RENTON — Sidney Rice provided both the most exciting and most frightening moment in Sunday’s overtime victory in Chicago, scoring the game-winning touchdown, but taking a blow to the head in the process, causing him to drop the ball and go limp as he went into the end zone.
And even though Rice indicated on Twitter Sunday night that he was fine, the Seahawks are taking no chances with their leading receiver, and will put him through the league’s concussion protocol.
“He’s going to go through the process,” Carroll said. “We want to be very careful and make sure we know what we’re doing. He’ll go through the whole sequence of the tests and stuff, and probably we will determine on Wednesday where he is for Thursday’s practice.”
Carroll stopped short of actually stating that Rice suffered a concussion, however, saying, “I don’t know if they’re calling it that, but we’re going through those precautions.”
After the team returned to Seattle, Rice, who caught six passes for 99 yards and the game-winning touchdown, wrote on Twitter, “Thanks for the prayers. I passed all of the tests and cleared to go for next week.”
But a day later Carroll said they were going to be cautions with Rice, both because of the symptoms he was showing, and also because of his concussion history. Rice’s 2011 season ended early when he suffered two concussions in a three-game span, causing the Seahawks to place him on injured reserve.
“It’s based off the symptoms, the occurrence of it and just the symptoms, and then he has a history,” Carroll said. “It’s a little bit of everything I guess. But he feels good. He’s not in bad shape at this point, so we think he has a chance.”
Rice isn’t the only player whose status is up in the air heading into the week. Left guard James Carpenter played only one series, then came out of the game after experiencing pain in the same knee that he had surgically repaired last year. Carpenter tore his ACL last November, and came back faster than expected, returning to Seattle’s starting lineup in Week 4.
“James’ knee is bothering him,” Carroll said. “He’s had X-rays and an MRI now. There’s a little something there, so we’re working on that now. Don’t know what that means.
“He felt a little sharp pain during the game that didn’t go away.”
Carroll later added that doctors are hopeful this isn’t a serious injury, saying, “The early indication is that there’s nothing major wrong. It’s just still uncomfortable for him. That’s where we are now.”
John Moffitt, who started two games at left guard last month while Carpenter was recovering from a concussion, would replace Carpenter if he can’t go this week. The Seahawks also have depth at guard in rookie J.R. Sweezy, who started the season opener at right guard.
The Seahawks could be without Marcus Trufant for a second straight game because of the hamstring injury that the veteran cornerback suffered in practice last week.
“He had a pretty legit hamstring pull,” Carroll said. “So I don’t know where he’ll be by the end of the week, but he’s in rehab now still. It’s going to be a challenge to get him back for the game. We’ll see what happens. I don’t want to rule him out.”
Linebacker Leroy Hill, who missed the game with an ankle injury, has a good chance to return this week.
“He should have a chance to be better,” Carroll said. “He was close, but he couldn’t play after the workout in pregame.”
Date set for Sherman appeal
Cornerback Richard Sherman, who is appealing a four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing substances, will have his appeal heard on Dec. 14, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday, meaning Sherman will play in this week’s game against Arizona. A date has not yet been set for Brandon Browner’s appeal according to Schefter, which means unless something is quickly scheduled this week, the Seahawks should have both of their starting cornerbacks again this weekend.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
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