Three questionable but trending to play for Seahawks against Jaguars

RENTON -- Left tackle Duane Brown, running back Alex Collins, and left guard Damien Lewis are all listed as questionable to play against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

However, head coach Pete Carroll said Friday that all three players have a good shot to suit up for a surprisingly pivotal contest ahead of the team's bye week.

Brown has missed practice the last two days because of an illness that is not COVID-19.

"He's under the weather. He's not feeling great," Carroll said.

Carroll said that Brown took part in meetings with the team on Friday but they held him out of practice anyway.

"He should be fine. He's just feeling lousy," Carroll said. "He's doing a good solid job for us. He's been a great leader for us and tough as hell and really playing up to our expectations."

Collins was limited in practice on Wednesday and Friday and was held out of practice on Thursday due to a groin injury sustained two weeks ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, Carroll indicated that Collins is trending in the right direction.

"Alex worked today, looked pretty good," Carroll said. "He looks like he's going to make it through. He actually said that he felt as good yesterday as he did last week when he played so he should be OK."

Lewis missed last week's game against the New Orleans Saints due to a shoulder injury. Carroll said that Lewis will be a game-time decision but "he looks like he's playing, he's saying he's going."

The only player on the injury report that will surely miss the game is Marquise Blair, who had surgery this week to address a fractured patella sustained late in Monday night's loss to the New Orleans Saints. Blair is expected to be placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the season.

"Everything went really well. It's somewhat of a long recovery but they were able to fix the fracture in the patella," Carroll said. "It's going to be a while. ... This won't be one he can't get back from. He'll make it back from this."

Right tackle Brandon Shell is set to play after tweaking his ankle against the Saints on Monday night. He was able to practice on Friday and is expected to start against the Jagurs.

Concern for Chris Carson?

Running back Chris Carson remains on injured reserve as he works through a neck injury that has kept him sidelined since Seattle's Week 4 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

However, Carroll's comments on Carson's progress on Friday didn't feel entirely optimistic.

“He’s got to make a turn here to show us that he’s feeling better and good enough to really go for it,” Carroll said. “He hasn’t been able to come out to practice yet and go. Pretty soon, you’re going to say, ‘Is he going to make it back?’ and I’m not ready to do that yet. But really keeping my fingers crossed for him that he gets to come back and play.”

Carroll said that Carson has been working out and keeping in shape but that he just hasn't been able to get beyond the soreness in his neck that led to him being placed on injured reserve earlier this month.

"It's uncomfortable, basically," Carroll said. "He has pretty good motion and flexion and stuff like that but it's uncomfortable for him and he still feels the discomfort of what's going on so we've got to get rid of that."

Neck injuries can be very scary issues in football. They've been responsible for ending the careers of many former Seahawks, including Kam Chancellor, Cliff Avril, Ricardo Lockette and Mack Strong. There's no indication as of yet that Carson's injury is in that category of significance. However, his continued issues at a position that routinely takes a beating make it a rather concerning update provided from the Seahawks head coach on Friday.

Notes:

-- Pete Carroll said that Russell Wilson is progressing in his recovery from surgery to address a mallet finger injury to the middle finger of his throwing hand.

However, Carroll said that Wilson has yet to have the pin removed from his finger and that there's no definitive update on his timeline to return to action.

"He's pretty positive. He's feeling really good," Carroll said. "His finger looks great, all the stitches out and that kind of stuff. He looks great. So he's making all of the strides that he should be making way ahead of schedule at this point so we'll see what that means."

With Jake Luton having used both practice squad elevations to serve as the backup quarterback the last two weeks, there's a question over who will be Geno Smith's backup on Sunday. Jacob Eason remains on the 53-man roster after being claimed off waivers last week and has worked to get up to speed with the Seattle offense since.

"He's doing really well," Carroll said. "(QB coach) Austin Davis has been just hammering him to get him caught up so he can have a chance to be in the decision-making there," Carroll said. "He got a lot of work this week, we got to see him a lot. He's making a lot of progress quickly."

If Seattle still wants Luton to serve as the backup, they could promote him to the 53-man roster in place of Marquise Blair, who is out for the season and set to go on injured reserve. If not, Eason will get his first chance to serve as the backup against the Jaguars.

-- Wide receiver Dee Eskridge is on track to return to action after the bye week after working with a vision specialist in Florida to help address lingering problems from a concussion sustained Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts.

"He's come back raring to go," Carroll said. "It looks like he'll be ready to play after the bye. He's able to workout and go for it and push and all that kind of stuff. He feels great. Everything is really positive."

Injury Report:

Photo Credit: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 25: Alex Collins #41 of the Seattle Seahawks is pursued by Demario Davis #56 of the New Orleans Saints during the second half at Lumen Field on October 25, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)