Seahawks: Pete Carroll’s comments on Rashaad Penny are great sign

Pete Carroll is building up Rashaad Penny as the running back returns to full health.

Penny hasn’t played in a full year thanks to a knee injury he suffered last season. Come Week 14, the Seahawks backfield will be as close to full strength as we’ve seen it in a long time, giving Russell Wilson the necessary help to aid his MVP numbers. With a healthy Chris Carson and Penny, the Seahawks will have an explosive one-two punch, and perhaps one of the best rushing attacks in the NFC should the offensive line finally play up to par.

Carroll knows this, and he couldn’t hold back his excitement as Penny returned to practice this week.

“He exceeded our expectations with his movement and his quickness and all of that,” Carroll said, via ESPN. “He’s really in good shape. I don’t know what that means for next week, but he looked as healthy as anybody out there. So we’ll take it one shot at a time here, but very, very positive initial return and I know he’s really jacked about it.”

The Seahawks can’t maintain a one-dimensional approach

Seattle’s loss to the Giants revealed two truths about a team with Super Bowl aspirations. First, the Seahawks’ rush defense leaves much to be desired, and is a potential hole heading into the postseason. Second, their offense runs into a rut without a true threat in the ground game.

With the return of Penny and re-emergence of Carson, the Seahawks have two capable and proven running backs in their backfield, not to mention the veteran presence of Carlos Hyde behind them. Carroll can utilize all three and play to their strengths, while the offense continues to let Russ cook, responsibly of course.

Expect a rejuvenated Seahawks bunch coming off of a tough loss to take out their frustration on the lowly Jets this week. Whether Penny plays a role or not, his presence at practice already seems to have made an impact.