Seahawks notebook: S Tedric Thompson, T Germain Ifedi return to practice
Dec 26, 2018, 4:33 PM | Updated: 6:42 pm
Seahawks RT Germain Ifedi was inactive for Seattle's game against the Chiefs. (AP)
(AP)
The Seahawks will close out their 2018 regular season Sunday with a game against the Arizona Cardinals at CenturyLink Field. The two teams have had one interesting trend from their head-to-head matchups: neither has won at their home stadium in two years. In fact, since 2013 the Seahawks have beaten the Cardinals just once in Seattle.
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“We have not been very successful against the Cardinals (in Seattle) and it’s important to us to make sure that we are,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday.
Seattle has already clinched a playoff spot, but Carroll isn’t planning to hold back starters for Sunday’s contest. Here’s a bit more on that, plus a few injury updates:
Tedric Thompson, Germain Ifedi return to practice
Two Seahawks who missed Week 16 returned to practice Wednesday. Safety Tedric Thompson had a chest issue cleared, while right tackle Germain Ifedi was able to participate after suffering a groin injury in practice last week.
The team is moving a bit more slowly with right guard D.J. Fluker, who was active against the Chiefs but had been working his way back from a hamstring injury.
“We’re going to be real quiet with Fluke,” Carroll said. “We’ll go day to day on that one.”
Guard J.R. Sweezy (foot) will also be day to day, while safety Bradley McDougald (knee) rested Wednesday but return to practice Thursday.
Carroll said linebacker K.J. Wright (knee) and kicker Sebastian Janikowski (back) made it out OK.
“We’ll look after (Wright) during the week because this is the first day back after a big game,” Carroll said. “But there was a really good report coming out of it. He did well, played well, and all that. So we’ll just take him on into the week, we’ll go one day at a time. But we expect him to be OK to play.”
No plans to rest players
The Seahawks have already secured a playoff spot, but the regular season finale isn’t a meaningless game.
The NFC’s complete seeding has yet to be determined. The Seahawks have a hold on the fifth seed – and look likely to keep it playing against a three-win Cardinals team – but the they can fall to the sixth seed with a loss and a Vikings win.
It should come as no surprise that Carroll, who preaches competition at every turn, isn’t looking to give starters the day off.
“Every game that we’ve ever played has always been the same,” Carroll said. “We’re trying to give everything we have to get the kind of performance (and) it gives us a chance to be as good as we can possibly be. I know you hear it all the time, but that’s what (our players) keep getting pounded with, and I had never backed off that and we’re not starting now. If we start doing that, trying to figure out which game is more important than another one, I don’t think you can count on getting back on track. You don’t know. You may be able to, but you may not. So we’re not going to take that chance. We’re just going for it.”
