Pete Carroll doesn’t yet know who will be his starting quarterback when the Seahawks take on Cleveland on Sunday, but for now he’s preparing as if it is Charlie Whitehurst.
“He’s going to take all the reps,” Carroll said. “We’re going to get Charlie ready and give a little bit to Josh (Porti
s), then they’ll be some opportunities to do some stuff, maybe, with (Tarvaris Jackson) as we see how he does. . . I’m anxious to see how he does with this preparation behind him. I think he’s going to handle it very well.”
Jackson, who suffered a strained pectoral muscle in Seattle’s win over New York, has not been ruled out, but he also isn’t able to practice fully as of Wednesday. Carroll said Jackson would “do some stuff today in practice” but what that actually means remains to be seen.
“He hasn’t practiced yet, so we don’t know, but today we start to find out,” Carroll said. “He’s doing better, he’s encouraged, he’s done a lot of stuff. . . He has to mentally prepare, so if he gets the opportunity, he can jump at it later in the week.”
Carroll added that the decision at quarterback could wait until the end of the week, or even come down to a game-time decision depending on the progress Jackson makes over the next few days”
“We may go all the way to game time to understand whether he’ll be available to us. . . I’m not impatient about it. In the meantime Charlie is getting ready to play.”
Carroll also noted that Jackson, whether he makes it back this week or not, is making quick progress coming back from the injury: “The trainers and the doctors are really surprised that he’s able to do what he’s doing. He’s really tough-minded.”
And while Jackson will be limited, at best, Wednesday, several other players are expected to return to action. CB Roy Lewis, WR Deon Butler and TE Cameron Morrah, who had had to sit out the first six weeks while on the physically unable to perform list, are all expected back.
“They finally get their shot to come out,” Carroll said. “I’m happy for those guys. They’ve been working really hard to get back out here. . . We’ll ease those guys back into it, but it’s good to have them back out there. Those are all guys who have contributed and been factors for us.”
Once those players return to action, the Seahawks have three weeks to put them on the active roster, cut them, or place them on injured reserve.
G Robert Gallery, who has missed three games with a groin injury, is expected to practice. Carroll indicated that TE Zach Miller (neck) would sit out Wednesday.
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