RENTON -- Wide receiver Doug Baldwin will be a game-time decision to play against the Carolina Panthers due to a groin issue that surfaced on Tuesday.
Head coach Pete Carroll had said Baldwin was feeling "the best he's felt" all season during his meeting with reports on Tuesday.
Then the groin issue popped up and kept him from practicing the rest of the week. Baldwin was also listed as having a groin injury during the lead up to the team's Week Ten meeting with the Los Angeles Rams.
"it popped up the day I said he’s the best he’s felt all year. His groin kind of acted up on him a little bit, so I’m not going to say that again," Carroll said with a chuckle.
Knee injuries in training camp and during the team's Week One lost to the Denver Broncos had kept Baldwin at less than 100 percent throughout most of the first half of the season. He didn't get his first touchdown of the year until last Thursday's win over the Green Bay Packers.
Baldwin ran on the side on Friday before the team departed for Charlotte, but he did not take part in the practice.
"We’re going to work him out in pregame and make sure that he’s OK," Carroll said.
Linebacker K.J. Wright has officially been ruled out due to a knee injury. It will be the eighth game he’s missed this season due to the issue, which required surgery in late August and kept him sidelined the first six games of the year.
“We’re going to keep working on it,” Carroll said. “There’s a couple things that we’re going to do. It will probably take him another week.”
Running back J.D. McKissic had a good first week of practice after being designated to return from injured reserve. A foot injury late in training camp forced McKissic to be held out the first 11 weeks of the season. Despite the progress, Carroll said they would not activate McKissic for this week’s game in Carolina.
“It just doesn’t make sense for us to try to do it in one week’s time,” Carroll said. “We’ll go next week and take a look at him again and anticipate that he’s going to be in pretty good shape and pretty close to going the next week. We’ll wait and see but he looked terrific.”
The Seahawks aren’t in any hurry due to having four healthy running backs on their roster currently and three that have posted 100-yard rushing games already this season. NFL teams don't make roster moves until they have to due to the possibility of injuries changing calculations for the roster. However, Seattle will need to find room for McKissic and linebacker Mychal Kendricks in the coming couple of weeks.
Cornerback Neiko Thorpe is set to return after missing the last four games with a groin injury. Defensive end Dion Jordan is also back after sitting out the Packers game on a short week as the team tries to manage his knee issues.
Photo Credit: SEATTLE, WA - NOVEMBER 15: Doug Baldwin #89 of the Seattle Seahawks catches the ball for a touchdown in the second quarter against the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink Field on November 15, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)