A day after the Seahawks released Phil Bates and Brett Brackett, they filled those roster spots by signing veteran fullback Will Tukuafu as well as linebacker L.J. Fort, who was previous on the practice squad.
Tukuafu, who briefly spent time with the Seahawks in training camp in 2010 as an undrafted rookie, has spent most of his career in San Francisco, playing a career-high 14 games in 2012. Tukuafu, who is 6-foot-4 and weighs 285 pounds, has also spent time at defensive end and Pete Carroll said they could try him there too, but for now he’s primarily a fullback.
On the injury front, the good news for Seattle is that Max Unger is expected to practice Wednesday, according to Carroll, a good sign for his chances at playing Sunday after missing the past three games with a foot injury.
Linebacker Bobby Wagner (toe) and tight end Zach Miller (ankle) remain out, but both are making progress, Carroll said.
“It’s the best he’s felt by far,” Carroll said of Miller. “He made a big jump with the treatment that they did over the weekend, so that’s a real positive sign. It’s the first really good positive sign we’ve had, and he was really encouraged by that. Bobby got a good report, he’s moving ahead, but neither one of those guys is going to make it this week.”
The status of linebacker Malcolm Smith, who suffered what Carroll on Monday called a “minor groin strain,” is still up in the air.
On CB Byron Maxwell, who has missed two games with a calf injury, Carroll said, “Byron is making big improvements, he’s really getting close. I don’t want to rule him out for this week, we’ll see what he does and we’ll see what happens.”
On WR Bryan Walters, who missed the Carolina game with a concussion: “He’s practicing today, so he’s back.”
On G James Carpenter, who missed part of the game with back spasms, then returned, Carroll said, “He looks like he’s going to be all right.”
And on S Jeron Johnson, who suffered a concussion against the Panthers: “Jeron’s got to go through the protocol so it will be all the way through the week until they make the determination.”
Asked if Richard Sherman would return punts again, something he did with Walters sidelined, Carroll said: “It depends on who’s available. Really we were going to go with Doug (Baldwin) last week, and Doug needed a break at the time, and he jumped in in relief to help us out. He’s not in our minds the guy who’s going to be back to return punts all the time, but he is a guy that does a great job in all the situations and knows what’s happening.”
On kick returns, a position that came open with the Percy Harvin trade, Carroll said they would be comfortable going with either Walters, who handled the job against St. Louis, or Paul Richardson, who had a 47-yard return last week with Walters sidelined.
“We’ll find out,” Carroll said. “But it was great to see Paul get his couple of shots at kickoff return, and he showed us something special, so he’s definitely in the running. I would not mind at all to have Paul back there.”
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