Seahawks coach Carroll: Lynch is ready to go

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll believes star running back Marshawn Lynch is "ready to go" for Sunday's NFL wild-card play-off game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Lynch returned to team practice on Monday, having been rehabbing in San Francisco since undergoing abdominal surgery on November 26.

The five-time Pro Bowl running back only managed to suit up for seven games this season and has not played since November 15 but Carroll feels Lynch is a lock to return to the field this weekend.

"He's ready to go," Carroll said. "He's in the program, going, working, and he's going to keep doing his workouts here with us today and tomorrow. And Wednesday, we're going to practice and see how he feels and how far he can take it.

"He's worked out in incredibly competitive situations. He, physically, should be ready to go, but now we've got to translate it into football and directly to us.

"I'm not worried about him having any problem with the system or any of that kind of stuff. It's been a while, but he'll be fine. So we'll just see if he can handle it and expect that he will."

Lynch finished the regular season with just 417 yards on 111 carries, but Carroll believes he will be ready for a full workload at TCF Bank Stadium in Minnesota.

"I think so, yeah," he said. "This is similar to the first game of the year, really, is what it would be like. So we don't have any different expectations than that. So we're going in with the same thought.

"We've been around him for such a long time that we're going to be able to recognize his movement. That's all we really want to see — that he can get in and out of his breaks and do the things that he always can do and that he can withstand the workload and all of that."

The Seahawks will face off against the one-loss Carolina Panthers in the NFC divisional round if they defeat the Vikings on the road.