Sidney Rice wrote on Twitter last night that, despite a scary looking blow to the head after scoring the game-winning touchdown against the Bears, he has been cleared to return to action this week.
Thanks for the prayers. I passed all of the test and cleared to go for next week. Great Team win for us today! #12thman #Seahawks— Sidney Rice (@sidneyrice) December 3, 2012
A day later, Pete Carroll essentially said, not so fast, Sidney. Carroll stopped short of saying that Rice suffered a concussion, but did say that the receiver will go through the concussion protocol before returning to action.
“He’s going to go through the process,” Carroll said. “We want to be very careful and make sure we know what we’re doing. He’ll go through the whole sequence of the tests and stuff, and probably we will determine on Wednesday where he is for Thursday’s practice.”
Asked if they were going through that process because of symptoms Rice was showing or because of his concussion history—Rice went on IR last season after suffering two concussions—Carroll said it was both.
“It’s based off the symptoms, the occurrence of it and just the symptoms, and then he has a history,” Carroll said. “It’s a little bit of everything I guess. But he feels good. He’s not in bad shape at this point, so we think he has a chance.
So does Rice have a concussion?
“I don’t know if they’re calling it that, but we’re going through those precautions,” Carroll said.
In other words, we’ll know more later in the week.
Rice wasn’t the only Seahawks to suffer an injury Sunday that has his status in doubt. Guard James Carpenter left after feeling what Carroll called “a little sharp pain” in the same knee that he had surgically repaired last year.
“James’ knee is bothering him,” Carroll said. “He’s had x-rays and an MRI now. There’s a little something there, so we’re working on that now. Don’t know what that means.
“He felt a little sharp pain during the game that didn’t go away.”
Carroll later added that they are hopeful this isn’t a serious injury, saying, “The early indication is that there’s nothing major wrong. It’s just still uncomfortable for him. That’s where we are now.”
Carroll also made it sound like cornerback Marcus Trufant, who missed Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury, could be out again this week.
“He had a pretty legit hamstring pull,” Carroll said. “So I don’t know where he’ll be by the end of the week, but he’s in rehab now still. It’s going to be a challenge to get him back for the game. We’ll see what happens. I don’t want to rule him out.”
Carroll had better news on linebacker Leroy Hill, who missed the game with an ankle injury: “He should have a chance to be better. He was close, but he couldn’t play after the workout in pregame.”
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