Refreshed, excited Seahawks expect Chris Carson to be on the field Wednesday
Russell Wilson is back. He’s throwing without a glove or wrap on his repaired throwing hand.
Dee Eskridge also is back on the field from injured reserve. The top rookie practiced for the first time in almost two months since he got concussed.
Pete Carroll is openly flirting with the idea of adding Odell Beckham Jr. to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett at wide receiver, now that Cleveland has waived the three-time Pro Bowl pass catcher.
And now Chris Carson might be returning, too?
No wonder Carroll said Monday of the 3-5 Seahawks coming out of their bye: “We are looking as if this is a new beginning on the season.”
Carson hasn’t been on a field since he last played, Oct. 3 at San Francisco. A long-term neck condition has kept the 27-year-old lead running back idled for more than a month.
“What I was told (Monday) was that Wednesday he will be on the field,” Carroll said of Carson practicing ahead of Seattle’s game on Sunday at Green Bay.
“We will see how that goes. One day at a time.”
Carson has played in just four of the Seahawks’ first eight games. He has 54 carries, 232 yards and three touchdowns entering week 10 of the season. That is not what Carroll and new play caller Shane Waldron designed for Carson as the basis of the team’s remade offense for 2021.
Carroll’s said Carson has not been able to withstand football actions without getting more discomfort in his neck. All Carson has been able to do for the last month was run in shorts and a t-shirt with a trainer off the field, away from teammates.
Last month while starting for Carson in Seattle’s overtime loss at Pittsburgh, Alex Collins had the Seahawks’ first 100-yard rushing day in two years, since Carson’s in December 2019. Collins has played hurt the last two games, with hip and groin issues. Carroll said Collins “gutted it out” to play Seattle’s last game, its win over Jacksonville on Oct. 31.
Rashaad Penny was the first back taking hand-offs from Wilson at the start of practice Monday. The team’s first-round pick from 2018 has played in just two games this season since injuring his groin Sept. 12 in the opener at Indianapolis. In those two games off injured reserve Penny has six carries for 9 yards and seven carries for 7 yards.
So, yes, the Seahawks need Carson back nearly as much as they need Wilson back. Or at least half as much.
Eskridge practiced Monday for the first time since he got concussed on the second of two fly sweeps he ran in his first NFL game, Seattle’s opening win over the Colts. That was nearly two full months ago.
The speedy top choice in the Seahawks’ draft this spring returned recently from seeing specialists in Florida. That was after he was having recurring symptoms from the head injury.
Waldron has a section of his playbook specifically for Eskridge and his speed.
Could Eskridge also return to play Sunday in Green Bay, for the first time in months?
“I can’t tell you that right now. He looked good running around today, and that is all I know,” Carroll said Monday. “Let’s see where he is (Tuesday, a players day off) and the next day.
“These guys haven’t been here in a while (because of the bye week). They’ve been working out hard, but they deserve a chance to get re-acclimated to football. In particular with a new guy, he hasn’t played very much with us. So, let’s see.”
The Seahawks (3-5) return to the field Wednesday to continue preparing for their game Sunday against the Packers (7-2).
Carroll said he and the Seahawks expect Aaron Rodgers to start at quarterback for Green Bay. On Saturday, the NFL most valuable player last season will end his 10-day quarantine from testing positive for COVID-19 and being unvaccinated.
Second-year man Jordan Love made his first NFL start this past weekend at Kansas City, for Rodgers. The Packers lost for the first time since week one.
“We’re going to prepare like we’re going to see their best guys,” Carroll said. “That’s the way we’ll go, and expect that we’ll see Aaron back out there. If that’s not the case, we’ll have seen the game of Love. We’ll know more about what we need to do there.
“We’ve got to prepare for the best guys. The way it looks, protocols and format and all that, (Rodgers) should be back out there.”
Eskridge’s and Carson’s chances of playing Sunday will rise if they practice Wednesday and have no ill effects Thursday and Friday.
“He always does things well,” Carroll said of Eskridge. “He looks good. He’s explosive. He’s fast. He catches the ball. He’s quick, shifty, and all of that. Let’s see what happens, and this was just a preliminary day of work, so I can’t take much away from that yet.”
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 7:34 AM.
