Seahawks begin preparations for Bears. Who will play running back? | Notebook

RENTON — There was no rest for the weary Seahawks on Monday. A day after a deflating 27-24 loss to the Vikings that boiled their playoff hopes down to hoping the Cardinals can beat the Rams on Saturday night, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald and his staff got to work preparing for a game Thursday night in Chicago against the Bears. Because so much of the Seahawks' fate rests on tiebreakers associated with the Rams and needing them to lose to Arizona — and needing to beat L.

A. the following week — the game with the Bears doesn’t have a lot of meaning by itself. While Macdonald acknowledged that the Seahawks losing control of their destiny “stings," he said it won’t affect the team’s approach to the game against the Bears (4-11), who have lost nine in a row.



“It doesn’t change anything," Macdonald said during his weekly day-after-game news conference Monday afternoon. “It really doesn’t change your mentality, your approach. It won’t change with our guys.

Not worried about that one bit.’’ The bigger issue, he said, is navigating the challenge of a short week and the Christmas holiday. Players had Monday off, other than for treatment of injuries, with the coaches using the day to prepare a game plan.

The Seahawks will practice Tuesday and Wednesday before flying to Chicago. They usually travel two days before a game in the Central or Eastern time zones, but they are accommodating for the short week. Macdonald said that it might be the best for the team’s psyche and moving past a difficult defeat in which the Seahawks had the Vikings (13-2) on the ropes before letting a late lead slip away.

“I guess the best gift you can get after a tough loss like that is an opportunity to move forward on a short week and get going,’’ he said. “So [we] altered the short week schedule a little bit." Macdonald also addressed a few other issues.

Here’s a recap: Running back Kenneth Walker III left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury and didn’t return. He was listed as not being able to practice if the team had practiced Monday in the report the team had to release by NFL rules. “No updates right now on him,’’ Macdonald said.

“But getting a test done. We’ll have a good idea of what it looks like over the next day or two.’’ Zach Charbonnet played 14 snaps backing up Walker after dealing with an oblique injury last week.

He also was on the injury report Monday as limited with an elbow issue. Macdonald indicated Charbonnet will be OK for Thursday. “Seemed like he was limited during the game, but signs are positive with Zach right now,’’ Macdonald said.

That means Charbonnet likely starts if Walker can’t go, backed up by Kenny McIntosh. While there was lots to lament in the wake of the loss, Macdonald said on his radio show on Seattle Sports 710 that a sack taken by Geno Smith when the Seahawks had a first-and-10 at Minnesota’s 37 with 3:04 left “was probably our worst play of the game as a whole offensive operation." Macdonald didn’t assess any specific blame other than to say, “That’s one where we have to be better in that moment, really for everybody involved.

’’ The Seahawks, who trailed 27-24, gained only 1 yard on the ensuing two plays, which forced them into a decision facing fourth-and-15 at the 42 at the two-minute warning. The Seahawks had the time out to think about it before opting for a 60-yard field goal attempt by Jason Myers, which came up a few yards short. Macdonald said the next option would have been to punt and try to pin the Vikings back and use their two remaining time outs to get the ball back.

“We would have had faith in our defense to go get a stop,’’ he said. Macdonald said he felt like the decision to let Myers kick is what would have “helped us win the game the most. .

.. That’s a tough ask of (Myers), but the guy’s a gamer, man, a competitor.

He wanted a crack at it, so we gave it to him.’’ Macdonald said he wouldn’t go into detail to assess blame on specific plays, including the two interceptions thrown by Geno Smith. Smith’s picks included one thrown in the direction of DK Metcalf from their own 12-yard-line with 55 seconds left.

The pass seemed like one made out of desperation as Smith was under pressure and with no timeouts, a sack would have been disastrous. Vikings safety Theo Jackson said he was “just as surprised as you all were’’ that Smith threw the ball his way. “We were in two-high.

I saw him throw it and I was kind of confused myself as to why he threw it,’’ Jackson said. “I’m going to catch the ones he throws to me.’’ Smith threw for 314 yards, completing 31 of 43 passes and tied a season-high with three touchdown, and Macdonald praised his overall play.

“He did some really great things,’’ Macdonald said. “You know, if we get a stop when we're up four in the end of the fourth quarter, we're having a different conversation right now. Everybody wants to talk about the interceptions and rightfully so, and those are things that we're working through, but I mean, one of the reasons that we're here with life, like I said last night, is I really felt that Geno's helped put us in this position.

So, I thought he played a strong game.".