One way for Kam Chancellor to potentially gain leverage during his contract holdout is if the Seattle Seahawks' secondary struggles out of the gate.
If Chancellor decides to sit out the first game or two and the Seahawks struggle, perhaps the organization would change its stance and revisit his demands.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, however, said during his weekly radio appearance Monday on 710 ESPN Seattle that this is unlikely to happen.
"Not really," he said. "Everything's pretty well-stated. He knows where we're coming from, and we know where he's coming from. So we just have to keep going and do what we need to do, and he has to do the same."
The Seahawks return to practice Monday with no sign of Chancellor. Carroll said there's no deadline in terms of when the Pro Bowl safety would have to show up to be ready for Sunday's regular-season opener against the St. Louis Rams.
The lines of communication have remained open, but there's not much new to say by either side at this point, according to Carroll.
"There's markers when we need to be available for the conversation, which we've done," Carroll said. "But small talk in between, there's not much of that. There's not much to say. But the business is out there.
"We've communicated very clearly. I know where he's coming from. He knows where we're coming from, so that's what's going on. This is an important week to see where he is, so we're ready to go about our business."
If Chancellor doesn't show up, the most likely candidate to replace him is Dion Bailey, who has been playing with a hand injury. Seattle also has DeShawn Shead as a strong safety option, and the Seahawks acquired Kelcie McCray from the Chiefs over the weekend.
The organization was hoping the situation would be resolved by now but has had to prepare for the possibility of playing without its leader on defense.
"We've already had to do that," Carroll said. "We've had to move our focus ahead. Meanwhile, we blend the opportunity to visit with him when we can to see if we can make some sense of getting him back. But we have to focus on what's at hand and go ahead, so that's what we've done."