The Seahawks listed three of their top defensive linemen as questionable for Monday night's game against the Minnesota Vikings, but following Saturday's practice in which Jadeveon Clowney, Jarran Reed and Al Woods were all limited participants, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll expressed optimism that all three should be available for the game.
On Clowney, who missed last week's game with a core-muscle injury, Carroll said, "We just practiced him very lightly today, but he did well yesterday and he's fine. He should be ready to go."
Carroll also described Reed, who left last week's game early with an ankle injury, as "ready to go."
Woods, a key piece of Seattle's run defense, was dealing with a foot injury this week, but Carroll said, "He practiced today and he looked fine. Those guys, this is that time of the year where these guys aren't going to be perfect, but they all feel like they can play and they're excited to play in the game. Until they don't and can't, we're counting on them."
Also questionable are tight end Luke Willson, who missed last week's game with a hamstring injury, and linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who had a hamstring tighten up in practice this week. Both of those players will be game-day decisions, Carroll said.
On Kendricks, Carroll said, "He had a little tightness in his hammy yesterday, so we thought we'd rest him today and get a couple days here to cool him down. He takes a lot of reps in practices and loves to really go. We just thought it'd be best to rest him and see what happens. We'll need to check him on gameday, though."
Carroll said, Willson "made really good progress. He was flying up and down the field. We've got to be careful with this one because we just don't want it to linger. We'll make a late decision on this one."
While he isn't eligible to play in Seattle's Week 13 game against the Vikings, this week did see offensive lineman Ethan Pocic return to practice. Pocic, who was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury in October, has to miss eight games before being activated from injured reserve, which means if all goes well over the next couple of weeks, he could be added to the 53-man roster for Seattle's Week 15 game in Carolina.
"Ethan did a really good job," Carroll said. "He made it through the whole week. Took some one on ones in pass rush. Really hopeful—he's got another week to go before he's ready to come back—but he looked strong, he looked good. I talked to him a couple different times and he feels nothing from the injury. So, that's a really good response. It'll be important to see how he is after the whole week and see how he comes back out. Really hopeful that he can be involved."
In addition to injury concerns, the Seahawks have also had to deal with an illness making its way around the team this week. Receivers Tyler Lockett and David Moore, guard Jordan Roos and defensive tackle Poona Ford all missed practice Friday and Saturday due to illness, and cornerback Tre Flowers was limited Saturday. Carroll said all are expected to be well enough to play Monday.
"It has been an interesting week for us," Carroll said. "The practices have been really good. We've had some guys that have had the illness that's going around. So, we've kept some guys out. Everybody we think of those guys are going to play. There's no reason that they won't, other than they feel lousy."
For the Vikings, a handful of key players are questionable, including receiver Adam Thielen (hamstring), safeties Harrison Smith (hamstring) and Anthony Harris, and defensive tackle Linval Joseph.
Here are the full injury reports for both teams:
Seattle Seahawks
Doubtful
FB Nick Bellore (quadriceps, did not participate in practice)
CB Neiko Thorpe (groin, did not participate in practice)
Questionable
TE Luke Willson (hamstring, did not participate in practice)
DE Jadeveon Clowney (core, limited participation in practice)
DT Jarran Reed (ankle, limited participation in practice)
LB Mychal Kendricks (hamstring, did not participate in practice)
DT Al Woods (ankle, limited participation in practice)
Minnesota Vikings
Out
LB Ben Gedeon (concussion, did not participate in practice)
Questionable
DT Linval Joseph (knee, full participation in practice)
WR Adam Thielen (hamstring, limited participation in practice)
S Harrison Smith (hamstring, full participation in practice)
S Anthony Harris (groin, limited participation in practice)
DT Shamar Stephen (knee, full participation in practice)
