Pete Carroll talks about where the Seahawks are through four games.

by Curtis Crabtree
KJR reporter
Twitter: @Curtis_Crabtree

RENTON - DT Brandon Mebane is probable and expected to play against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Mebane was held out of practice on Thursday with a sore calf. Mebane has dealt with calf injuries in the past as he's missed games in 2009 and 2010 with calf issues. Mebane was able to fully participate in practice Friday and head coach Pete Carroll expects him to be able to play.

"Mebane made it back and he's in good shape," Carroll said.

Mebane had his best game of the season last week in a 19-13 loss at St. Louis. Mebane overwhelmed Rams C Robert Turner and was constantly in the backfield as he racked up five tackles with two for loss.

CB Marcus Trufant returned to limited participation in practice on Friday after missing two days of practice this week with a sore back. Trufant has also dealt with back issues the past few seasons. Carroll said he will be a gametime decision against the Panthers.

DT Jaye Howard was downgraded to out and will not play Sunday with a foot injury. He has yet to be active for a game this season. G John Moffitt is also out with a knee injury.

The Panthers on the other hand will likely be missing two key contributors on defense. LB Jon Beason (knee) and CB Chris Gamble (shoulder) both are listed as doubtful for Sunday's game.

With Seattle's struggles on third down the past two weeks, the team focused on third down situations heavily in practice this week.

"I thought that we were quicker with the football. Very decisive. We'll see if that carries over but we had a really strong week in terms of emphasis there like we said we said we going to. It seemed like it worked out okay but we won't know until we play," Carroll said.

Carroll also looked back on the first quarter of the season. He said they didn't make the progress they'd like to have made through the first four games but that he does expect this team to improve exponentially going forward.

"We're this close to being on point," Carroll said.

"I think we've made good progress. I think we're close to being really good and we'll see if we can make a turn here. We stand to really improve during the season. If we stay together and we keep working hard at it, we're going to get better because we're so young and we saw great improvement last year. ...Now we need to hope that translates into more wins as we get going in the second quarter (of the season)."

Injury Report:

Carolina Panthers

Out

G/C Mike Pollak (shoulder) - DNP

Doubtful

LB Jon Beason (knee) - DNP
CB Chris Gamble (shoulder) - DNP

Questionable

G/C Geoff Hangartner (knee) - DNP

Probable

DE Antwan Applewhite (knee) - FP
DE Frank Alexander (back) - FP
S Colin Jones (shoulder) - FP

Seattle Seahawks

Out

G John Moffitt (knee) - DNP
DT Jaye Howard (foot) - DNP

Questionable

CB Marcus Trufant (back) - LP

Probable

RB Marshawn Lynch (rest) - FP
DT Brandon Mebane (calf) - FP