Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Monday that running back Chris Carson has a first-degree knee strain, and he took issue with the play that caused the injury.
Carson was hurt Sunday in the fourth quarter of the Seahawks' 38-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys when defensive tackle Trysten Hill executed what's known as a gator-roll tackle. He brought down Carson from behind and, with both players on the ground, continued to hold on to the running back's left leg while rolling over. Hill was not penalized on the play.
"Yeah, I was really pissed about that one," Carroll told 710 ESPN Seattle. "I don't know what's going to happen with that, but I was pissed because that guy hurt him, unfortunately."
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy defended Hill on Monday.
"By no means do we want to see a player hurt, but trust me, there was zero intent involved there," McCarthy said.
A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Carson has what's considered a one-to-two-week injury, but the team wants to see how he feels and recovers this week.
"We'll just have to see how that goes," Carroll said.
The Seahawks, 3-0 and atop the NFC West, play at the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, then return home to host the Minnesota Vikings before a bye in Week 6.
Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright also objected to Hill's tackle and called for the NFL to punish him beyond a fine.
In a tweet to the NFL, Wright wrote, "this needs to be addressed ASAP!! Doing dirty dumb malicious s--- like this can end someone's season! This is clearly intentional and getting fined isn't enough. Im all for guys playing hard but I have zero tolerance for this."
Safety Quandre Diggs quoted Wright's tweet and said Hill "should've been thrown out!"
The Seahawks were hit hard by injuries Sunday for the second week in a row. In addition to the injury to Carson, All-Pro safety Jamal Adams (groin) and rookie linebacker Jordyn Brooks (knee) suffered what Carroll called first-degree strains. Rookie right guard Damien Lewis sprained his ankle. Carroll said it isn't a high ankle sprain, and Lewis has a chance to play this weekend.
Carroll said Adams' groin was "really bothering him" postgame.
"He was really bummed out because he wants to play badly, and you can imagine how important it is to him," Carroll said. "But he too had a first-degree strain, so we'll see how that goes, and we'll just ... go day-by-day with that."
Carroll said in his afternoon news conference that he thinks Adams will have a hard time making it back this weekend from his groin strain. Initial indications are that none of the injuries the team suffered Sunday are serious enough to bring injured reserve into play.
Carroll said Carson and center Ethan Pocic "looked really good this morning." Pocic finished Sunday's game with a knee injury, as did left guard Mike Iupati.
"The initial reports we have back from the MRIs and the tests and all like that is that none of the guys that got banged up got banged up seriously where it's going to take a long time. We're gonna have to go through the week and see how it goes, but no surgeries or any of that kind of stuff upcoming at this point. So we might have dodged a bullet a little bit in that," he said.
Brooks, the Seahawks' first-round pick, made his first career start Sunday in place of Bruce Irvin, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 2. The Seahawks lost nickelback Marquise Blair to the same injury in that game.
The Seahawks played Sunday without starting right cornerback Quinton Dunbar (knee) and backup safety Lano Hill (hip), who would be a candidate to start if Adams has to miss time. Carroll said both players, particularly Hill, have a chance to play this week.
"Quinton, we're working on his knee," Carroll said. "We've got to make sure that he bounces back. We'll see how he does. We thought he would make it through the week, and it just didn't improve. He had some treatment and some stuff done that gives him a chance. We'll have to wait and see, though."
ESPN's Todd Archer contributed to this report.