The Seahawks will be without two key players in Atlanta Sunday, with Max Unger and Red Bryant both ruled out with concussions.
“Those guys will not go,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “They’re not going to play. We’re going to take care of them this week and have them ready for next week, hopefully.”
That means a rotation of players on the D-line filling in for Bryant, perhaps with Michael Bennett as the starter in the base defense, though as much as Seattle rotates linemen, Bryant’s snaps will likely be spread out to several players.
Lemuel Jeanpierre, meanwhile, will start at center for the third game this year, having previously filled in when Unger was sidelined with a triceps injury.
“He’s played really well,” Carroll said of Jeanpierre. “Whenever he’s played for us in the games, he’s come through, he’s played already for us, we feel like he’s another one of the starters going in there. So we’re pleased to get him this chance again and we expect him to play really well.”
Also out is rookie DT Jordan Hill who has a biceps injury. It is not, however, related the biceps injury Hill suffered in training camp that kept him out for more than a month.
“He hurt his other bicep,” Carroll said. “He strained it, it doesn’t look to be anywhere near what the other one was; we expect him to come back to practice next week.”
After limited practice early in the week, tackles Breno Giacomini and Russell Okung were able to do more Friday, and appear to have a good chance at playing next week.
“That’s a really good sign,” Carroll said of their increased workload Friday. “They feel like they’re able to handle the work, they’ve had no issues with it at all, so next week they’ll come back going full speed. That’d be really exciting to get those guys back in there. They’re dying to play, as you can imagine. They’ve had to sit there and watch so long, they’re really worked up about it. We’ll go into next week with them practicing on Wednesday and we’ll expect to see, if they can handle it, that they’ll play.”
And of course no Q&A with Carroll would be complete without a Percy Harvin update: “Percy’s the best he’s been. He had another excellent day. He’s not ready to play this week. He’ll return to practice, hopefully, next week, and we’ll just go one day at a time then. All of the signs are really encouraging, he feels good, he’s not having any issues after he works out. I think we’ve built up enough days to take a good positive step; I don’t know what that means in terms of playing next week, but we’re hoping he’ll be able to get some extra work and really jump back into it.”
SEAHAWKS
Out: FB Derrick Coleman (hamstring), C Max Unger (concussion), DT Jordan Hill (biceps), DE Red Bryant (concussion).
Doubtful: T Breno Giacomini (knee, limited participation).
Questionable: S Jeron Johnson (hamstring, full participation).
Probable: DE Chris Clemons (NIR, full participation), RB Marshawn Lynch (knee, full), S Kam Chancellor (ankle, full).
FALCONS
Questionable: T Sam Baker (knee, limited), LB Stephen Nicholas (thigh, limited), WR Roddy White (hamstring/ankle, limited), DT Corey Peters (knee, limited).
Probable: DT Peria Jerry (toe, full).
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