RENTON — A year ago, when the Seattle Seahawks’ bye week arrived, the team was in something of state of disarray.
Yes, the Seahawks had won two straight, but those victories came against lesser competition. The first half of the season was better characterized by lost fourth-quarter leads and problems in pass protection. At 4-4 the talk was less about the Seahawks’ chances of reaching a third straight Super Bowl and more about whether Seattle would even make the playoffs, and the bye was seen as necessary for getting things straightened out.
That’s not the case as the Seahawks enter their bye this year. Seattle’s weekend off comes following back-to-back all-around quality efforts against the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets, and rather than using the bye to fix things, Seattle can focus instead on getting healthy.
“We’ve made a good step forward here,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Monday as he addressed the media at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. “We played well two weeks ago at home, and we went on the road in a difficult setting and found our play again. So it kicks us into the bye, and when you take a look at the end of the first quarter of the season and see where we are, we still have the game out there that we wish we would have gotten, but we’re coming around. We’re moving forward and moving in a good direction.”
The bye comes following Sunday’s comprehensive 27-17 victory over the Jets, when the Seahawks played well in all facets of the game. The victory improved Seattle’s record to 3-1, and at the season’s quarter point they find themselves tied atop the NFC West standings with the Los Angeles Rams, two games ahead of the Arizona Cardinals, who were considered Seattle’s biggest competition for divisional supremacy. So from a standings standpoint the Seahawks enter the bye in good shape.
More importantly, the bye should help Seattle’s players get healthy. Several Seahawks are dealing with injuries, none more crucial than quarterback Russell Wilson. The extra week of rest should help most of those players get close to full strength.
“We got through this game clean, so that means all the guys we know about are on the mend for two more weeks,” Carroll said. “That’s great. We’re going to get guys back, and the guys who have been getting banged on that haven’t shown up on the injury list are also going to be stronger. … There’s a lot of guys coming back to full health who should be strong and can add to the competition of things, and we’re really excited about that.”
The Seahawks are most excited about Wilson. Wilson suffered a sprained right ankle in Seattle’s season opener against the Miami Dolphins, then suffered a sprained left knee in the Seahawks’ contest against San Francisco last week. Those injuries hampered Wilson’s mobility, but they didn’t stop him from going 23-for-32 for 309 yards and three touchdowns against the Jets. Wilson also made it through Sunday’s game without suffering any setbacks.
“He came out of it great,” Carroll said. “He’s thrilled with the way he got out of that thing. He got hit a couple times, but nothing on the knees or ankles that bothered him. He’s already deep into the process of this week and we’re anticipating he’s going to be in pretty darn good shape two weeks from now.”
While Wilson’s injuries haven’t affected his ability to throw the ball, they have hampered his ability to run. Wilson’s threat as a runner, particularly in the read option, has been a featured part of Seattle’s offense ever since Wilson arrived in 2012 — he ran for 2,430 yards in his first four seasons. That hasn’t been available since Wilson suffered the ankle injury. He kept the ball on the read option once in each of the past two games, and both times he ended up going down on his own for a loss. Could he be ready to be featured as a runner again when the Seahawks play host to the Atlanta Falcons following the bye?
“I’m hoping,” Carroll said. “We’ll see where that is. We’re hoping he’s going to be back. I can’t imagine him not being much better. He’s just going to work at it so hard and he’s so close. His movement and footwork has looked normal in the games, he’s making a marketed improvement. When you saw him take off and run (against the Jets) he ran well, he ran out of bounds on a little bit of scramble there, that’s a good indication.”
Receiver Tyler Lockett also will be able to make good use of the bye. Lockett has been playing through a knee injury that’s limited his snaps on offense and prevented him from returning kickoffs. Defensive tackle Jarran Reed (hip) and tight end Nick Vannett (ankle), who were inactive for Sunday’s game, are expected to be ready in two weeks, while running back C.J. Prosise (wrist) might be ready as well.
The only players who aren’t expected to be available when the Seahawks resume are running back Thomas Rawls (cracked fibula) and defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson (broken hand), who will still be a couple weeks away, and linebacker Mike Morgan (sports hernia), who was placed on injured reserve Monday.
For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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