The Seattle Seahawkswon an ugly game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday without much help from their pass rush.
Outside of a single sack from linebacker O'Brien Schofield, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was hit just three times by a defense that now has to prepare for Sunday night's NFC West showdown with the San Francisco 49ers. Help is on the way.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Monday that Cliff Avril has "a great chance" to make his Seattle debut after nursing a hamstring injury that knocked him out of the preseason and sidelined him for the Panthers tilt, per John Boyle of the Everett Herald.
Carroll also acknowledged that Chris Clemons has been making strides, according to SeattlePI.com. The defensive end is practicing again this week after offseason surgery to repair a torn ACL that was suffered in the playoffs. We anticipate that Clemons will appear as questionable on Wednesday's injury report, but Seattle went out of its way to list him as a starter on the depth chart.
We won't see the Seahawks' defense at full power until Avril and Clemons suit up, and Bruce Irvin returns from his four-game suspension. With that trio back in the mix, Seattle will ride with the nastiest gang of pass rushers west of Detroit.
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