The very short week of preparation is over for the Seahawks, who will fly to San Jose, this afternoon. Despite practicing on short rest, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll felt good about the way things went for his team.
“Our guys had a great time with it,” Carroll said. “They’re pumped up, and really they forgot that they played a game (Sunday). They got going in practice yesterday, you’d never think you could get back that quick, so they did a nice job. We’re ready to go; we’re looking forward to it.”
That includes Marshawn Lynch, who in recent weeks hasn’t even been back to practice on Thursdays, but will have to be ready for game action by that time this week: “He had a really good week. The tempo really helped him get through, and he came out of last week feeling pretty good, so he’s in good shape for this week.”
Carroll wouldn’t say whether Patrick Lewis would stay the starting center or if that would go to Lemuel Jeanpierre, who re-signed last week with the Seahawks, but Carroll did hint that Jeanpierre might be taking over: “He seems to be back in a groove, seems to be very comfortable. He’s ready to play; he’ll play more than he did last week.”
Asked directly if Jeanpierre would start, Carroll said, “We’ll wait until we get to game time and make sure everybody arrives and is healthy and well and all of that.”
Tight end Cooper Helfet, who sprained his ankle late in Sunday’s win, won’t play, Carroll said.
Guard James Carpenter is also likely to return after missing three games with an ankle injury, though Carroll wouldn’t for sure declare Carpenter as being back.
“Carp’s got a chance to get back in there,” he said. “He had a good week, was able to do everything in the short week. Like we said last week, he was so close to playing, and I think the move to hold him gave him a shoe-in to be able to play for us next week.”
Carroll had hinted on Monday that rookie linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis might have to go on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, but for now that decision will wait.
“We’re just going to go to next week and keep checking and see how he improves and see if he can make some progress enough to determine whether he can stay with us for the rest of the year,” Carroll said.
DE Demarcus Dobbs, who missed last week’s game with a knee injury, is likely to play: “He’s working out as we speak. We’re planning on him playing. He made it through some practice time enough, but we’ll still wait until game time to make the final decision.”
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