A day after his team's Week 8 loss in New Orleans, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said his football team has "a lot of work to do," ranging from cutting down their penalty numbers to getting the offense on track. Another goal this week is to use an extra day off to get healthier ahead of a Monday night game against the Buffalo Bills.

In terms of injuries, the Seahawks will still be without a few key players against the Bills, including defensive end Michael Bennett, who will have arthroscopic knee surgery in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Carroll said the hope is to have Bennett back in two or three weeks, though they'll know more after the surgery happens.

"We're going to stay really positive and say two to three (weeks)," Carroll said. "That's what they told us right off the bat, and we'll know more Wednesday afternoon."

Second-year defensive end Frank Clark started in Bennett's against the Saints place and played well, but Carroll noted there is no replacing Bennett and what he can bring to the defense.

"You can't replace Mike Bennett," Carroll said. "He's a special player. He's got so many things in him that you can't predict, unusual play-making and the problems he gives an opponent, he's a unique player. Frank did a nice job and was active filling in for him, but Mikey, he's the real deal. There's a reason why he's such a renowned player, and you miss some of that."

Carroll said left tackle Bradley Sowell has a chance to get back this week after missing Sunday's game with a knee sprain.  

"He did work out prior to the game and was very close, so he has a chance," Carroll said. "Really it will be day-to-day, but he has a chance to get back."

Rookie George Fant had a few penalties early in the game while making his first career start in place of Sowell, but once he settled into the game, Carroll said, "For his first game, it was impressive."

Quarterback Russell Wilson continues to get healthier while playing through multiple injuries. Carroll said they limited Wilson's throwing due to the pectoral injury sustained during Seattle's Week 8 game at Arizona, but he doesn't expect that injury to carry over into this week.

As for Wilson's knee and ankle injuries, Carroll noted that Wilson looked to be moving better this week, pointing out a few times that Wilson looked good throwing on the run.

"It shows us the signs that we're getting better," Carroll said. "He's really improving."

Carroll said Wilson no longer having to wear an ankle brace helped the quarterback feel more comfortable.  

"It just feels limited," Carroll said. "He would tell you it's cumbersome… You feel like you're carrying a lot of extra weight. It's not that heavy, but it just feels cumbersome and there's a sense of that. He was really pleased he made it through without that. He felt better, he looked better during the week of practice moving around as well, and he came out of the game without getting nicked at all any one of the multiple areas that we're concerned about. That's a real positive and we're fired up to see him come back this week and get back after it."

Running back Thomas Rawls won't make it back for this week's game against the Bills, but he continues to make progress and "ran really well today," Carroll said. "He had his first really vigorous, full-speed workout on the practice field and it went well. Now it's how he responds to that, how hard he comes back, and how hard we can continue to condition him to get him right. That was a really good sign. What that means? I don't know that, but this was the best he has been, and he ran full speed for the first time today."

Safety Kam Chancellor has missed the past three games with an ankle injury, and whether or not this is the week he gets back remains to be seen.

"We're not going to know here until we get through this week," Carroll said. "Unfortunately it has just been a lingering problem, and we've got to see if we can get through it. He's close, he's got full strength and all of that, but we've got to get him through and ensure that he's back. We don't want to just barely make it back, we've got to make it back where he stays back, so we'll be careful with that. We'll see what happens, and we won't know until late in the week."

Tight end Luke Willson has a chance to make it back this week after missing only two games following arthroscopic knee surgery, but his status likely won't be known until late in the week.

"Luke is coming around," Carroll said. "He ran today and he has said Buffalo, he's going to try to do that. We'll see what happens. That's an amazing accomplishment if he can pull that off. We'll see."

Defensive tackle Tony McDaniel left Sunday's game with an ankle injury, but Carroll said McDaniel could have returned late in the game: "The trainers feel like he's going to be fine."