Seattle Seahawks linebacker Leroy Hill's bad year got worse on Wednesday, with head coach Pete Carroll announcing that Hill has a "significant" calf/Achilles injury.

"He had a significant injury that occurred really early in the game last week," Carroll said during his Wednesday press conference. "He's going to be out for a while. I don't know all the details of how long that's going to be, but he's going to be down for a while. It's kind of an Achilles-tendon-area injury that's pretty sensitive right now so he's going to be slowed down."

Perhaps due to his physical style of play, the 6-1, 238-pound Hill has missed significant time with injuries the last three years. A stinger against the Dallas Cowboys in 2008 ended his season, and after signing a six-year, $36 million contract, a torn groin muscle in the first quarter of the 2009 season-opener kept him out of five games.

Hill had career-lows in games (11) and tackles (46), and for the second straight season, posted just one quarterback sack in 2009.

Hill has made more headlines with off-field issues the last two seasons.

A February 2009 arrest in suburban Atlanta resulted in a one-game suspension to start the 2010 season, and Hill faces further league discipline for an April 2010 arrest in Issaquah, Washington for assault/domestic violence, as well as violating the terms of his suspension by attending the game he was suspended for.

Hill agreed to a contract restructure in August, which reduced his $6 million base salary to $2.125 million and voided the final four years of the deal. Hill can make up some of his paycut back through playing-time incentives, but between the looming league discipline and "significant" injury, it appears unlikely that Hill will recoup any of that money.

The bottom line is that if Hill has a "significant" calf/Achilles injury, and is going to be down for awhile, he's a candidate to be placed on season-ending injured reserve, which would all but end his tenure with the franchise.

With Hill sidelined, the Seahawks shuffled their practice squad, re-signing rookie linebacker Joe Pawelek and releasing cornerback Marcus Brown. Pawelek (6-2, 237) signed with the Seahawks after going undrafted out of Baylor. Despite battling a hamstring injury during training camp, posted 11 tackles for the Seahawks during the pre-season. Pawelek spent Week 1 on the 'Hawks practice squad, but was released last week when Hill returned and the team needed to add an offensive lineman.