Pete Carroll: C.J. Prosise practicing; Marcel Reece, Tony McDaniel uncertain for Seahawks-Falcons
Jan 9, 2017, 10:46 AM | Updated: Jan 18, 2017, 9:54 am
(AP)
Seahawks running back C.J. Prosise will practice this week in the hopes of returning for Saturday’s divisional-round game against Atlanta while fullback Marcel Reece and defensive tackle Tony McDaniel are question marks. Those were the injury updates coach Pete Carroll provided during his appearance on “Brock and Salk” Monday morning.
McDaniel missed Seattle’s wild-card win over Detroit because of a concussion while Reece injured his foot when it was stepped on. Carroll said it was “really sore” during the game but that it was not broken as initially feared, “so we’ll just see how he recovers this week.”
Listen: Pete Carroll reviews Seahawks’ win on “Brock and Salk”
The Seahawks don’t have another fullback on their roster, though tight end Luke Willson filled in there in a hybrid role earlier this season. Will Tukuafu is on Injured Reserve, so he wouldn’t be an option if Reece is unavailable. One possibility is former Husky Taniela Tupou, an undrafted rookie who began the season as Seattle’s starting fullback and was waived after the first game.
And so the revolving door in Seattle’s backfield could continue with Reece’s uncertain status and Prosise practicing for the first time since breaking his scapula in Week 11. The Seahawks kept him on their roster in the hope that he could return for the postseason. From the sounds of it, that’s still a hope and not something the Seahawks are counting on.
“He’s going to practice tomorrow and we’re going to find out,” Carroll said. “We don’t know how he’ll respond to the practice, but he is going to go and we’ll see how extensive that will be and we’ll just take it one day at a time and see. We would love to have him back and we’re ready to go, we’ll have no problem fitting him in and we’ll look forward to that opportunity. But we can’t get distracted by that because we don’t know what’s going to happen by Saturday.”
Prosise had just started to show his play-making ability when he went down in Seattle’s win over Philadelphia with the fourth injury of his rookie season when you include the two that sidelined him for several weeks during the offseason program and training camp. If he’s back for Saturday’s game, it would be in a complementary role behind Thomas Rawls, presumably reclaiming the third-down job. Carroll said Saturday that Rawls took a bit of a beating while carrying 27 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns, so his status in practice this week will bear watching.
“Rawls just has to get back,” Carroll said, “just got to recover from the game and get back.”
Carroll reiterated that tight end Jimmy Graham merely got the wind knocked out of him Saturday when he left the game briefly in the first half.
The Seahawks will hold their first of three practices this week on Tuesday as their schedule is moved up a day with their game on Saturday.