The Seattle Seahawks are dealing with a myriad of injuries heading into Sunday's divisional contest against the San Francisco 49ers, and coach Pete Carroll is hopeful the team will soon be able to provide a more definitive outlook regarding two of its defensive stars.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Carroll said "there will be some clarity" soon regarding whether Kam Chancellor and Cliff Avril will play again this season.
"We are just respecting their process and what is right for them and so we just continue to kind of just report where they are right now and leave it at that," Carroll said Friday, per Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. "There will be some things happening before too long. I know that is not what you want to hear and you want to know more, but that is just kind of the way we are handling it to help them."
It appears the Seahawks are still trying to determine whether Chancellor's neck injury will indeed keep him out for the remainder of the season. As NFL Network's Mike Garafolo first reported last week, Chancellor is expected to miss the rest of the year -- a devastating blow for a Richard Sherman-depleted secondary that had a rough night in Monday's loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
Avril also is dealing with a neck injury that landed him on injured reserve last month. He's eligible to be activated after Seattle's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Dec. 10. The Seahawks, however, haven't indicated that will be an option for Avril, whose injury was originally described as career-threatening. They also might be hoping to use their IR-to-return designations on running backs Chris Carson and C.J. Prosise.
With the Seahawks entering a critical stretch after losing two of their last three, it makes sense Seattle wants to be perfectly clear on whether or not two of its best players will indeed be shelved for the remainder of the season.
