With their top two linebackers out this week because of injuries, the Seahawks signed former Philadelphia Eagles starter Mychal Kendricks this week, and despite limited practice time with his new team, Kendricks is expected to be on the field when the Seahawks play the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
"He's going to play," Carroll said. "The background that he has and the instincts that he has, and he has been coached really well over the years, he really has a chance to pick it up really quickly and get in there and help us. He had three really good days and studied like crazy with the coaches, and he's ready to help us out."
Kendricks was released by the Cleveland Browns prior to the start of the season after he pleaded guilty to insider trading, but Carroll said that after digging into the matter, the Seahawks felt like Kendricks is someone deserving of a second chance.
"We had done a lot of homework on it, and it happened four and a half years ago, so it's a story that has been worked on for a long time, a lot of good information," Carroll said. "We have come to learn who he is and what he's all about and how remorseful he was, and how he admitted to his mistake a long time ago. He paid the money back, he did all of the right things along the way, and the process continues, but we just checked everything we could possibly check out, and he's a guy who deserves a second chance."
Kendricks said that the past couple of weeks have "been pretty hard, it has been very hard. But I'll overcome this, just like I've overcome other obstacles in my life. But I'm very blessed to have this opportunity, and I'll treat it as such. And football is helping me a lot."
As for being ready to play for a new team on short notice, Kendricks said he is "as ready as I can be with two days (of practice). But it's football, it's a game I've played since I was a little boy, and there's a lot I've learned in my seven years as a pro, so I'm going to take that knowledge and use it in the game if I get a chance to play.
"There's a lot of crossover, a lot of carryover from what we did with the Eagles, so the transition is good. It's just terminology as of right now."
