Seattle’s injury list has been a moving target all season, but there’s at least some encouraging news heading into next Sunday’s matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
On Tuesday morning, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald told Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk that three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Leonard Williams, left tackle Charles Cross, wide receiver Rashid Shaheed and edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu all have “a chance” to return from injury this week.
Williams left Monday night’s 34-17 loss to the Chicago Bears in the third quarter after suffering a stinger. Cross, Shaheed and Nwosu all sat out that game.
Cross and Shaheed were hurt in last week’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs, with Cross dealing with an ankle issue and Shaheed nursing a knee injury. Nwosu was added to the injury report last week with an ankle injury.
“I think those guys have a chance to come back this week,” Macdonald said. “So, we’ll see. Now you’re looking at a return-to-play thing where they have to hit certain benchmarks to be able to practice enough to play.”
There was at least one bright spot on Monday night: running backs Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price both made their much-anticipated returns. Even so, the bigger trend around the roster has been the steady accumulation of injuries. Seattle had a season-high 20 players on its injury report last week.
Macdonald said the Seahawks will need to spend this week getting healthy, especially with a shorter turnaround after playing on Monday night.
“At this point last year we had our bye,” Macdonald said, referring to Seattle’s Week 8 bye last season. “We still have two more games until our (Week 11) bye, so we’ve gotta get our bodies right and we’ve gotta get our mental right so we can go in on a short week against a good opponent.”
In Other News...
Seahawks Defense Just Took Another Big Hit In Chicago
The Seahawks defense was already dealing with a difficult night in Chicago when Leonard Williams went down with a stinger and was listed as questionable in the teams official update. His exit added another layer of concern for a unit that had been under pressure throughout Monday Night Football, with the Bears finding enough rhythm to keep Seattle on its heels.
DAndre Swifts late rushing touchdown stretched Chicagos advantage and forced Seattle to keep chasing the game, while rookie running back Jadarian Price was held to limited rushing yards as the Seahawks tried to answer. For a defense that needed a steadying presence, Williams status only deepened the uncertainty around a rough evening. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Suddenly Have A Bigger Sam Darnold Problem Than One Loss
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Darnolds stat line against Chicago was serviceable on paper, but the broader concern is what it says about the future. Seattle is already being pushed toward thinking ahead, with the possibility of eventually moving on and looking for a new answer under center, perhaps through the draft. If that path becomes real, the Seahawks will have to decide whether to wait, or start lining up a successor sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Now Face A Cardinals QB Twist With Bigger Stakes
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For Seattle, the shift adds another layer to a division game that already carries plenty of weight. LaFleur said the decision was a difficult one, but he also made clear it was driven by what Arizona needed offensively, which leaves the Seahawks preparing for a familiar veteran presence instead of the rookie look they might have expected. [Read more 🡒]
