Healthy Seahawks begin preparation for Washington

The Seahawks are on the practice field for the first time this week as they get ready for Sunday’s playoff game in Washington, and Pete Carroll is counting his blessings that, after 16 games, his team is remarkably healthy.

Yes, cornerback Walter Thurmond went on injured reserve last week, but his absence is mitigated by the fact that Brandon Browner is back from his four-game suspension, as well as Marcus Trufant’s return from a hamstring injury. Linebacker Leroy Hill, who missed last week’s game with a hamstring injury, is also looking like he’ll be back this week.

“We are very fortunate right now. We’ll have most everybody on the field today,” Carroll said. “Tru is OK and Leroy is coming back. We saw Sidney go through the whole walkthrough and we’ll get some work out of him today. (Breno) Giacomini is going to be OK, he had a sore elbow last week. So we’re in very good shape right now. Getting Brandon Browner back is a big deal to us. He has been a big part of what we’re doing here and he’s been a significant factor in the style that we play. We’ll see how he does. It’s been a month, so we’ll see how rusty he is. We’re very fortunate right now, we’re in good shape.”

Carroll said he isn’t sure yet who will start at weakside linebacker with Hill back and Malcolm Smith playing well in his absence. He also said the competition is still ongoing at right guard between John Moffitt and J.R. Sweezy, but added that Sweezy, who has started the last two games, is still ahead in that battle.