Pete Carroll: Russell Wilson’s injury changes Seahawks’ offense

The Seahawks last week downplayed the impact that Russell Wilson’s sprained ankle would have on the quarterback in particular and their offense in general, but it had a fairly noticeable effect on both in Sunday’s 9-3 loss to the Rams. Wilson wasn’t the running threat he usually is and the Seahawks scored their fewest number of points in a game since 2011.

Coach Pete Carroll acknowledged as much on Monday during his appearance with “Brock and Salk” when he was asked to identify the reasons for Seattle’s struggles on offense.

“We’re a little different. We’ve been different since Russell got banged up and we have not been able to do all of the things that we like to do,” Carroll said. “Unfortunately, we tried to adjust because he was capable of playing – he did a nice job under the circumstances – but it changes us a little bit. Other things have to elevate and we had to run the ball better and we didn’t. We struggled early in the game and we got going a little bit in the second half, but not enough to change it. That has to come to life.

“Our focus on the run game has really just got to be turned up, and we’ve got to get that right. Otherwise, it makes you too restricted. We can feel that a little bit so we’ve got to fix that.”

The Seahawks had a hard time finding their footing in the run game early Sunday as their first two attempts went for negative yards. They finished with 67 yards rushing, bringing their two-game average to 89.5. That’s a steep drop-off from the last four seasons, when Seattle averaged between 136.8 and 172.6 rushing yards per game while ranking at or near the top of the league in that category.

Wilson is a big part of Seattle’s rushing offense, but he was held to 14 yards on five carries Sunday as his mobility was clearly compromised. Carroll said Wilson is “not the same guy” with his sprained ankle, which he sustained in Seattle’s opener.

“He didn’t look bad running,” Carroll said. “He looked OK, but he didn’t have the same spring and pop that he usually has.”

Carroll said Wilson is “a little bit sore” but otherwise came out of the game feeling OK. Asked about a timetable for Wilson getting back to full speed, Carroll said he didn’t know. Asked if there’s anything the team can do to take care of Wilson, such as having him practice less, Carroll said, “Yeah, we’re going to do everything you can possible do. We will do that.”

Carroll pointed to the absence of right guard Germain Ifedi as another factor in Seattle’s offensive issues, noting how his high-ankle sprain forced the Seahawks to adjust their offensive line four days before the opener.

“We’re just going to get better,” he said. “There’s some mistakes we make, as always – there’s always some in there. We made a couple missed calls and things like that. I think the whole thing just has to fit together better than it has. It’s just unfortunate that it’s looked so much the same for two weeks. I’m really disappointed in that.”

Would he envision any personnel changes up front?

“You never know,” Carroll said. “We’ve got to make some decisions on some stuff so we can get in a mode that fits us. Since Russell got hurt, it’s three halves of football with him in a different mode, so we have to see what we can get done.”

Carroll said “there’s a chance” Ifedi comes back this week, but he didn’t sound like he’s counting on it.

“He’s really going to take to on-ground running today and so we’ll see what that means and how he handles it,” Carroll said, adding that tight end Nick Vannett is ahead of Ifedi in his recovery from his own high-ankle sprain, which he sustained in Seattle’s second preseason game.