{"id":30909,"date":"2015-12-17T09:02:44","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T17:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/seattle-re-signs-christine-michael\/"},"modified":"2015-12-17T09:02:44","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T17:02:44","slug":"seattle-re-signs-christine-michael","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/seattle-re-signs-christine-michael\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle re-signs Christine Michael"},"content":{"rendered":"

RENTON, Wash. \u2014<\/strong> The Seattle Seahawks\u2019 search for a primary running back until Marshawn Lynch returns took an unexpected twist Wednesday.<\/p>\n

After being traded away to Dallas at the end of training camp and seemingly falling out of favor in Seattle, Christine Michael was welcomed back by the Seahawks, who signed the former second-round pick after he was released from Washington\u2019s practice squad Tuesday.<\/p>\n

It was an unexpected move but emphasized the situation the Seahawks find themselves in. With Lynch still sidelined after abdominal surgery last month and Thomas Rawls lost for the season to a broken ankle, Seattle was simply out of options.<\/p>\n

So they are turning to the combination of Michael, Bryce Brown and potentially fullback Derrick Coleman to fill the spot for at least this week against Cleveland and presumably until Lynch returns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe familiarity and the background that he (Michael) has gives him a chance to help us,\u201d coach Pete Carroll said. \u201cWe always saw him as an explosive player so we\u2019ll see how that works out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The running back position will be unsettled at least until Lynch gets back. The only certainty in the backfield is veteran Fred Jackson, but at age 34 and with a handful of lingering injuries, he has not appeared capable of handling 20 attempts per game. Carroll said the intent is to keep Jackson as the third-down back as he\u2019s been for most of the year.<\/p>\n

Brown, Michael and Coleman will all get reps in practice this week. Offensive line coach Tom Cable said his preference is that two of the three become the primary ball carries on Sunday against the Browns.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting them all prepared I think is the right way and then when we get to Sunday we\u2019ll figure it out,\u201d Cable said.<\/p>\n

Even with what Russell Wilson has shown in recent weeks as a passer, the Seahawks will always try to be a team that is built off the run game.<\/p>\n

Seattle has run for at least 100 yards as a team in 24 straight games. Even with the performances Wilson has had during the past four games, Seattle\u2019s still been leaning on the run. Seattle had 255 yards rushing in Week 11 vs. San Francisco; 100 yards in Week 12 vs. Pittsburgh; 173 yards in Week 13 at Minnesota; and 123 yards last Sunday at Baltimore.<\/p>\n

And just because Seattle lacks an established running option right now, don\u2019t expect Wilson to carry it more often. If anything, with what he\u2019s shown of late, Seattle may lean more on the pass game if the run game isn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe effectiveness of the run game is a big deal,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cI talk about it to you guys all the time. It\u2019s a big deal to fitting things together and causing the defense to have to deal with us in a certain manner. That\u2019s why we\u2019re so committed because we have a real sense for what that means.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision to bring Brown back Tuesday \u2014 after the team released DuJuan Harris \u2014 was an expected response. Brown has spent two previous stints with Seattle earlier this season, giving him some familiarity with the offense. Brown was inactive for both games while he was previously on Seattle\u2019s active roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly didn\u2019t think I would be back here this year,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Michael said \u201chumbling\u201d is a word he\u2019s used often to describe this season. After getting beat out by Rawls for Seattle\u2019s backup spot in training camp, Michael was rarely used in Dallas. He was active for five games and had just 51 yards on 15 carries. After being released by the Cowboys in late November, Michael latched on with the Washington practice squad.<\/p>\n

Michael was drafted by Seattle in 2013 with the idea that he could eventually be Lynch\u2019s replacement but never matched the potential he flashed at Texas A&M. Michael had 52 carries for 254 yards in his two seasons with Seattle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just have to evaluate myself. I just have to do things right and come here with a good mindset, come here focused like these other guys are and come in here and work,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RENTON, Wash. \u2014 The Seattle Seahawks\u2019 search for a primary running back until Marshawn Lynch returns took an unexpected twist Wednesday. After being traded away to Dallas at the end of training camp and seemingly falling out of favor in Seattle, Christine Michael was welcomed back by the Seahawks, who signed the former second-round pick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-30909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30909\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30909"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=30909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}