A lot has been made about Marshawn Lynch over the past few weeks since the running back underwent abdominal surgery. He did not rehab in team facilities leaving a lot of mystery about his recovery, then when the team expected him to be active in the Wild Card game, he scratched himself out. Now the Seahawks are preparing to face off against the Carolina Panthers and are hopeful Lynch is ready to play.
According to head coach Pete Carroll via ESPN.com, Lynch is day-to-day and nothing has been determined yet regarding his status for the divisional playoff game. Carroll told the media that the running back did not suffer any setbacks in his recovery and was held out of the Wild Card game simply because he did not feel like he had it. The Seahawks are taking things one day at a time with the running back and are not optimistic or pessimistic about what Lynch's status will be. Carroll said it is a very real possibility that it is simply a game time call as he is expected to make the trip with the team.
"This is his first surgery ever, and it happens to be right in his core," Carroll said, via ESPN.com. "You all that have watched him, you know what kind of runner that he is and all of the lateral things that he does with his body. And they're so abrupt and so sudden. He needs to feel like he could do those things. Even though he can run fast and look like he's moving, he didn't have the confidence that he could go out there and react to guys and do that. So there's nothing we can do about that."
The Seahawks have full confidence that Christine Michael can carry the rushing load if need be. The running back put up 70 yards on 21 carries against the Minnesota Vikings. He will be the lead back against Carolina who has been very stout against the run game. The Seahawks will try and run Michael with Russell Wilson to throw off the Panthers during the game.
The biggest thing for Seattle is keeping Wilson's momentum going. The quarterback has been relying on Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett to keep stepping up for him. The Seahawks are limited with their roster as quality depth is an issue. However, the Panthers are facing the same thing which evens the matchup out. According to Carroll, as long as Wilson continues to keep making those few key plays during the game, Seattle should have no issues.
"We've seen so often just the magic that comes out of him sometimes," Carroll said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "He had a number of plays today where he was in trouble and he got away and did some good things. We almost made some big plays and we didn't. But that was one that we capitalized on."