Starting left guard J.R. Sweezy won\u2019t play Sunday when the Seahawks close out the regular season against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday due to a foot\/ankle injury suffered last week against the Chiefs.<\/p>\n
Seattle also listed five other players as questionable, including starting right guard D.J. Fluker (hamstring), running back Rashaad Penny (knee) and free safety Tedric Thompson (ankle). Seattle coach Pete Carroll said will all be re-evaluated following workouts before the game Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have an Olympics going on out there on the field if you want to come out early,\u2019\u2019 Carroll said to reporters following Friday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Carroll, though, insisted that any decisions on whether players will play will be made solely on whether the player in question is healthy enough to go.<\/p>\n What won\u2019t be a factor, he said, is that Seattle could have a playoff game as early as next Saturday and definitely will have one by next Sunday, at likely either Dallas or Chicago in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt has nothing to do with it,\u2019\u2019 Carroll said of the prospect of the playoffs on the horizon on how the team will make personnel decisions for Sunday\u2019s game against Arizona.<\/p>\n Instead, he said the team\u2019s goal and approach for the Arizona game is the same as any other \u2014 to get the win \u2014 even if Seattle already has a playoff bid locked up.<\/p>\n Carroll said the main reason for that is to reinforce his overarching philosophies designed at getting the Seahawks to play at their best every week.<\/p>\n \u201cI particularly think that it\u2019s part of the discipline of performance that you don\u2019t allow yourself to say that this game isn\u2019t as important as some other game,\u2019\u2019 Carroll said.<\/p>\n Also, there are some tangible stakes on the line, such as a 10-win season, snapping a pesky three-game losing streak to Arizona in Seattle, and, most notably, assuring that Seattle gets the No. 5 seed.<\/p>\n Seattle will be either the five or the six and is assured of the five if Minnesota loses to Chicago regardless of what the Seahawks do.<\/p>\n But Seattle won\u2019t know that outcome since the games begin at the same time. A Vikings win and Seattle loss and the Seahawks will be the sixth seed.<\/p>\n Not that there\u2019s a great chance for a five seed to host a playoff game \u2014 the only way it would be possible would be to host the six seed in the conference title game, something that has never happened \u2014 but you never know.<\/p>\n Maybe more to the point, being the five seed sets up a likely chance to play the Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs if the Seahawks were to win the wild-card game as opposed to being assured of having to go to New Orleans.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Seattle might like a shot at playing the Rams a third time after losing two down-to-the-wire games against Los Angeles in the regular season and might also perceive the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as a more inviting venue than the Superdome.<\/p>\n So, there\u2019s not necessarily nothing on the line.<\/p>\n Carroll, though, said all he\u2019s really thinking about is winning a game on Sunday for the sake of winning a game on Sunday \u2014 the same as any other Sunday in any other season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so fleeting and it goes away in a heartbeat,\u2019\u2019 Carroll said. \u201cAnd normal teams go up and down all the time and that\u2019s not the way we want to do it. We want to be uncommon. Uncommonly committed to the discipline of this.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Carroll said Sweezy has been receiving diagnosis throughout the country this week on what he called an \u201cunusual little thing\u2019\u2019 he is dealing with in his foot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s real uncomfortable,\u2019\u2019 Carroll said. \u201cHe\u2019s got some swelling that he\u2019s dealing with.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But Carroll said that while Sweezy won\u2019t play Sunday, the playoffs are not a question.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably a three-to-four week recovery for most people and he\u2019s going to do it in two weeks,\u2019\u2019 Carroll said. \u201cSo he\u2019ll be ready next week.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n As for this week, expect Ethan Pocic to again start in place of Sweezy at left guard.<\/p>\n Pocic started at left guard the first two games of the season, then after moving to a reserve role started at right guard last week for D.J. Fluker, then moved to left guard when Sweezy was hurt in the second quarter with Fluker entering the game and finishing out at right guard.<\/p>\n Fluker, who missed the previous two games with a hamstring injury, is questionable for the game but Carroll said there is a chance he will play.<\/p>\n \u201cHe made real progress this week and he did some things that helped him, so we are looking forward to him being ready to go if he can make it through the Sunday workout,\u2019\u2019 Carroll said.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If Fluker can\u2019t play, options include going with Joey Hunt, or possibly making a roster move and activating Jordan Roos off the practice squad.<\/p>\n Right tackle Germain Ifedi, who was out last week with a groin injury, was not listed on the final injury report and will return this week. He was replaced last week by George Fant, who will return to his sixth offensive lineman\/eligible tackle role.<\/p>\n Thompson sat out the Chiefs game with a chest issue that has since cleared up.<\/p>\n Now he is dealing with an ankle injury and will also have to pass a pregame workout to get the OK to play.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got an irritation in the back of his ankle, kind of around his Achilles,\u2019\u2019 Carroll said. \u201cIt\u2019s not an Achilles injury like we thought it was for a little but he just hasn\u2019t quite made it through it to our satisfaction yet. But we are going to try and take a look at him on Sunday.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Carroll, though, intimated that safety Bradley McDougald \u2014 who sat much of the week to rest his knee \u2014 will be able to play Sunday.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHe practiced today,\u2019\u2019 Carroll said. \u201cDid fine.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n So that would likely mean Seattle again going with McDougald and Delano Hill as its safeties if Thompson can\u2019t go.<\/p>\n First-round pick Rashaad Penny has missed the last two games to deal with a knee injury.<\/p>\n But Carroll said he should return against the Cardinals as long as he also passes a pregame workout.<\/p>\n Penny could get a lot of work if the team decides to take a few snaps away from starter Chris Carson, who has had 71 carries over the last three games.<\/p>\n While Carroll has insisted the team will play the Arizona game the same as any other, he has allowed that how the game goes could mean getting some players out early if the chance arises.<\/p>\nSweezy has unusual foot injury, and other updates<\/h3>\n
Tedric Thompson dealing with ankle injury<\/h3>\n
Rashaad Penny could be on track to return<\/h3>\n