Seahawks injuries: Dunbar a ‘good chance’ to play, Adams returns Week 7

The Seahawks have been bit by the injury bug in recent weeks, but luckily, after a Week 5 Sunday Night Football matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle has a bye week in Week 6.

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Head coach Pete Carroll is well aware of the looming week off, and told reporters Friday afternoon that he was taking that into consideration in regards to injured players and whether or not they’d play this Sunday.

Currently, the Seahawks have five players questionable to play against Minnesota and one player, starting safety Jamal Adams, who has been ruled out.

Here’s the latest update from Carroll.

Adams expected back soon, just not Week 5

Adams, a First-Team All-Pro in 2019 for the New York Jets, left Week 3’s win over the Dallas Cowboys with a groin injury and missed Week 4’s game with the Miami Dolphins, staying at home for the trip.

Carroll ruled Adams out earlier this week, and said that Adams, who’s taking not being able to play “really hard,” was ruled out early this week by design.

“To have to deal with the frustration of not being able to express (his competitive spirit) is really difficult, and I’d recognize that only as a strength and a positive,” Carroll said. “So we’ve worked our way through it and that’s why I made the declaration for him early so we’re not hanging with it during the week and we want to make sure and get him right.”

When the Seahawks return to action Week 7 against the Cardinals, it sounds almost certain that Adams will be back on the field after missing two full games.

“He’s applying himself to his rehab like he does on the football field, so he’s really going for it,” Carroll said, “and he’s going to be ready next turn, just not this one.”

Two other starters could be back

Adams isn’t the only member of the Seahawks’ secondary banged up, as starting cornerback Quinton Dunbar has missed the last two weeks with a knee injury. He is listed a questionable to play, but Carroll seemed optimistic about getting him back in Week 5.

“He did real well, particularly (Thursday) in practice,” Carroll said. “… There’s a really good chance he’s going to be ready to go”

Fellow defensive starter, rookie linebacker Jordyn Brooks, the Seahawks’ 2020 first-ronud pick, was, like Adams, knocked out of Week 3’s game and hasn’t played since. He’s dealing with a knee sprain.

Brooks didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday, so it was surprising when he was listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report. Carroll said Brooks’ status improved pretty fast late in the week.

“I just walked off the field with him and he’s feeling a lot better and he has made a turn, so it’s positive,” he said. “Again, with that (bye) week next week looming, it’s kind of hard to not utilize that for some of those guys, so that’s in the back of my mind, for sure.”

If Brooks, who is starting with Bruce Irvin out for the year, is out again, second-year linebacker Cody Barton would likely get the starting nod when Seattle uses three linebackers. If it’s not Barton, either third-year linebacker Shaquem Griffin or second-year linebacker BenBurr-Kirven would be the next guys up, but it’s expected that Barton would get the start.

Hill’s status unclear

Also in the secondary, backup safety Lano Hill may be out a third-straight week with a back injury that flared up over the weekend ahead of Week 3, when he hadn’t been on Seattle’s injury report all week. Carroll said Hill’s status is pretty up in the air both for this week and going forward.

“He has not been able to make the turn. He’s got some issues that he’s dealing with that it seems to be in a pattern of it’s not changing much, so we’re concerned about him getting right. There’s not much he can do,” Carroll said. “… He’s got some stuff that he’s dealing with and he just has to get through it and get it resolved and if he doesn’t, it could be a long-term deal for him. We’ve just got to get him one day to the next and see what happens.”

Hill hasn’t practiced this week, but Carroll said he is able to do some things like running, “but there’s some issues that he has, so there’s a question about him each week right now.”

With Hill and Adams out, Ryan Neal has been starting at strong safety for the Seahawks after being promoted from the practice squad. He has two interceptions and earned a lot of praise from Carroll after Week 4’s victory in Miami.

Hyde questionable as well

After Week 3, in which starting running back Chris Carson sprained his knee, it was thought he’d miss Week 4 and his backup, Carlos Hyde, would start in his place. Instead, Carson played and Hyde was out with a shoulder injury that has him questionable to play in Week 5.

Hyde has been able to practice some, but Carroll has said they want to make sure Hyde, a very physical runner, can take hits in that area and come away OK.

“Both of the weeks have been good for him in that he’s, like I’ve said to you, he’s able to work and get good speed work done and timing and all that,” Carroll said Friday. “We just have to make the decision on whether or not he’s going to be safe to go and we don’t want to set him back at all knowing we have the big break coming.”

Carroll did joke that Hyde may be able to talk his way into playing, even with the bye week coming up.

“He probably could play in this game and we know that, so he’s got to do some politicking here on the way out through the weekend and see how that conversation goes all the way up to Sunday.”

Iupati likely to play

Big left guard Mike Iupati is listed as questionable with both knee and back injuries, but the starting offensive lineman is expected to play.

“Mike came back today and felt OK,” Carroll said. “We took care of him today, but he had some lower back little spasms or something that jumped up resolved real quickly.”

If Iupati can’t go, Jordan Simmons would likely start in his place. Simmons has rotated in with Iupati all four games so far. Jamarco Jones, B.J. Finney and Kyle Fuller are also on the roster and could fill in if needed.

Non-injury news: Will ‘Snacks’ or Bollard play?

Two other players whose statuses are unclear are defensive end Jonathan Bullard, who signed to the 53-man roster this week, and 2016 All-Pro defensive tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison, who signed to the practice squad, but could play due to a new rule for 2020 allowing up to two practice squad members to dress and play without being called up permanently.

Carroll was coy about whether or not those two would be playing for the Seahawks on Sunday.

“They both have been able to get their work. It gives us the chance to choose, yeah. That’s where we are,” he said. “We’ll have to deal with those guys and we’ll play it all the way through the weekend, until Sunday, and determine what we’re doing there.”

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