Seahawks awaiting Chris Carson’s MRI results, not so sure Jamal Adams plays this week
Frustrated, tired—and waiting.
After they let a division win get away late at Arizona then had a long flight home from the desert that landed early in the morning, the Seahawks were waiting well into Monday to see how extensively Chris Carson is injured.
Seattle’s lead running back left its 37-34 overtime loss to the Cardinals Sunday night after just 15 plays and five carries, for 39 yards. Coach Pete Carroll said Sunday night Carson has a “midfoot sprain.”
Carson was due for a magnetic resonance imagining exam Monday afternoon to learn more about the severity of his second injury in six games, after a sprained knee in week three.
That’s why Carroll had no updates on Carson Monday morning.
“We just got here,” Carroll told Seattle’s KIRO-AM radio mid-morning from Seahawks headquarters in Renton.
The coach said “it’s going to take until, probably, later in the day” for the team to get results of Carson’s MRI.
The same goes for Pro Bowl cornerback Shaquill Griffin and third-down running back Travis Homer.
Griffin is in the NFL concussion protocol after leaving the Cardinals game in the second half. Tre Flowers replaced him, and Arizona successfully targeted him right away for first downs passing.
Homer was getting an MRI Monday on the knee he bruised knee late in Sunday night’s game. That’s why rookie DeeJay Dallas got a dozen snaps late in the fourth quarter and in overtime.
Carroll said Homer’s injury impacted Seattle’s passing game, that rushing Dallas in against the Cardinals’ heavy blitzing in overtime was a challenge.
The inference was that was part of the reason for the Seahawks choosing three consecutive runs and not quarterback Russell Wilson to make a play, after having first down at their own 26-yard line with 1:54 left in regulation and leading 34-31. Runs by Carlos Hyde, playing for Carson, on first and second downs for 8 yards forced Arizona to use their final time outs on defense.
On third and 2 from the Seattle 34 with 1:42 left, Hyde ran off right tackle—and into a wall of Cardinals for no gain.
Carroll said on 710 ESPN Seattle radio Monday “schematically” that third-down play was a run call he and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer liked all week, and one that worked early in Sunday night’s game. The offense just did not execute the play correctly that final time, when a first down would have won the game for Seattle.
Carroll also said the Seahawks were thinking the Cardinals’ defense was anticipating Wilson to throw there. So, in that sense, the runs were a counter to Arizona’s counter.
The Cardinals won those chess moves. Michael Dickson punted. And the last-ranked defense allowed Kyler Murray and the Cardinals to drive from their own 20 with 52 seconds and no time outs left to the 44-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez on the final play of regulation to force overtime that shouldn’t have happened.
Seattle blew leads of 27-14 in the third quarter and 34-24 with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter. That had All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner talking after the game about the time being over for talking about improving on defense.
“We are frustrated,” Carroll said Monday on KIRO AM, “because we know exactly how we should have won that football game.”
Yet the Seahawks remain in first place in the NFC West. They are 5-1 for the second consecutive season. The lead the Cardinals (5-2) by a half game (Arizona has not had its bye yet). The Los Angeles Rams (4-2) host Chicago Monday night.
Seattle hosts San Francisco (4-3) in another division game Sunday at CenturyLink Field.
Carroll said the team will have to wait to see whether All-Pro safety Jamal Adams can play in that game. He’s missed the last three games with a strained groin.
“I don’t know about this week yet,” Carroll said on KIRO about Adams for the 49ers game Sunday. “We are going to have to wait and see, and take it day by day.”
That was a step back from what the coach had said Friday before the team left for Arizona, that the Seahawks’ plan was for Adams to practice this week intending for him to play against San Francisco this weekend.
