RENTON — The Seahawks’ injury report Wednesday looked a little ominous, with four offensive linemen who have been starters this season — Duane Brown, Mike Iupati, George Fant and Joey Hunt — sitting out with injuries.
But Hunt, the starting center, has dealt with a fibula injury for a few weeks and played on Sunday, and Fant also has dealt with some injuries and usually has been available to play, though he was listed Wednesday with an injury (groin) different from past weeks.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said he’s optimistic Brown will be able to return after missing two games due to surgery to repair a meniscus injury.
Related Seahawks
Though Brown didn’t practice Wednesday, Carroll said he did some other work on both Tuesday and Wednesday, “an encouraging sign about him making his return. We’ll see what happens. We won’t know until late.’’
Iupati’s status is potentially more ominous. The team’s primary starting left guard, he’s been dealing with a stinger for a few weeks and sat out Sunday against the Eagles.
“We’re waiting for a second opinion on something (on Iupati),’’ Carroll said.
Without Iupati and Brown, the Seahawks started Jamarco Jones and Fant at left guard and tackle against the Eagles and would likely do so again against the Packers if Iupati and Brown remain sidelined.
Seattle added some reinforcements for its offensive line, promoting Chad Wheeler from the practice squad to take the place of linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who was placed on injured reserve.
Wheeler played at USC and started 19 games for the Giants in 2017 and 2018, primarily at tackle. Current Seattle offensive-line coach Mike Solari was with the Giants in 2017.
Ansah, Clowney among those limited; Jefferson out
Seattle’s defensive line also has a few questions heading into the weekend. Starting end Quinton Jefferson was listed as out Wednesday with an ankle injury, and ends Ziggy Ansah and Jadeveon Clowney were each limited.
But Carroll noted that, in each case, limited was better than out.
Ansah suffered a stinger against the Eagles in the second quarter and sat out the second half, but Carroll said he appears on track to playing against Green Bay.
“He feels better than the trainers thought he would be after the episode that he had in the game,’’ Carroll said.
Clowney, meanwhile, played 83% of the snaps against the Eagles despite dealing with a core-muscle injury that has hampered him for two months.
“It’s about the same as last week, which is a good sign because he made it,’’ Carroll said of Clowney’s health.
In better defensive news, safety Quandre Diggs wasn’t mentioned on the injury report after returning last week from a high ankle sprain.
“I just talked to him today,’’ Carroll said before practice. “He feels good. He was a little bit sore yesterday. He feels fine. He’s ready to go.’’
Malik Turner might make it back
Receiver Malik Turner returned to practice for the first time since suffering a concussion in the loss to Arizona.
In the wake of Josh Gordon’s suspension, Turner had been emerging as the third receiver, a role David Moore has taken over the last two games.
“He’s going to practice today, and we’ll see how he responds to the practice,’’ Carroll said of Turner. “It’s been a little touch-and-go to get him back. We’re taking great care of him to make sure that he’s right. He’s anxious to get going and see how he feels tomorrow. That starts today.”
Carroll not sweating the potential cold Sunday
Forecasts as of Wednesday afternoon called for a high of 24 degrees and partly cloudy Sunday in Green Bay.
But true to form, Carroll doesn’t plan to make a big deal about the weather. The Seahawks will open the doors to their indoor facility while blowing air in for practices this week to make it as cold as possible, but otherwise will leave the worrying to others.
“We’re not going to quite get it to where it’s going to be there,’’ Carroll said. “One thing we know, that we’ve played in weather 50 degrees colder than it’s going to be.’’
That’s a reference to the memorable 2016 wild-card game at Minnesota that had an official temperature of minus-6 with a wind chill of minus-25.
“As long as it’s not that I think we’re going to be good,’’ said middle linebacker Bobby Wagner.
The temperature was officially 41 degrees for Sunday’s game at Philadelphia.
“It looks like it’s going to be about 10 degrees colder than it was the other night,’’ Carroll said. “So, big deal. That’s nothing. … But, I’m not going to overlook the factor that the fellas might be thinking. We’ve already started to deal with that. You have to be very disciplined about that as well.”
The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.