The Seahawks began their practice week Thursday in preparation for a Monday night game against the Eagles, and they kicked off the week with some encouraging news about starting quarterback Geno Smith.
Smith, who missed Seattle’s Week 14 game with a groin injury, was back in action on Thursday, and while Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said his quarterback still needs to make it through the week to show he can play, Smith is feeling good to start the practice week.
“Geno went through the walkthrough today, he’s going to practice today,” Carroll said prior to Thursday’s practice. “He had a good lift this morning, so we’ll see how each goes, we’ll go one day at a time and figure that out. He feels really good, and he threw the heck out of the ball in the morning session, so we’ll see what happens today with the hope that he’s ready to go. If not, Drew (Lock) is going to be there, we’ll mix reps to make sure that everybody’s prepared, but that’s a good sign for us. We’re hoping for Geno’s sake—he wants to play in the worst way.”
Asked how Smith was moving around on the injured groin, Carroll noted so far he had only seen Smith in a walkthrough, but reiterated that Smith is feeling good.
“He did everything, he moved around just fine,” Carroll said. “It was a walkthrough, so we’ll go to practice this afternoon and see how that goes and just take one session at a time, but he feels really good that he’s ready to go.”
Rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who left Sunday’s game with a hip pointer injury, was not scheduled to practice Thursday, with Carroll describing his status as day-to-day.
“He won’t work today,” Carroll said. “We’ll rest him a little bit longer, and we won’t know, we’ve got to take it day-to-day with that one.”
Carroll had a positive update on running backs Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet, who both went into last week’s game listed as questionable due to injuries, an oblique strain for Walker and bruised knee for Charbonnet, but were both able to play.
“They made it out quite well,” Carroll said. “They looked great today getting started for the week. Both guys feel really good, so there’s no issues with what they were dealing with the week before.”
Cornerback Artie Burns, who left last weekend’s game with a knee injury, also participated in the walkthrough and “is looking OK,” Carroll said.
The news also continues to be good on right tackle Abraham Lucas, who has played in the past two games after missing 10 games with a knee injury. Lucas saw his workload increase last week, playing 90 percent of Seattle’s offensive snaps after playing 59 percent the week before, and he came out of that added work feeling good.
“I talked to Abe this morning, and he feels like he’s back,” Carroll said. “He really feels like he’s back and confident and feels good. It’s taken a couple weeks to get his playing legs underneath him, but that’s a great sign. We’re counting on him moving forward. He should be in great shape.”
