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Seahawks’ Kam Chancellor set to play against Bears after ending holdout Wednesday

Safety Kam Chancellor practiced with the Seahawks on Wednesday for the first time after holding out over a contract dispute.

Safety Kam Chancellor practiced with the Seahawks on Wednesday for the first time after holding out over a contract dispute.

(John Froschauer / Associated Press)
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Kam Chancellor ended his contract holdout Wednesday without a new deal after missing training camp and the first two games of the Seattle Seahawks’ season.

Despite all that time away from the team, Coach Pete Carroll says the strong safety appears ready to play Sunday against the Chicago Bears, who will be without quarterback Jay Cutler and receiver Alshon Jeffery.

“He’s looked like he’s in just rare form,” Carroll said Friday on his KIRO-FM radio show. “He’s been working out really hard, he’s really lean and ready to go. He was anticipating coming back with the thought that he worked out really hard to get here so he looked great both days, the hard days of the week. So he looks like he’s going to be able to play some football and we are looking forward to that.”

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Chancellor, 27, signed a four-year, $28-million contract extension with Seattle in 2012, but was holding out in hopes of restructuring his deal before the season.

That didn’t happen and Chancellor, who forfeited two game checks worth $267,647 each, could be fined more than $2 million for his 54-day absence, though the Seahawks haven’t said whether they would collect.

Under his current deal, Chancellor is set to earn $5.1 million in 2016 and $6.8 million in 2017.

“Some guys can handle it a little better than others and I think Kam is one of those guys,” Carroll said. “He may be a little rusty. We’ll try to protect him and make sure he doesn’t play too much.”

The 6-foot-3, 224-pounder has eight interceptions and eight forced fumbles with 398 tackles in the regular season for the Seahawks since 2010. He also returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers during the playoffs last year.

With Chancellor out, former USC safety Dion Bailey started Week 1 but stumbled while covering St. Louis’ Lance Kendricks, allowing the Rams tight end to score late in the fourth quarter and force overtime. The Seahawks lost, 34-31.

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In Week 2, Seattle tried fourth-year pro DeShawn Shead at strong safety against the Green Bay Packers. Shead had five tackles, but the Seahawks lost again, 27-17.

The Seahawks are 0-2 under Carroll for the second time since 2011.

Follow Matt Wilhalme on Twitter @mattwilhalme

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