Report: Agent says Marshawn Lynch 'had a little setback'

Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch will not play in the wild-card game at Minnesota on Sunday because "he had a little setback," his agent told The Seattle Times on Saturday.

Lynch had practiced all week but was surprisingly declared out Friday night, and agent Doug Hendrickson told the Times it was because he suffered "a little tweak" to his surgically repaired abdomen during practice Friday.

Hendrickson denied speculation that Lynch has some kind of problem with coach Pete Carroll or the front office.

"There is zero friction between him and the team," Hendrickson said. "That's completely wrong. If there was friction between him and the team, he wouldn't have shown up to practice. So that's completely false."

Hendrickson said Lynch did not travel with the team because it made more sense to stay in Seattle.

"The thought was -- instead of traveling, go all the way there, stand on the sideline in zero-degree temperatures and then fly back -- you are better served having rehab and getting ready and hopefully they win and he gets back (next week). That's all there was to it.

"He's going to rehab this weekend and hope to hell they win and he gets back next week."

Lynch has not played since Nov. 15 against Arizona, and he has been recovering from abdominal surgery performed Nov. 25. He returned to the team on Monday and had practiced all week. Carroll told KIRO Radio on Friday morning that Lynch would play Sunday. But Lynch was listed as questionable for the game after practice Friday, and Carroll backtracked on the statement, saying only that he was "very optimistic" Lynch would play.

"He's questionable," Carroll said. "We've got to go tomorrow and make sure he's OK after today -- that same old thing. We just want to see how he's taking to the week's work and all of that. He looked good during the week and did some really good stuff, but we'll just use all of the time that we have available."

Hendrickson said Saturday: "He's been busting his ass these last two weeks to get back, been killing himself to get back. He gets back this week to practice and it's just at the point where he wasn't 100 percent ready to go. ... He wasn't able to go and 100 percent cut and run and do all the things he's supposed to do. And the hope is they win and he's back next week."

With Lynch out, the Seahawks will continue to rely on a round-robin running attack of Christine Michael, Bryce Brown and Fred Jackson.