During his Week 5 Wednesday press conference, Pete Carroll provided a few personnel updates ahead of the team's Sunday morning game against the Bengals in Cincinnati. Here's a look at what the Seattle head coach had to say:
Marshawn Lynch & Fred Jackson
Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch missed the club's Week 4 win over the Detroit Lions with a hamstring injury, but has made "a lot of progress" and has a chance to return to action against the Bengals.
"We're going day to day on this thing and it will take us all the way until the end of the week before we know," Carroll said. "He did make a lot of progress last week and was able to run around some and all that. He's worked really hard at it, so we'll see if we can get it done."
Veteran running back Fred Jackson suffered a high-ankle sprain against Detroit, but has surprised the Seahawks staff in how well he's responded since. Jackson, too, has a chance to play at Cincinnati.
"Fred looks pretty good," Carroll said. "He had what we would call a high-ankle sprain, but he's getting around OK. A little bit of a surprise. We've got to see what that means. It's going to take him all week, too, to figure out whether he can run on it, but he is bouncing around a little bit and he's hopeful that he can pull it off. We'll see what happens."
Asked if he was comfortable with the team's running back depth behind Lynch and Jackson, a group that includes rookie Thomas Rawls, fullbacks Derrick Coleman and Will Tukuafu, and rookie Rod Smith on the practice squad, Carroll offered, "Yeah, I feel OK. Thanks for asking."
Brandon Mebane
Brandon Mebane, the Seahawks' starting nose tackle, missed the team's Week 4 game against Detroit with a groin injury, but should make it back for this week's game against the Bengals.
"I think he's going to make it back," Carroll said. "He's ready to go and just about made it for game-time last week. It's still going to be a day to day because once he works we'll have to see how he recovers from it. I'm pretty hopeful that he'll make it back."
Marcus Burley
Marcus Burley, who's been Seattle's No. 1 nickel cornerback in recent weeks, broke his thumb in Monday's win over the Lions and will have surgery on Thursday.
"He is going to get operated on tomorrow and we'll find out what that means," Carroll said. "There's a chance that it's a very quick recovery, so we'll see how that goes. It depends on what happens in the surgery."
Ricardo Lockette
Ricardo Lockette left Seattle's game against Detroit with what was announced in the press box as shortness of breath, but coach Carroll said the wide receiver should be OK for this week's game.
"We think he's OK," Carroll said. "He had some issues, internal issues, he had some stuff and felt sick, or really uncomfortable, and they just had to figure out what it was. He settled down by the end of the game and he seems to be fine now."
Demarcus Dobbs, Kevin Pierre-Louis & Tharold Simon
Carroll gave a brief update on the status of Demarcus Dobbs (shoulder), linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis (hamstring), and cornerback Tharold Simon (toe), a trio that missed this past Monday's game to injury.
"Dobbs has a chance," Carroll began. "We'll see with KPL how he does late in the week - he's not ruled out yet. Tharold Simon is not going to make it right now. We're still working with his injuries. It's still been an issue for us and for him."
This weeks photo essay of Eye on the Hawks by team photographer Rod Mar showcases the behind the scenes excitement surrounding the Monday Night Football match-up against the Detroit Lions.