Seahawks coach Pete Carroll created a bit of a stir with Wednesday comments about the status of defensive end Cliff Avril, who suffered a neck injury against the Colts on Sunday night. Regarded by plenty as an indicated that the injury is potentially career-ending, Carroll didn’t quite go that far.
Asked whether the injury possibly is long-term in nature, Carroll said: “It could be. Could be, yeah. Like I’m saying, we are going very slowly, making sure that he takes the opportunity to talk to as many people as he needs to talk to so he knows what he’s got and what we need to do with it and we are just going to take care of him and make sure he is well. If he wants to come back and we want to bring him back, then we will let you know when we know. But right now, we don’t.”
The last two sentences are indeed ominous, with the reference to “if he wants to come back and we want to bring him back.” But it still feels a little premature to flag Avril as having a career-ending injury. At a minimum, however, there is cause for concern.