Ravens’ Jimmy Clausen: Held out of end zone in loss to Seahawks

Undrafted rookie running back Thomas Rawls had been the biggest surprise of the season for the Seattle Seahawks.

RB Thomas Rawls suffered a broken ankle with ligament damage on a carry late in the first quarter of Sunday’s 35-6 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

Joe Flacco, who is out for the year with a knee injury, might not be ready for the start of the 2016 season. “Just exemplifies what we’re all about, toughness, and hard-nosed and committed and grit and all that stuff”. “We watch a lot of film together and he helps me out”.

Having a successful run game is crucial because the performance of Wilson has been based around the balance of what Rawls provided.

Carroll said safety Kam Chancellor is “pretty sore” after bruising his tailbone Sunday, and said it’s unlikely he’ll practice Wednesday.

DuJuan Harris is the next man up in Seattle. DuJuan Harris carried 18 times in place of Rawls against the Ravens on Sunday only to be released on Tuesday. Fullback Derrick Coleman could also be used in a backup role.

In the meantime, the Seahawks still lead the league in rushing, and Carroll won’t change his approach even with Seattle’s top two backs out.

The Seahawks ultimately did take a 14-3 lead after rookie running back Buck Allen, who was essentially running out the clock, fumbled the ball on the Ravens 14-yard line with less than a minute to go in the second quarter. Given that he has only been in this locker room and reading this playbook for about two weeks now, Clausen going 23 of 40 for 274 yards shows that the young quarterback might have something worthy of a second look.

Coach Pete Carroll said they are not going to alter their traditional run/pass balance, no matter who is getting the snaps at running back. “We liked the work that he did. We’ll get back to the drawing board and correct those things before it happens to us again”.

Carroll said Jackson will remain the team’s third-down back for pass catching and pass blocking. There are still three games left, including home matchups against the Browns and Rams the next two weeks. Luckily for them, Russell Wilson has never played better. Only 15 times in franchise history has a player had nine receiving touchdowns in an entire season prior to this year.

Asked why Lynch is not rehabbing at the team facility, Carroll added, “Just think it’s best”. At the moment there is no timeline on when Lynch is expected to be able to return.

Wilson finished Sunday with 292 yards and five touchdowns on just 32 pass attempts.

Russell Wilson has been nothing short of flawless in his recent games. His 26 touchdown passes on the season matches his career high, set in both 2012 and 2013.

Rawls left the locker room on a golf cart with his left foot in a boot after the game. Obviously, he was teammates with Fred Jackson in Buffalo. Seahawks speedster Tyler Lockett caught the other two touchdown passes from Wilson and ended the game with six catches for 104 yards.

Right now, Seattle’s focus is their current lineup.

Rawls had already rushed for 47 yards on Seattle’s opening drive before his legs were caught under Baltimore Ravens defensive end Christ Canty during a tackle.