Drew Lock could start vs. 49ers

Geno Smith's late-week injury could open door for Seahawks to start Drew Lock in season's most important game: Seaside Joe 1741

While I would not quite use the word “coy”, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said about the least he could say about Geno Smith’s reported ‘groin injury’ without being called deceptive. Smith last played a football game eight days ago against the Dallas Cowboys but didn’t show up on any injury report until Thursday, when the team listed him with a groin injury and limited in practice.

Then on Friday, the Seahawks signed quarterback Sean Mannion to the practice squad as insurance in case a call-up is needed against the 49ers on Sunday and the team has listed Geno as questionable. To the media, Carroll only said “We’ll see” in regards to whether Geno will be able to play against San Francisco in two days…but also said that Drew Lock “has been waiting for this opportunity”.

The opportunity for Geno Smith to be injured enough to miss a game? Or the opportunity to start?

Is Pete Carroll intentionally trying to avoid saying that “Geno Smith is out and Drew Lock is in”? Or is he being as upfront as possible: The starting quarterback ran into a teammate in practice on Thursday, a week after his last game with no reported injuries, and this could cost him gametime but the Seahawks do not know the extent of it yet?

We will find out in two days, unless the team releases or leaks an announcement on Saturday.

It was also last week that I wrote that the Seahawks should bench or at least could bench Geno Smith if the team lost to the Cowboys and he played poorly. Probably the most important takeaway I wanted from that article was that Geno had to earn a fifth opportunity against the San Francisco 49ers, that it could not just be handed to him as Seattle enters a must-win situation this Sunday.

Well, what happened in Dallas certainly benefited Geno’s case in some ways, but hurt him slightly in others: The Seahawks 20.82 EPA on offense was a season-best and Geno was nominated for the NFL’s passer of the week award, tossing three touchdowns and gaining 334 yards against a good Cowboys defense.

However, he went just 23-of-41 (second-worst comp% of the season), threw a bad interception to DaRon Bland, had some Ankiel-ish off-target attempts that should have been slam dunks, and didn’t see what he needed to see pre-snap on the team’s final offensive play. Without blaming Geno for the loss, did he earn that fifth shot against the 49ers?

Sure, maybe. I said after the game that I wouldn’t bench the quarterback after the team scored 35 points.

But one thing is as true today whether the Seahawks lost 41-35 or 41-0: The Seahawks are 6-6, have lost four of five, are on the verge of their worst division record in the 21-year history of the modern NFC West, and can’t afford to lose face with fans again if Seattle is gobbled up by the Niners for really the fifth time in the last 15 months.

IF Drew Lock does start on Sunday—I’m not trying to make that assumption, but I am starting to expect it—it does at least give Pete Carroll one thing this time that he didn’t have last time, should the 49ers win again: A little bit of an excuse. “We didn’t have our starting quarterback, we tried the other guy, it didn’t work out for us.”

And yet it also gives Lock an incredible “opportunity” as Pete put it. If the Seahawks start Lock and beat the 49ers, Seattle will be making that change at quarterback for the rest of the season. Whether fans fought for it or fought against it.

I was not planning on writing THIS article on Friday—the 1,741st day in a row of a Seahawks article on Seaside Joe—so I have other pieces in the works. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter to not miss those or anything else in the future. Consider joining the premium club for only $5 per month to help support a Seahawks newsletter reach #1 on Substack: