Fluker likely out, Kendricks back for Vikes game

The Seahawks likely will be missing RG D.J. Fluker for the Monday night home game against Minnesota and maybe longer because of a pulled hamstring, but the offense will have back RB Chris Carson despite a finger injury, and the defense will regain the services of LB Mychal Kendricks.

In the Monday update supplied by coach Pete Carroll, Kendricks’ return is probably most important, because despite the 43-16 walloping of the 49ers Sunday, the Seahawks gave up 452 yards to a San Francisco offense operated by third-string QB Nick Mullens.

Carroll claimed he was not dismayed by the stat.

“You guys are looking at 400 yards and you think that tells the story of what’s going on — I’m not worried about that,” Carroll told reporters at his media session. He estimated that missed tackles on three plays, plus a blown assignment that allowed a 75-yard touchdown pass to WR Dante Pettis, cost the Seahawks about 250 yards.

“I’m not satisfied with what it is, but I’m not concerned about it,” he said. “As these guys are growing, it’s taken us awhile to get rid of the miscues that happened in not seeing things exactly the same way like you would like them to.

“It’s unfortunate, but that’s kind of how we are right now. But, 16 points, three turnovers – no, that’s good football.”

Kendricks may replace rookie Austin Calitro (a season-high 10 tackles Sunday), who was replacing veteran K.J. Wright, still rehabbing a sore knee and has yet to resume running.

On offense, Carroll said Fluker, who went down early in the fourth quarter, has a first-degree strain.

“That’s a couple of weeks usually,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. I don’t know if he can do better than that or not.”

Rookie Jordan Simmons, who filled in for the final 10 snaps, will start. He played well, according to Carroll, the last time Fluker was out with injury for the Rams game in Los Angeles, when the Seahawks rushed for a season-high 273 yards.

Simmons, an undrafted free agent cut by the Raiders Sept. 2,  “seems to be moving in the right direction to be a really, really viable option for us,” he said. “He doesn’t get that much practice time, so when he does get the practice time like he did in the Rams week, he did a very good job with it.”

Kendricks has been practicing for two weeks with the team after being suspended for eight games following his conviction for an insider-trading scheme that ended in 2015. He played well for the Seahawks in three games prior to the NFL ordering the suspension.

“We don’t have any hesitation that he can play a full game,’’ Carroll said, “He was very effective in a short amount of time when he played for us before and we are anxious to get him back out there.’’

One player who won’t be out there is RB C.J. Prosise. His miserable health fortunes continue: He was placed on the injured reserve list Saturday, ending his season, because will shortly undergo abdominal surgery, Carroll said. The former third-round draft choice played a single snap this season.

Heading into the final quarter of the season on a three-game win streak, Carroll was close to exuberant. Then again, when isn’t he?

“We’re in a very upbeat mode,” he said. “The fourth quarter is starting, so it’s time to try and finish this thing. We kind of know what we’re trying to do, we’ve got a good feel for it. Now we’ve got to go play good games one week at a time.

“We’ve got to clean things up. We had too many penalties last week. We had some busts that we have got to get rid of on defense. That’s just the process. Keeping your head down and grinding . . . We know that we can win every game and we’re going out to get that done.”