RENTON — Seattle Seahawks center Max Unger and defensive end Red Bryant will miss Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons due to concussions sustained last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Unger and Bryant were officially ruled out by the Seahawks on Friday.
“Those guys will not go,” head coach Pete Carroll said. “They’re not going to play. We’re going to take care of them this week and have them ready for next week, hopefully.”
It’s the third time this season Seattle will be without three starters along their offensive line. Russell Okung is ineligible to play while on the short-term injured reserve list and Breno Giacomini isn’t expected to play while working back from knee surgery.
Lemuel Jeanpierre will get the start at center in place of Unger while Michael Bennett will likely play for Bryant.
Carroll said both Okung and Giacomini received a greater workload in practice Friday as they work back from their injuries. Okung has been on injured reserve since Week 2 with a sprained toe. Giacomini has been out since Week 3 with a knee injury that required surgery. The target is for both Okung and Giacomini to be available next week against Minnesota.
“We’ll go into next week with them practicing on Wednesday and we’ll expect to see, if they can handle it, that they would play,” Carroll said.
Carroll wouldn’t rule out Giacomini possibly being available in a reserve role Sunday but he’s listed as doubtful for the game.
Receiver Percy Harvin didn’t practice again this week but is continuing to progress from hip surgery in August. Carroll said they hope he can return to practice next week and signs are good he’s closing in on his return to the field.
“All of the signs are really encouraging,” Carroll said. “He feels good. He’s not having any issues after he works out the next day so I think we’ve built up enough days here to take a real good positive step. I don’t know what that means in terms of playing next week but we’re hoping he’ll be able to get some extra work and really jump back into it.”
Harvin has to be activated to Seattle’s 53-man roster by Tuesday from the physically unable to perform list.
Defensive tackle Jordan Hill has also been ruled out after missing the entire week of practice with a strained biceps.
