RENTON, Wash. -- In his first game back from a fibula injury in Week 12, Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls played 39 snaps.

It was more than the team had planned, but C.J. Prosise went down with an injury. The workload took a toll on Rawls' body, given that he hadn't played since Week 2, and the coaches took it easy on him in practice the following week.

Pete Carroll said Rawls didn't look quite right during last week's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, indicating that he left some yards on the field.

But Rawls was back to practicing fully this week, and Carroll said he expects the second-year back to be busy Sunday night against the Carolina Panthers.

"He’ll get the ball quite a bit in this ballgame, and we will not restrict him at all," Carroll said. "He’s ready to go, and we’ll see how it goes."

Rawls has 45 carries for 120 yards (2.67 YPC) on the season, but the run game has shown signs of life in recent weeks.

The main reason? Russell Wilson looks much healthier. He ran for 79 yards in the first 10 games but piled up 80 last week vs. the Bucs. On two of the runs, Wilson kept the ball on zone-read plays and picked up 30 yards.

"It’s definitely an element that we haven’t had, and it’s an element that they’ll have to respect now," offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. "They’ve seen it now. They know that he’s about back to where he can be effective in that run game, so they have to account for it."

Overall, on shotgun runs, the Seahawks totaled 57 yards on nine attempts last week. After the loss, the coaches said they probably should have stuck with those runs more.

Look for a lot of spread-style, zone-read runs against the Panthers. And Rawls very well could see a heavy workload.

"He truly had the best week he’s had," Carroll said. "I’m really excited about that. He looked good going into the first game. He came back the second time around, and I told you that it was a heavy load for him coming out of that game, and you could see it last week. He shows no signs at all. He looks like he’s ready to go, and that’s a real good thought for us. We like that."