The Seattle Seahawks are keeping their fingers crossed that a familiar face will return to practice prior to Week 17. Coming off an unexpected loss to the St. Louis Rams, the Seahawks are hopeful that their offense can right itself quickly before postseason play begins. That rests on the shoulders of Marshawn Lynch who may or may not be gearing up for a return.
According to Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com, Lynch has two key works in San Francisco earlier this week which will determine whether or not he returns to Seattle to practice with the team. According to head coach Pete Carroll, there is some optimism that the running back will play in the regular season finale on Sunday following surgery to repair an issue related to a sports hernia. Lynch has been rehabbing offsite and Carroll said he is simply waiting to see what happens.
"From what I understand, he has a chance if those days go back to back, and he does well, that he might be in here Wednesday," Carroll said, via ESPN.com. "We'll see." "We're pretty much relying on the reports that they're giving us and also the work that's being done. Those guys know him really well, and they're the ones that have for the last few years have really done great work with Marshawn. We're trusting that they're looking seriously at the preparation level, his endurance and all those different things to give us a good indication moving forward."
The Seahawks have been relying on a running back rotation of Fred Jackson, Bryce Brown and Christine Michael which did not do much in Week 16. With Thomas Rawls done for the season, the Seahawks have had major running back issues. For the most part those have been masked with the excellent play of Russell Wilson. However, he struggled against the Rams which means the run game weaknesses were fully exposed.
Seattle has a tough matchup against the Arizona Cardinals to end the year. The team needs Lynch back to stabilize the offense. Carroll noted that the run game and pass game go hand in hand and getting the star runner back would be a huge lift for the team and help everyone prepare for the playoffs properly.
"He's trying to get back and get right. ... When he's ready to get back and have a chance to play football, then we'll kick it into high gear," Carroll said, via ESPN.com. "He's a terrific football player. If he's right, he gives us a tremendous lift. And we've seen that for years. We're hoping that he can get well and get back."
