Prosise returns to Seahawks practice; Reece iffy

Rookie RB C.J. Prosise, out since breaking a shoulder blade Nov. 20 against the Eagles, is returning to practice this week, according to coach Pete Pete Carroll on his weekly radio show Monday on 710 ESPN.

Carroll said he would wait to see whether Prosise will be ready for the divisional-round playoff game in Atlanta at 1:35 p.m. Saturday.

“We don’t know how he’ll respond to the practice, but he is going to go,” he said. “We would love to have him back. We’ll have no problem fitting him in.”

In an injury-pickled rookie season, Prosise has show flashes of substantial talent. In six games that included two starts, he averaged 5.7 yards on 30 rushes, including a 72-yard touchdown. He also had 17 catches for 208 yards.

But the backfield may take a loss too.

FB Marcel Reece, who was praised by Carroll for his blocking ahead of RB Thomas Rawls in the 26-6 win over Detroit Saturday, injured a foot in the game.

Reece’s foot was stepped on, but no break occurred, and he finished the game, Carroll said. He was indefinite about Reece’s availability for Saturday. The Seahawks have no other fullback on the roster after Will Tukuafu was placed on injured reserve after a concussion.

Reece, a former Washington Huskies receiver who played eight seasons in Oakland before his release, has impressed Carroll.

“He’s really a consistent, smart player,” Carroll said. “One of the big deals about the fullback position is fitting right. The fullback actually runs the play for the tailback. The tailback reads off of the fullback when he’s leading him. So whatever cuts he makes, the tailback follows, then creates from there.

“The old-style fullback of just bloodying the guy’s nose, that’s part of it, but that’s not the most important. We need to fit on the correct guy so we’ve covered up the right defender, then the running back takes off from there. (Also) he’s a good pass catcher, he moves well, he has good instincts about the passing game.”

The only other health concern on the 53-man roster is DT Tony McDaniel, who missed the playoff game with a concussion. He remains in the concussion protocol for now.

Richard interviewed for vacant Bills coaching job

Seahawks defensive coordinator Kris Richard, 37, interviewed with the Buffalo Bills Sunday to succeed fired coach Rex Ryan.  The club released the names of all their candidates here.

Ryan was fired after the Bill were 7-8 and was 15-16 in his two seasons. The Bills have been out of the playoffs since 1999, the NFL’s longest drought.

Richard has been the DC for two seasons after succeeding Dan Quinn, who is now coach of the Falcons. In a 26-24 win at the Clink in October, Richard’s defense held the Falcons to 362 yards of offense, well below their league average of 415.8, second highest in the NFL.

Another assistant coach, Tom Cable, will be interviewed next week for the 49ers’ vacancy after the firing of coach Chip Kelly, who was speculated to be among the candidates to succeed Sonny Dykes at Cal.

Dykes was fired Monday after four years and a 19-30 record. After getting a contract extension a year ago, Dykes openly entertained interest from schools with vacancies, which did not sit well with athletics director Mike Williams.

“We want someone who is committed to the university long term,” Williams said. Dykes is owed $5.88 million on the balance of his contract to a university athletics department that has been operating in the red for several years.