With C.J. Prosise and Troymaine Pope out indefinitely, Alex Collins moves up Seahawks’ depth chart

RENTON – Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Monday that the shoulder-blade injury C.J. Prosise sustained Sunday is a fracture and that it won’t require surgery, but he had no update on how long that will sideline the rookie running back.

“We don’t know anything about that right now,” Carroll said. “We’re not going to know that for a couple weeks how it’s turning.”

A report from the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Monday stated that Prosise will be out until at least the start if the playoffs.

Seattle’s roster in general and its backfield in particular took a significant hit in Sunday’s win over Philadelphia, first losing Prosise and then fellow rookie Troymaine Pope. Carroll on Monday used the word “legitimate” to describe the high-ankle sprain that knocked Pope out of the game in the second half. Even a garden-variety high-ankle sprain can sideline a player for about a month, which means the Seahawks will likely be without Prosise and Pope for several weeks if not the remainder of the regular season.

That means rookie Alex Collins is the only healthy tailback on Seattle’s 53-man roster aside from starter Thomas Rawls, and Carroll said Rawls came out of Sunday’s game banged up after playing for the first time in two months.

Carroll said “we’ll see” when asked if the Seahawks have to make a move to reinforce their depth at running back, but it seems like a foregone conclusion that they will. Carroll answered in the affirmative when asked if practice-squad running back George Farmer is far enough along in his conversion to running back to be a viable option.

Bringing back Christine Michael is not one, at least not right now. The former Seahawks starter and leading rusher was claimed by Green Bay after Seattle waived him last week. He was inactive Sunday night after only arriving a few days earlier, but Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he’ll play in the team’s next game.

All of that means a move up the depth chart for Collins, a fifth-round pick who’s had a mostly quiet rookie season, rushing only 10 times for 19 yards in the seven games he’s appeared in.

He’s had his moments, like Seattle’s win over Atlanta when he scored on a 2-yard touchdown run and picked up a key third-down conversion with a 9-yard reception on his only two snaps in that game. But he’s also had his issues, like a fumble on his only attempt two weeks ago at New England, and he doesn’t seem to have anything resembling the top-end speed of Seattle’s other running backs.

The Seahawks deactivated Collins Sunday against Philadelphia, seemingly an indication that Pope had leapfrogged him on the depth chart. Carroll, though, was complimentary of the progress Collins has made, particularly with the shape he has gotten into. The Seahawks list Collins at 217 pounds.

“Alex has really done some marvelous stuff since we were in camp,” Carroll said. “He restructured his body a little bit, he’s gotten in a different level of conditioning that we’ve seen him change, lost some weight, trimmed down, practices with great intensity every day, so he’s at his best, he’s ready to go, he’s really healthy and ready for the challenge.

“I really feel comfortable with him fitting into the offense. He can do all our stuff, he can play third down, first down, short yardage. You saw him run down by the goal line well earlier in the year, so he’ll just figure in.”

Notes

• Carroll indicated that Rawls may be limited in practice this week. He touched the ball 17 times and played 40 snaps, which was more than Seattle would have preferred for his first game back in two months. “He’s banged up now. He threw his body around. He was like in a trainwreck, but he’ll be taken care of this week. We’ll get him back and really excited to see him play for us. He played great and he looked terrific, a little bit out of control a couple times but he’s going to be on the verge of out of control when he’s at his best anyways, so that’s just fine with us. But he is banged up and we’ll look to get him back by Sunday.”

• Carroll said left tackle George Fant (shoulder), tight end Luke Willson (unspecified tweak), linebacker Brock Coyle (sprained foot) and wide receiver Tanner McEvoy (sprained toe) all appear to be OK after getting injured Sunday.