Geno Smith is ‘fine’ according to Pete Carroll, along with other post-Bye injury updates

Pete Carroll took to the podium to provide some injury updates for the Seattle Seahawks following a Monday practice — which was the first time the team reconvened following their Bye Week. This is all unofficial at this point, as the team will not provide their initial injury report for Week 6 until Wednesday. Nevertheless, it was encouraging to hear that some of the team’s starters and key players are turning a corner and should be expected to return in the near future. For some players, this will mean a return to the field against the Cincinnati Bengals this coming weekend.

According to Carroll, we should expect to see Jamal Adams back out there on Sunday, along with a few other important starters, such as Jarran Reed and even potentially Charles Cross. He was quoted on the Seattle Seahawks official team website as saying the following:

“He [Charles Cross] was on the practice field today, he worked today. He looked quick and nifty and all that kind of stuff. We’ll see how he does when we come back as we get through the week, see if he can maintain the practice level that will allow him a chance to play.”

“[Jamal Adams is] on the final stage coming up of getting cleared, and a pretty promising though that he will be cleared tomorrow,” Carroll said.

As for quarterback Geno Smith, who briefly left the game with a knee injury but was able to return, Carroll said, “He’s fine.”

“He [Jarran Reed] got banged up, but he’s had an extra week and all of that, so he should be OK,” Carroll said.

Also expected back is corner Tre Brown, who is returning from concussion protocol. Coby Bryant is still battling a toe injury, so his return timetable remains unclear. When asked about starting guards Damien Lewis and Phil Haynes, Carroll was less optimistic (by his standards), saying:

“Both those guys have a chance to be OK this week,” Carroll said. “We’ll see how they go. It’s going to take us a bit before we know, but both guys have a chance.”

If Lewis and or Haynes are unable to go, this leaves the team with Anthony Bradford, Ben Brown, and McClendon Curtis as the remaining guards listed on the team roster, though the team officially lists Curtis as a backup right tackle on their unofficial depth chart, which leads to the next update: We know that Abe Lucas is out at least one more week until he is eligible to return from IR, meaning that Jake Curhan is likely to be out there again. Lucas isn’t the only player who is nearing a return from injured reserve, as both Dareke Young and Kenny McIntosh are getting closer to seeing the field from the sounds of it.

Asked about receiver Dareke Young and running back Kenny McIntosh, who are both eligible to come off injured reserve starting this week, Carroll said, “Dareke is really close. He’s a little bit closer than Kenny is. Dareke is running and doing all kinds of stuff. Kenny is getting back, but not quite yet. It’s still another week or so. Dareke’s got to prove it, he’s doing all of the running stuff right now, but he is not ready to practice yet.”

Right tackle Abraham Lucas is still a week away form being eligible to return from injured reserve, and while he is expected to make a return relatively soon, Carroll said they won’t rush that process.

Hearing that Geno Smith is ok is good news. Hearing that Jamal Adams is ok is good news. Ditto for Jarran Reed and that defensive line. While the continued absences on the offensive line remain a concern, this team has been far more effective with their pass pro and run blocking than anybody could have expected had we been able to foresee the number of injuries that this unit would suffer so early in the season. Regardless, having healthy and available players is good in any case, so hopefully this team will be close to full strength when they take on a Bengals team that just notched its second win of the season against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5.