The major topic of discussion in Pete Carroll’s Monday press conference was the health of left tackle Russell Okung, who left Sunday’s game with a toe injury. Carroll didn’t have a lot of details to share, though he did say it’s unlikely Okung will play this weekend against Jacksonville.
Here’s how the Q and A went:
What can you tell us about Okung’s status?
“He has a toe injury and we’re still taking in information to know what it’s all about,” Carroll said. “We don’t know all the details yet.”
Asked a follow-up question, Carroll said, “We’re waiting for more info.
So if Okung isn’t playing, does that mean Paul McQuistan fills in at left tackle?
“Don’t know yet. We’ll figure it out.”
There is a report of a torn ligament in his toe. Is that accurate?
“I don’t know all of the stuff. I know there’s some stuff that happened there and we’re waiting to figure it all out. I think it’s best to just hold there; if I told you something I’d be making it up.”
OK, how ‘bout this… Could this be a season-ending injury?
“Don’t know that yet. There are some options that we’ll deal with here and try to figure it out. There’s a little bit of a spectrum here that could come to us with options. We need to wait and see.”
Is part of that spectrum the possibility Okung could play this week?
“I don’t think that’s possible, we’ll see though. We’ll see what happens. I don’t think he can make that.”
One other injury came out of the game, with running back Spencer Ware suffering a “significant” ankle sprain.
The news is more encouraging on cornerback Brandon Browner, who missed Seattle’s first two games with a hamstring injury.
“We’re going to try to practice him on Wednesday, we’re hoping to,” Carroll said. “He has to get through today and tomorrow’s running—I don’t know what happened today yet—but we’re going to plan on practicing him with the intent that he can play, unless he can’t. So he’s got a good chance of making it back.”
On DE Chris Clemons, who has returned to practice but not yet played in a game, Carroll said, “We’ll see. He’s got a shot. If it was up to him he’s playing, he’s calling for it right now, but he’s got to have a good week of work. Like we’ve said all along, we’re going to take our time to do this right, it might be time, we’ll see. If it’s not this week, it’s going to be next week, I would think, just by the way he’s worked so well in practice.”
On DT Jordan Hill, who is still dealing with a bicep injury suffered in the preseason, Carroll said, “He does have a chance, yeah. They said he made a real jump over the weekend, so the trainers were excited about the strength that kind of came back to him all of a sudden, so we’ll see. Hopefully we’ll get him on the practice field this week.”
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