Seahawks injury report: Byron Maxwell has a calf strain, Seattle's defense banged up

The Seahawks had been relatively healthy through through the first five weeks of the season, but are now starting to see a few of their key starters go down with injuries. For the next few weeks, it's apparent the Seahawks are really going to have to rely on their depth at a few spots.

The biggest concern for Seattle has to be at the cornerback spot, after starter Byron Maxwell suffered a calf strain on Sunday vs. the Cowboys (it was originally believed to be a high ankle sprain, so that it's just a strain is good news for Seattle). Maxwell is likely to miss practice this week and it's probable at this point he won't be ready to go for next week's game at St. Louis, so there could be some shuffling in the Seahawks' secondary. Newcomer Marcus Burley figures to move outside to take Maxwell's place (that's what Seattle did in this game), with Jeremy Lane and Tharold Simon still recovering from injuries of their own. In Burley's place in the slot, we may see DB Steven Terrell (a rookie recently signed from the practice squad) start getting more action.

Not helping matters is that SS Kam Chancellor is still suffering from an injured hip (not the hip he had surgery on), and he was noticeably slowed by it on Sunday. "I don't think he was at his best.'' Pete Carroll said this morning about Chancellor, but called it a "valiant effort'' for Kam to play entire game. If Kam is slowed this week again, look for Jeron Johnson and possibly DeShawn Shead to have bigger roles next week. Richard Sherman also suffered a little bit of a shoulder injury very late in the game, so he'll be a player to monitor this week.

LB Bobby Wagner left the game briefly in the first half but returned in the second, and it was reported that he jammed his big toe. Wagner said the injury bothered him all game but that he just played through it. It's possible Wagner's status for this week could be in jeopardy as well. Behind him, we could see Brock Coyle get action in the middle, or the Seahawks could play K.J. Wright there and rotate Malcolm Smith and Mike Morgan in on the outsides.

C Max Unger obviously missed this game with an ankle injury, so Stephen Schilling got the start. Pete Carroll attributed a few of Seattle's false start penalties to this factor -- not everyone on the line was on the same page. If Unger misses more time, it could continue to affect the Seahawks' run game.

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