The Seahawks could be without one starter for a couple of weeks, with right guard D.J. Fluker sidelined by a hamstring injury, but they also welcome back a potential impact player this week with linebacker Mychal Kendricks returning from suspension.

Fluker, who left Sunday's win over the San Francisco 49ers with a hamstring injury, is "going to be a little bit." Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "So we'll have to wait and see how he does. He's pretty sore today."

Carroll added, "It's basically a first-degree strain, so we'll see how that works. That's a couple of weeks, usually. We'll see what happens, I don't know if he can do better than that or not. We'll see."

With Fluker sidelined, the Seahawks will likely turn to Jordan Simmons, Carroll said, noting that Simmons again played well in Fluker's place after taking over late in the game. Simmons made his first career start in Seattle’s Week 10 loss at the Los Angeles Rams, helping pave the way for a season-high 273-yard rushing performance.  

"Jordan jumped in the game and did a nice job this week, again, and he seems to be moving in the right direction to be a really viable option for us," Carroll said. "He didn'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. So we're going to count on him playing and see how that goes."

Carroll said second-year guard Ethan Pocic will also factor in the competition there.  

Chris Carson also left the game early with a dislocated finger, but Carroll said the running back should be OK to play this week.

"He came out fine in the game other than his finger, and he should be OK," Carroll said. "He should be able to play."

The Seahawks are also expecting to have defensive tackle Shamar Stephen (foot) and fullback Tre Madden (chest) back this week after they missed Sunday's game, presuming they get through the practice week OK.

"They still have to go do it, but both of those guys are slated to come back and be practicing on Thursday, which is a Wednesday," Carroll said.

Running back C.J. Prosise, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday, will have surgery to repair his abdomen injury.

Linebacker K.J. Wright returned to Seattle over the weekend after being out of town last week for treatment on his injured knee, but his status going forward still isn't known.

"Nothing yet," Carroll said. "He had a very successful week of rehab; the procedures that he went through. We're hoping that he'll be able to get going. He has not done a lot of running yet, that has not been part of the process. So this week starts the conditioning stuff back. I don't know how much he'll get to do this week, we'll just have to see how he feels, and I don't know that yet."

While Wright's status remains unclear, the Seahawks will be getting help at linebacker this week with Kendricks eligible to return from suspension. Kendricks was added to the 53-man roster on Monday, with Emmanuel Ellerbee being waived to make room on the roster.  

Kendricks appeared in three games earlier this season prior to his suspension, starting two at weakside linebacker. Kendricks, who recorded 15 tackles, 2.0 sacks and one pass defensed in those games, was able to practice the past two weeks to get up to speed.   

"Mychal has been with us for two weeks, and he's ready to go," Carroll said. "Like I told you last week, he was preparing on the (scout team) defense like he was playing a game, and he took it very seriously. He was very effective in a short amount of time when he played for us before, and we're anxious to get him back out there. He's really hungry to get out and do something to help us."  

Carroll said Kendricks is in good enough shape to be "ready to go" if called upon to play a big role in Monday's game against the Vikings: "He practiced really hard the last two weeks, he stayed in shape going into it, and he looked great in the last two weeks, so we don't have any hesitation that he can play a full game."