Carroll: Seahawks’ Chris Carson needs surgery; Cliff Avril out ‘a while’ with neck injury
Oct 2, 2017, 10:13 AM | Updated: 3:36 pm
Chris Carson had to be carted off the field in the fourth quarter with a leg injury. (AP)
(AP)
Seahawks rookie running back Chris Carson will be out for a prolonged period of time due to a lower leg injury, head coach Pete Carroll said Monday on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk.
Talking to the media Monday afternoon, Carroll said Carson will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair a high ankle sprain and small leg fracture. The injury is similar to one suffered previously by fellow Seahawks RB Thomas Rawls.
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Carson was placed on the injured reserve Monday, though it doesn’t necessarily rule him out for a return this season as they could use the return option on him. Carson has an “outside shot” to return to the Seahawks this season, Carroll said.
Carroll said the focus was initially on Carson’s ankle after he suffered the injury in Seattle’s 46-18 win over the Colts on Sunday night, giving the Seahawks hope that he had avoided a break. The break in the leg was found later, but Carroll added Monday afternoon that the high ankle sprain is the more significant injury.
In four games in 2017, Carson has rushed for 208 yards and a touchdown on 49 carries for an average of 4.2 yards per attempt.
Here are a few more injury updates Carroll provided:
• Defensive end Cliff Avril was kicked in the chin by Jacoby Brisset’s heel while trying to tackle the Colts quarterback, causing him a spinal injury that left him briefly without feeling in his hands. Carroll said the team will be very cautious before putting him back in action. “We’re gonna be really careful here and make sure we know exactly what’s going on. It will take us a while to figure this out,” he said. On Monday afternoon, Carroll added that Avril had “serious stingers” and there is no current timeline for his return.
• Left tackle Rees Odhiambo went to the hospital after he couldn’t catch his breath in the locker room due to a sternum injury. “He had a response … he got hit in the chest on (an) interception return,” Carroll said. “It wasn’t a violent hit, but the guy must have caught him just right with his shoulder and it knocked the wind out of him. That’s what happened on the field, and he had trouble really breathing through the game but he made it and was OK and then in the locker room it just exacerbated and so they took all the precautions. He doesn’t have anything wrong with his sternum but there’s some stuff they’re looking at so we gotta wait and see.” Carroll followed up in the afternoon, saying Odhiambo has a bruised sternum and not a cardiac contusion, as some had reported, and has been released from the hospital.
• Cornerback Jeremy Lane, who left the game after suffering what was announced as a hip injury on the first series, has a strained groin, Carroll said.
