His shoulder had something to say about it.

"Initially, we thought with a few weeks, I would be able to strengthen it and play like normal," Carlson said. "As we went along that process, it didn't come along like we wanted it to so the decision was kind of made by my shoulder. It kind of resolved itself by not coming along as far as we wanted it to."

So Carlson will undergo shoulder surgery repair an injured labrum and miss this season. Coach Pete Carroll disclosed the plans for surgery on Tuesday, but Carlson wasn't available to comment until Wednesday.

"I'm disappointed obviously," he said. "It felt like I had a great offseason of training."

The injury occurred in practice on Aug. 13, two days after he played in the exhibition opener at San Diego. He suffered the injury during a passing drill in which he was matched up with a defender.

"I dove for a ball in one-on-ones," Carlson said. "And I think the initial injury was there, and then later in practice, I aggravated it blocking."

The Seahawks signed Zach Miller as an unrestricted free agent at the beginning of August to be the starter, but they expected to deploy Miller and Carlson together.

Carlson, 27, is entering the fourth and final years of his rookie contract with the Seahawks. He caught 55 passes in 2008, 51 in 2009. Those are the two largest single-season receiving totals of any tight end in franchise history. He caught 31 passes last season, and the Seahawks had hoped to find more ways to utilize Carlson in the passing game this season even after the addition of Miller.

"Obviously, very disappointed," Carlson said of the injury, "but that's where my shoulder is. I need to get it fixed and start the rehab process."

Notes

• WR Sidney Rice (shoulder) and WR Ben Obomanu (head) did not practice Wednesday. Neither finished practice on Tuesdsay because of injuries.

• DE Dexter Davis (hip), DE Chris Clemons (ankle) and LB Aaron Curry (knee) returned to practice after watching Tuesday's workout. LT Russell Okung took part in some team drills as part of the second-string offensive line. SS Kam Chancellor (foot) took part in individual drills, but was held out of team drills.

• NOT PRACTICING: RB Marshawn Lynch (ankle), WR Mike Williams (undisclosed), WR Isaiah Stanback (hamstring), LB David Hawthorne (knee), DE Pierre Allen (hamstring).