The Seahawks got back to work Monday to start the process of turning things around quickly for a Thursday night game against the 49ers, with players hitting the field late in the day for a walkthrough practice.

Not taking part in Monday's on-field work was quarterback Geno Smith, who left Sunday's loss to the Rams with what Pete Carroll called a contusion on his triceps, but was able to return late in the game to lead Seattle's final drive to set up a game-winning field goal attempt.

Carroll said Smith likely won't do much until Wednesday's practice, but that he has a good chance to play when the Seahawks host the 49ers on Thanksgiving.

"It's going to be a couple of days to make sure that we let him get back and everything quiets down and all of that," Carroll said. "They know the extent of it, there's no structural issue there, but he's got a sore elbow. They're doing everything they can to work through it now. We'll see how it goes.

"We're going to be on the field today in a little bit here, so we'll see where we are. I think we'll really give him a chance to have like a Monday and Tuesday break like guys normally get, and it would be all the way until Wednesday, likely, before he does anything."

Carroll clarified that while Smith is dealing with soreness from the hit, his elbow is not injured, giving him a good chance to make a quick turnaround.

"It's not an elbow injury, so it's just a matter of how sore he is and if we can maintain keeping the swelling down so he has freedom to throw," Carroll said. "He looked great when he went back out there. He's more sore today than he was, but we have a couple of days here that we really think that he's got a great chance to make it back."

Carroll added that he was impressed not just by how Smith played on that final drive, completing passes to Tyler Lockett, Zach Charbonnet and DK Metcalf to give the Seahawks a shot at a game winner, but also with the toughness Smith showed to come back to the game.

"I thought it was awesome," Carroll said. "When I get a chance to address (players in the team meeting), I'm anxious to just point that out. He was banged, that was a heck of a hit that he took, and just to get back out—not just to get back out, but to execute that well, I thought it really impressive."

Updates on Kenneth Walker III and Jerrick Reed II

Smith wasn't the only key player suffered an injury Sunday, with running back Kenneth Walker III exiting with an oblique strain in the first quarter, and with Jerrick Reed II leaving the game with a knee injury.

Carroll said further tests on Walker Monday confirmed that "He's got an oblique strain, and those are the kinds of strains that it takes a while to figure it out," Carroll said. "So we've got to see how he does the next couple of days and see where that leads. We don't know yet."

Asked if Walker could play Thursday, Carroll said, "I don't know that."

Carroll was later asked if Walker was a candidate to land on injured reserve, and said, "Not at this point, no. We need to learn more."

The news was not positive on Reed, with Carroll saying, "He hurt his knee. He definitely hurt his knee, and he's going to miss time. We'll let you know more about it in the next day or so, but he got banged pretty good."

Kenny McIntosh "ready to go" if Walker misses time.

Rookie running back Kenny McIntosh, who opened the season on injured reserve, returned to practice last month and was added to the 53-man roster ahead of Seattle's Week 10 game vs. Washington, but he has been inactive the past two weeks with the Seahawks healthy at the position. If Walker misses time, McIntosh will be ready to jump in and help the offense.

"Kenny Mac is ready to go," Carroll said. "He just didn't have the opportunity yet. He'll go right to the front with this thing, he and Zach (Charbonnet) will be knocking it out with DeeJay (Dallas) until we know (Walker) is back. So McIntosh is ready to go, he needs to be ready to play. He's got really good versatility in his catching ability in the throwing game, he's a scatback, got good quicks, good change of direction, good movement and stuff. You guys haven't had a real good chance to see him yet, but we're really excited about prospects of Kenny getting some shots here. So if that happens, we'll count on him to fill that role for us."

Jamal Adams is "really anxious to play again."

Safety Jamal Adams made it back last month from the torn quadriceps tendon that ended his 2022 season, but he is still dealing with the effects of that injury, and as a result was inactive on Sunday because, as Carroll put it, "He wasn't able to move like he needs to."

The hope is that some extra days off will allow Adams to make it back for Thursday's game.

"We're hoping these next couple of days will really help him," Carroll said. "He's really anxious to play again and get back. It was killing him to not be out there on Sunday, but hopefully these added days here between the last game and this one will give him a chance to get out there."

As for tackle Abraham Lucas, who returned to practice last week, Carroll wasn't sure if a short week will be the time for Lucas to return to game action, saying, "It's not a great week for him develop his way back. We'll see how it goes here, we're going to get him on the field today and do some extra stuff with him after the walkthrough. We'll see where he is."

Penalties are "a big problem" the Seahawks need to fix.

The Seahawks were flagged for 12 penalties for a whopping 130 yards in Sunday's game, and while they didn't agree with every call against them, Carroll knows there are still plenty of things to clean up going forward to keep penalties from hurting the team, as they did Sunday.

"It is a problem, and we've got to do better," he said. "We overcame a good part of the things that we did on both sides of the football, but it still hindered us and kept us from getting all of the points we could get. We missed some touchdown opportunities and had to kick field goals. It's something we're dealing with, we just have to get to everybody's brain and make sure that everybody can make the right decision at the right time. We need to do a better do a job—I need to do a better job at making sure I'm reaching them and making it happen. It'll call for a recommitment today, and guys doing their part to make the right choices and use the right technique at the right time so we stay out of trouble and all of that. It's on everybody."

Finding consistency on offense

The Seahawks opened Sunday's game with a touchdown drive, then added two more field goals on their way to a 13-0 lead, and not coincidentally, they started the game going 4 for 4 on third down, then converted on fourth and short the first time they didn't convert on third. That great start wasn't sustainable, however, with the Seahawks managing just a single field goal in the second half, and one conversion on their final 11 third downs after that 4 for 4 start.

"It seems like we're losing our momentum on third downs for some reason," Carroll said.

Sunday's loss was not the first time this season the Seahawks have looked good on offense early before slowing down in the second half, and Carroll said fixing that issue requires more sustained success on third down. 

"It just seems like we have not sustained—we ran the ball 16 times in the first half, and we ran the ball five times in the second half, and it goes right back to when we're converting, it changes everything," he said. "It seems like a broken record about the third down thing, but it seems to follow that. We need to execute better there so that we can mix our game the way we like to. That would get us back to the kind of continuity that we want."