The Seahawks' offense, which just tore up the Patriots in Foxborough for 31 points, is ready to re-install one of its best weapons from a year ago. Second-year running back Thomas Rawls, who managed to make the 12s forget (at least somewhat) about Beast Mode with a stunningly dominant rookie campaign, is expected to return to the field against the Eagles on Sunday.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll updated Rawls' status Monday. It was a good update. It sounds like Rawls will play in Week 11 so long as he doesn't experience a setback.
"Thomas is ready to go, yeah," Carroll told 710 ESPN Seattle. "We talked real earnestly about it (over) the weekend. He's going to practice to play this week and if everything goes well, he'll play this week."
If not for injury issues, Rawls would be viewed as one of the league's best young running backs. As a rookie, Rawls rushed for 830 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry. His season ended in December when he broke his ankle. This year, he's appeared in just two games, carrying the ball 19 times as he's dealt with a fibula injury.
In his absence, the Seahawks initially depended on the awakened Christine Michael, but his awakening appears to be over. In the past two games, Michael's been out-snapped and outplayed by rookie C.J. Prosise, who put up 153 yards from scrimmage in the Seahawks' win over the Patriots on Sunday.
So, once Rawls is back, expect Prosise to stay involved.
"Heck yeah. I've been waiting for this one for a while now," Carroll said. "We're ready for this to happen. We've been waiting for this mix and so we'll bring Thomas along slowly and make sure that he's OK and all that, not overwork him, but he's in great shape. He looked fantastic this week. He looked just unbelievably quick and very confident in making his moves and stuff, so we're really excited about it."
If he comes back this weekend, he'll have a tough matchup with an Eagles defense that is ranked first in DVOA, sixth in yards allowed per game, and third in points allowed per game.
