Seahawks Optimistic Carlos Dunlap Won't Miss Time With Foot Injury

Despite exiting Monday's 23-17 win over the Eagles with a sore foot and undergoing an MRI on Tuesday, the Seahawks remain hopeful defensive end Carlos Dunlap won't wind up missing any games.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, coach Pete Carroll didn't provide many specifics on Dunlap's injury or MRI results. But though the player was listed as a non-participant on the first practice report of the week, he sounded optimistic about the veteran being available against the Giants on Sunday.

"There's a little something going on, but nothing serious and so we just need to see how he goes and handles the week," Carroll said. "I can't tell you how he'll be on game day yet, but we're hopeful and he's hopeful he'll be able to play."

Since being acquired from Cincinnati last month, Dunlap has been a catalyst for Seattle's impressive defensive turnaround. Starting each of the past four games, he's produced 4.0 sacks, eight quarterback hits, and five tackles for loss.

But Dunlap's impact has gone beyond his individual production, as the team has racked up 19.0 sacks since his arrival, pushing the Seahawks into the top 10 in the NFL. As a result of the much-improved pass rush as well as better secondary play, they've held opponents to 44 total points in the past 12 quarters.

Away from Dunlap, cornerback Tre Flowers came out of Monday's victory dealing with a mild hamstring strain and also was listed as out on Seattle's initial injury report. Carroll didn't sound overly concerned about his status, but did say the team would have to "see how he is."

If Flowers somehow isn't able to return and can't play this weekend, the Seahawks won't be able to turn to Quinton Dunbar just yet. The veteran cornerback must remain on injured reserve for at least one more week and won't be eligible to play in Week 13.

With that said, per Carroll, Dunbar has an excellent chance of being ready to return from a knee injury once he's eligible for activation next week.

"He's got to wait one more week before he can come back, will be back and I think he's going to be ready to do that. I think from the way things are going he's got a chance."

In other disclosed injury news, Carroll still didn't have a definitive answer for when running back Rashaad Penny and defensive end Darrell Taylor would return to practice. The two players remain on the PUP list and Non-Football Injury list respectively and have been sidelined since the start of training camp recovering from offseason surgeries.

Closing in on a return from a torn ACL, Penny still sounds like he has the best chance to be back on the practice field this week.

"Rashaad's getting real close to doing some stuff," Carroll clarified. "So I'm excited to see if it's going to be these next couple days or next Monday but, we're right there for Rashaad to jump back in here."

In regard to Taylor, Carroll indicated the Seahawks likely won't have a clear idea on his impending return until the end of the week. The second-round pick out of Tennessee has had numerous setbacks trying to bounce back from surgery to repair a stress fracture, but it doesn't sound like that's a problem now.

"He didn't have a setback," Carroll explained. "But there was a point there where they wanted to clarify what's going to happen when he does come back. So we went back to the docs and he's got a couple interviews this week to clear the air on where we're going. We got him as far as we could take him at this point and now he's looking for final assurance that he's doing the right thing and all that."

Carroll didn't provide updates on tackle Brandon Shell or running back Travis Homer, who both were estimated to be out if the Seahawks practice in full on Wednesday. It remains unclear if either player will be available after missing Monday's game in Philadelphia.

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