How Seahawks injury report could impact Week 1 vs. Rams

Will Ken Walker, Damien Lewis, Boye Mafe miss Sunday? Seaside Joe 1651

The Seattle Seahawks injury report worth waiting for will be Friday’s, and Pete Carroll has the fanbase waiting with bated breath as three new names appeared on Thursday: Damien Lewis (shoulder) and Boye Mafe (illness) didn’t practice, while Ken Walker III (groin) was limited.

The Seahawks also rested Jordyn Brooks but that just sounds like they’re resting Jordyn Brooks. He’s expected to play on Sunday against the Rams.

What about the other three?

Bob Condotta didn’t sound too worried about the prospects of Walker missing Sunday, noting that “running backs often do less as the week goes on.” Walker didn’t have many injury concerns that I know of in high school or college but this is the second fall in a row that he’s had a cautious start to the season. Seattle kept him inactive in Week 1’s win over the Denver Broncos last year, then only gave him 21 snaps over the next two games, both losses.

The Seahawks were 6-3 when Walker got over 40 snaps, 3-5 when he didn’t.

Pop Quiz Hot Shot: Where does the term ‘bated breath’ first appear?

One thing to watch with Walker with or without cautious practice reps is the fact that he only had 98 rushing attempts in 2019, 119 rushing attempts in 2020, and 263 rushing attempts in 2021. Pete found 228 rushing attempts for Walker last season, fewer than his junior season at Michigan State, but I’m sure that the Seahawks want to make sure that he (and the other rookies) aren’t rushed into too much action at the beginning of their NFL careers; they’re going from a typical 12-game season in college to a season that can now last as long as 21 games.

Teams draft and sign stables of talented running backs not just to save money, but to get through the season while keeping them as fresh as possible. I would even say most teams have at least two running backs now who you think are capable of being a starter, not only the Seahawks with Walker and Zach Charbonnet.

The Jets drafted Breece Hall last year and he’s back from a torn ACL, but signed Dalvin Cook and drafted Israel Abanikanda this year. The Falcons got a great season out of Tyler Allgeier last year, but still picked Bijan Robinson this year. The Lions drafted Jahmyr Gibbs in the first round, but gave most of the snaps to free agent David Montgomery on Thursday night.

So Seattle could have drafted Charbonnet to complement Walker, to give the offense a receiving component that they didn’t have before, but it could also lead to more “load management” at the position moving forward. Essentially, it could become commonplace for teams to start a running back one week, then go to the other by the next, playing it by ear based on who is healthiest and the best matchup at a given time.

However, you have probably also noted that DeeJay Dallas, not Charbonnet, is listed as the number two back on the most recent depth chart. That could be more than a veteran gesture. The Seahawks went 4-1 in the games in which Dallas got his most playing time in and even if he’s not a rushing threat, Pete could trust him more than a running back who will be making his NFL debut.

For now, the most likely outcome is that Walker is active against the Rams on Sunday, backed up by Dallas and Charbonnet, with Kenny McIntosh inactive due to his hamstring/knee injury. It could be another week or two before we see McIntosh, but he’s avoided IR so far. If Walker is inactive, there’s a good chance that SaRodorick Thompson would be one of Seattle’s callups from the practice squad.

Thompson, an undrafted free agent out of Texas Tech, could be close to seeing the field in Week 1.

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We don’t know for sure how the Rams—or any team for that matter—will play on Sunday and for the season. However, it could end up being a great opportunity to make your debut as a running back because L.A. will feature essentially eight or nine players on defense who haven’t been starters before. If you want to hit a team’s defense or offensive line at the right time, do it before they’ve had any chance to develop chemistry from continuity. That lack of experience was evident in the preseason, as the Rams were forced to play many of their expected starters (something Sean McVay never did before) because he didn’t know who they would be until he saw them in action for the first time.

During those preseason reps, L.A.’s defense struggled to tackle and to stop the run, losing 34-17, 34-17, and 41-0 in their three contests.

The only player on the Rams defense who was drafted in the first round is Aaron Donald (in 2014), while the only player drafted in the second round is None of Them. Two of the four former third round picks are rookies, while the other two are linebacker Ernest Jones and safety John Johnson, a veteran who was only signed back to the team a few weeks ago and may not start.

(Also, if you’re reading this article as of Friday morning, the Rams still do not have a kicker on the 53-man roster, Matthew Stafford’s only backup quarterback on the team has been ruled out with a shoulder injury, and you probably already know Cooper Kupp won’t play either.)

If there was any week to try running back load management and to rest Walker, this could be the one.

The most concerning name and injury on the report could instead belong to Damien Lewis because if he is unavailable, the next man up could be Ben Brown, literally the last guy to make the roster before the official start of the season. Pete could have Jake Curhan or Anthony Bradford take Lewis’s place instead, I’m not sure, but Brown is currently listed as LG2 on Seattle’s depth chart.

The Seahawks signed Ben Brown to the practice squad after he was released by the Cincinnati Bengals and the 2022 undrafted free agent was called up after Seattle put Dareke Young on IR. Was the decision specifically tied to needing that guard depth for Week 1? Brown went undrafted out of Ole Miss last year and spent 2022 on injured reserve; his grandfather Allen Brown was a tight end on the Packers when they won the first two Super Bowls in history.

Curhan has been used as a do-anything offensive lineman for the past two years, but I don’t believe he’s played left guard in any situation yet. Bradford didn’t seem to play particularly well in the preseason. Lewis missed Week 1 last season, but the Seahawks were able to move over Phil Haynes, which won’t be an option this time.

Waiting to hear about Lewis feels like bigger news than waiting to hear about Walker.

Finally, the Seahawks definitely want to have Boye Mafe and Derick Hall (shoulder, limited) available against the Rams, but it’s too soon to make a judgment call on their risk of missing Week 1. How sick is Mafe? Not sure. How limited is Hall? Not sure. But both situations do seem to leave the door open for playing Sunday.

The same would seem to be the case for Mike Morris, Cody Thompson, and Darrell Taylor since they all had a full participation on Thursday.

Here’s a question: Will the Seahawks have any plays for Jake Bobo on Sunday? Since it seems that Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going to be full-go, how many snaps are leftover for the potential WR4? And is Bobo the WR4 when Thompson is healthy? Asked about Bobo this week, DK Metcalf basically WENT OFF:

But setting an example of how to prepare is different than being a critical component of an NFL offense in your debut game. How much do you think Bobo plays on offense this week? (We assume he’ll play a lot on special teams.)

Seaside Joe Survivor League Pick: Moons

For the record, my pick this week was Washington. It looks like we had 123 entrants for Survivor, including myself, with seven of those people getting eliminated on Thursday night by picking the Chiefs. So we’d be down to 116 now.

Answer: It’s a Shakespeare, of course. ‘Bated breath’ (short for abated) first appeared in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice in 1605.

Shall I bend low and in a bondman’s key,
With bated breath and whispering humbleness, Say this;
‘Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last;
You spurn’d me such a day; another time
You call’d me dog; and for these courtesies
I’ll lend you thus much moneys?

I always knew that Shakespeare had the dog in him.