Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Kam Chancellor must decide on his future after suffering a season-ending neck injury.
Carroll confirmed Monday during an interview with 710 ESPN Seattle that Chancellor won't play again this season and said the star safety faces a decision for 2018 and beyond.
"The future is really again up to Kam," Carroll said. "He does what he wants to do with that. He'll tell you what he wants to tell you about it."
Chancellor, 29, has missed Seattle's past two games after injuring his neck against Arizona in Week 10. ESPN and the NFL Network reported earlier this month that Chancellor was likely headed to injured reserve.
In a news conference later Monday afternoon, Carroll said Chancellor doesn't need surgery as of right now. Asked what the determining factor was in the decision that he won't play again this season, Carroll said it was up to doctors, Seahawks trainers and Chancellor himself.
"He feels good. He feels comfortable," Carroll said of Chancellor, who signed a three-year extension with Seattle over the summer. "He's not in discomfort at all, which is good. But there's a process as far as when we do the work with up-and-down stuff. We'll figure that out. Really, I'm trying to be very respective of Kam and let him kind of call the shots as far as what's known and all that kind of stuff and how he wants to talk about it, because this is him, it's not us, it's him. We'll support him all that we can."
Carroll's mention of Chancellor having to decide about his football future underscores the possibility that he might never play again -- for Seattle or anyone else.
"Not really considering, worrying about that right now," Carroll said when asked if he's thinking about that possibility. "We're just trying to get the week-to-week here. More concerned about Kam and his mentality and how he's doing. He'll be in charge of all that."
Carroll also told 710 ESPN Seattle that defensive end Cliff Avril will have surgery Tuesday to repair his neck injury. Carroll described it as disk-related surgery and said Avril faces a similar decision about his football future.
Avril, 31, hasn't played since injuring his neck in Week 4, when his chin landed on Jacoby Brissett's heel as Avril dove to tackle the Indianapolis Colts quarterback.
"I don't know what the future holds," Carroll said of whether or not Avril will be able to play again. "Guys do come back from that surgery sometimes and sometimes they don't. It just depends."
Carroll told 710 ESPN Seattle that the Seahawks will have cornerback Shaquill Griffin (concussion) and running back Mike Davis (groin) available this week. Both missed Sunday's victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
Carroll also acknowledged for the first time that rookie defensive lineman Malik McDowell, the team's top draft pick, is unlikely to play this season. McDowell, who is on the non-football injury list, has been sidelined since he suffered what the team called a severe concussion in a summer ATV accident. Carroll hadn't ruled out the possibility of McDowell playing this season until he essentially did so Monday.
"I don't think that's happening," Carroll said. "There's not any progress being made in that direction."
Asked about McDowell's long-term outlook, Carroll said, "I don't know. I don't have any updates for you."
Carroll said cornerback DeShawn Shead won't return to practice this week. Shead is on the physically unable to perform list recovering from knee surgery. Defensive end Dion Jordan has a chance to practice this week after missing Sunday's game with a neck/shoulder injury, Carroll said.