With Chris Carson likely out for the remainder of the season. the Seahawks are turning back to Thomas Rawls to lead their backfield rotation moving forward.
Rawls was inactive for Sunday night’s game against the Indianapolis Colts as Seattle went with Carson, Eddie Lacy and J.D. McKissic instead. However, Rawls is the best suited of the group to take over as the lead back moving into the coming weeks.
“We haven’t seen him in a while,” head coach Pete Carroll said of Rawls on Wednesday. “We haven’t had a chance to see him on a regular basis, so this is a chance for him to re-enter. I’m really excited for him. He’s in good shape, he has worked out hard. There was no reason why he couldn’t play, we just played Chris a lot, and you saw us flip it around with Eddie a couple of weeks ago. But now he and Eddie are going to take the load. We’re so fortunate to have Thomas coming into the lineup. He’s all fired up about it. He’s healthy and he’s real anxious, I can’t wait to get him out there.”
Rawls has just four yards on five carries this season for the Seahawks, all coming against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2. Rawls missed some time during the preseason due to a high-ankle sprain. While he had 161 yards and a touchdown in a playoff game against the Detroit Lions in January, he had been unable to unseat Carson for playing time.
“It’s a part of the game,” Rawls said. “The only thing you can do is control what you can do — that’s come out and work hard, practice hard, and continue to be a leader. And whenever you get these opportunities, they’re so valuable, because you never know how long you’ll play this game. I know I’m grateful for that just to be here and have this opportunity.”
The Seahawks shuffled through 12 different running backs last season trying to find capable ball carriers as Rawls and C.J. Prosise dealt with significant injuries. Seattle feels they’re better positioned this season in the wake of Carson’s injury.
“I just feel fortunate with the guys that we have. That was one of the positions that we felt was a position of strength for us,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said.