Seahawks RB Lynch practices, but no guarantee he will play

renton, wash.» Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch was set to practice Wednesday, but coach Pete Carroll cautioned that was no indication whether he would play in the NFC divisional playoff game at Carolina on Sunday.

Carroll said during his news conference that Lynch would be evaluated daily going forward to determine his availability for Sunday’s game. Carroll said he can feel that Lynch is “encouraged” to go for it this week.

Seattle was expecting Lynch to play last week against Minnesota before he made the late decision not to travel with the team to Minneapolis. Carroll said Lynch did not have a setback and just believed he wasn’t ready to go.

Lynch has not played since Week 10 against Arizona, missing the past eight games with an abdomen injury.

Panthers get healthy B charlotte, n.c.» Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera said running back Jonathan Stewart, wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. and safety Kurt Coleman will play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC divisional playoffs.

All three starters participated fully in practice Wednesday.

“Those guys got a lot of good work in and (the bye week) served its purpose,” Rivera said.

Getting Stewart back will be a huge plus for the Panthers against the league’s No. 1-ranked run defense.

Stewart ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns in Carolina’s 27-23 win over Seattle on Oct. 18.

The Pro Bowl running back ran for 989 yards and six touchdowns before injuring his foot in Week 14 and missed the final three weeks of the regular season. Still, Carolina stretched its string of consecutive 100yard rushing games to 27 without him.

The Panthers have the No. 2-ranked ground game.