SEATTLE -- Running back Eddie Lacy was a surprise inactive for the Seattle Seahawks' home opener against the San Francisco 49ers.

Lacy, who was not on the team's injury report last week and practiced as a full participant all three days, was a healthy scratch. Thomas Rawls, who's returning from an ankle injury that sidelined him in Week 1, got the start for Seattle. C.J. Prosise and rookie Chris Carson are Seattle's other active running backs.

"It was a very hard decision for the coaches," said Seahawks GM John Schneider during a pregame radio interview on 710 ESPN Seattle. "Thomas [Rawls] is back, had a great week of practice as well. Eddie had a great week of practice. C.J. [Prosise], [Chris] Carson, those guys had a really good week. We need to keep the fullback up in [Tre] Madden. I just know that we have to be balanced with our playcalling.

"I know it's difficult for Eddie, it's very difficult for the coaches to make those decisions on who's going to be active and who's not. He's a big man, he played well last week, so it's nothing he's done or hasn't done. It's just a pregame decision."

Cornerback Richard Sherman is active, however, after being listed as questionable because of a hamstring injury. Sherman hasn't missed a game since entering the NFL in 2011.

Lacy's surprise inactive comes after he played only seven snaps in the team's season-opening loss to the Green Bay Packers, his former team. He carried only five times for 3 yards while Carson (26 snaps) got the majority of the playing time in Seattle's backfield. Seattle's running backs combined for only 15 carries and 53 yards as the team's offense struggled throughout a 17-9 loss.

Eddie Lacy, left, is not active for the game against the 49ers. Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Asked last week about the performances of Carson and Lacy against Green Bay, coach Pete Carroll said: "They both had their moments where they had good spacing and they did a nice job running the football. I thought Chris got a little bit more room and took advantage of it. Eddie hit up in there a couple of good times and then we got on the edge and he got banged around a little bit, didn't get started. It was not a game where we developed the real feel for the running game like we want to. We ran it really 15 times in a game. There just wasn't enough plays and we didn't get it going, so neither one of the guys really got a chance."

Lacy signed a one-year, $4.25 million deal with Seattle over the offseason after spending his first four seasons in Green Bay. Lacy's contract includes $1 million in roster bonuses tied to him being active on game days, which means he loses out on $62,500 by being inactive on Sunday.

Lacy's contract also includes $385,000 in incentives tied to him reaching certain weight targets from the offseason through the regular season. ESPN's Rob Demovsky reported that Lacy's weigh-in for September was the week before the season opener. When asked at the time if Lacy hit his target weight for his most recent weigh-in, Carroll gave what's been his standard response about any questions related to Lacy's weight, saying: "Eddie's doing great. He's done everything we've asked of him."