To hear Positive Pete Carroll spin it, the Seahawks love Christine Michael.

To hear the truth, the Hawks love the tease that Michael is and wish the running back would be what they wanted him to be when they drafted him in the second round in 2013.

You know they have no faith in him as Marshawn Lynch's backup when Robert Turbin suffers a high ankle sprain and the team checks out Fred Jackson, Lynch's 34-year-old former teammate with the Buffalo Bills.

Michael, who was a surprise luxury pick two years ago, clearly has not become what the Seahawks hoped he would. And it's pretty easy to discern what the Hawks think about him if you tune in to Carroll's words closely.

On Tuesday, Carroll extolled Michael's talent: “He’s very explosive. He reported in great shape … and allowed himself to really take advantage of being ready every day. He’s worked really hard; he’s had a very, very good camp. He showed you a play last week that he broke and went out the back door of a power play. That cut doesn’t happen that much in football; it’s rare that a guy sees that. He took advantage of it and made it a big play for us and set us up in the red zone."

But Carroll also hinted at what the coaches don’t like about him: "He also will take some chances. You’ve seen him take some chances to try to get out of trouble, and sometimes it hurts him a little bit."

That probably was a reference to the big fumble Michael committed vs. Denver.

Asked if Michael has earned the coaches' trust, Carroll said, “I think throughout the whole couple years he has, yes. He’s grown with us and continues to be a guy that we really care a lot about. We try to figure out how to utilize him at his very best, and so we’ll continue doing that.”

Translation: Michael has improved, and the Hawks still hope he will come around. In the meantime, they are still figuring out how much they trust him -- and in which situations.

In the meantime, it appears they would prefer to add a smarter No. 2 back if Turbin is out for an extended period.

Turbin suffered a high ankle sprain in San Diego last weekend, so the Hawks brought in Jackson for a physical and meeting on Tuesday.

"This is a visit for us," Carroll emphasized. "This isn’t a signing. This is a visit for us with Freddy. We have tremendous respect for this player; he’s got obviously a wealth of background. He’s tough, he’s smart and sharp. So we need to see where he is right now at 34 years old and see what he looks like.

"We’re trying to just get our ducks in a row for what may be necessary later on.”

Lynch apparently has been lobbying the Hawks to make the move with Jackson, his friend since they were teammates in Buffalo from 2007 to 2010.

"Marshawn and he are very good friends and they get along. That’s always a good thing," Carroll said. "But … that didn’t feed into this. He's just a heck of a football player that might be able to find a role. It depends on how things are going. We've got to check out and see how we’re doing with our injuries and stuff.”

The Hawks probably will wait until they have a definite timeline on Turbin before making a move. And they very well could wait until after the season opener so the $970,000 minimum salary is not guaranteed. And they might check out other released backs.

But it is clear they still do not trust Michael to be the No. 2 back.

Image: Mike Morris (Flickr)