Notebook: Seahawks will ‘wait and see’ with Bobby Wagner’s turf toe

RENTON – Wait and see.

That was coach Pete Carroll’s response to not only the question about Bobby Wagner’s status but what the Seahawks will do if their middle linebacker is sidelined.

Carroll said Monday that Wagner sustained a turf toe injury Sunday against Dallas, forcing him to miss much of the first half. Wagner said afterward that the pain was severe enough to require a shot before returning to the game in the third quarter.

“We’ll have to just take the next couple days and see what that means,” Carroll said, “but he’s banged up.”

Badly enough to potentially miss a significant amount of time like left tackle Russell Okung did last season when he sustained a similar injury?

“Could be,” Carroll said. “We’re going to wait and see. We’ve got to assess that and figure that out.”

Seattle has some options to replace Wagner should that be necessary. Rookie Brock Coyle is listed as the backup middle linebacker, but perhaps the more logical move would be to slide K.J. Wright inside from his spot on the weak side, something the Seahawks have done before. Malcolm Smith would take over Wright’ spot in that scenario.

Is that what Seattle would do?

“We’ll have to wait and see. We’ll wait and see on that one,” Carroll said. “Malcolm played very well this week in the plays that he had. That allows us to have the flexibility to do just that. We’ll see how that goes.”

Okung is OK

Carroll assuaged concerns about Okung’s banged-up shoulder, saying he isn’t expected to miss any time.

Earlier Monday, Q13 FOX reported that Okung has been playing through a torn labrum that he sustained in Week 3 against Denver.

“Russell sprained his shoulder in a game a few weeks ago and returned to that game and hasn’t missed a practice since,” Carroll said. “So he’s been fine.”

Carroll was asked whether Okung does, in fact, have a labrum tear.

“When you sprain your shoulder, your labrum is involved and there’s some stretching and stuff in there,” he said. “I don’t know how far that went, but he came right back from it. He’s had full strength and support and all that, so he’s OK.”

Simon to practice this week

Carroll said Tharold Simon will practice this week, which is good news considering the state of Seattle’s cornerbacks.

Byron Maxwell sustained a calf strain Sunday and his status is unknown, while Jeremy Lane is on short-term injured reserve and still a week away from being eligible to return to practice.

“It’s coming at an excellent time,” Carroll said of Simon’s return. “We’ll see how he does. He’ll have to survive the week and all of that. He got out last week for a couple of days, so that helps him get started this week. All along we’ve been looking forward to Tharold’s ability to contribute, so this will be his chance.”

Note

• Carroll said C Max Unger is day-to-day (foot) and that his status for Sunday’s game against St. Louis won’t be determined until the end of the week.