprained his knee in his first career start, after 14 plays against the Cowboys.
“He’s limping a little bit today,” Carroll said. “He’s pretty sore. It’s going to be real challenge for him to make it back, as stiff as he is right now.
“He got whacked pretty good.”
That makes Cody Barton likely to start with Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright at linebacker in base 4-3 defense in Miami. Barton, last year’s second-round pick, replaced Brooks for five plays late in the Cowboys game.
The Seahawks have been in base defense only about 30% of the time through three games. Ugo Amadi is likely to be on the field more than Barton, as the fifth defensive back in nickel defense again.
Starting right cornerback Quinton Dunbar won’t practice this week, Carroll said. But he has told his coach Carroll he thinks he can get back from a knee injury to play in his hometown of Miami Sunday. Dunbar missed the Dallas game with a knee injury.
Tre Flowers, the starter in 2018 and ‘19, would start against the Dolphins and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, as he did against Dallas and Dak Prescott, who threw for 472 yards. It was the most Seattle’s ever allowed a quarterback to throw for in a game.
Dunbar stood and worked on catching passes out of a machine while his teammates started practice.
“I just talked to Q. He’s holding onto a good thought that he can get back this week,” Carroll said. “We’ll see what happens.
“He’s improving, and all of that. ...We’ll be ready to play without him, but we are also looking forward to see if he can make it.”
Carroll said special-teams captain Neiko Thorpe is going to try to play
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 5:02 PM.
