"He felt a little sharp pain in the game that didn't go away," coach Pete Carroll said Monday. "He has overcome so much and he's done such a tremendous job to get to this point that he has just been busting through, but something did pop up here that bothered him enough where he couldn't finish the game."

Carpenter has undergone X-rays as well as a magnetic-resonance image (MRI) test though Carroll didn't specify what was wrong nor a timetable for his return.

"The early indications, there's nothing major wrong," Carroll said. "It's just it's still uncomfortable for him."

If Carpenter is not available, John Moffitt would start at left guard with rookie J.R. Sweezy -- who has been inactive the past two months -- moving into a backup role.

Receiver Sidney Rice will be evaluated this week as if he is recovering from a concussion though Carroll was careful not to say that's what he was diagnosed with after he absorbing a hit on the game's final play.

"I don't know if they're calling it that," Carroll said when asked if Rice suffered a concussion, "but we're going through those precautions."

That means Rice will be evaluated on Wednesday before he begins practicing, will be limited in his first day back at practice and then -- if no concussion symptoms recur -- he will be cleared for full practice.

"He's going to go through the process," Carroll said. "We want to be very careful and make sure we know what we're doing so he'll go through the whole sequence of tests and stuff, and probably, we will determine on Wednesday where he is, and for Thursday's practice."

Linebacker Leroy Hill has a chance to return this week after missing last week's game with an ankle injury though Carroll said he wouldn't be surprised if cornerback Marcus Trufant wasn't ready to return after suffering a pulled hamstring last week.