The Seahawks could be without receiver DK Metcalf for Sunday’s game against Buffalo after he suffered a sprained MCL injury in Atlanta. Coach Mike Macdonald didn’t rule out that Metcalf could make it back and said the good news is that Metcalf escaped a significant injury.
“He’s got a minor MCL [injury],” Macdonald said. “Timeline, I’m not sure. It doesn’t look like it’s a long-term injury. You guys know DK, we know DK, he’s going to probably do anything humanly possible to be able to play in this game, I would imagine. We’ll assess as the week unfolds here.”
Macdonald confirmed an ESPN report that it is a grade 1 sprain.
Metcalf was injured late in the third quarter of Sunday’s 34-14 win over Atlanta when he was upended by Falcons safety Justin Simmons and fell hard to the turf while leaping for a pass at the sideline. Metcalf was examined on the bench and carted off a little later.
Metcalf leads the Seahawks with 568 receiving yards, which is also second in the NFL. He had 99 yards on four receptions, including a 31-yard touchdown with four seconds left in the first half Sunday before leaving.
read more Seahawks 34, Falcons 14
If Metcalf can’t play, the Seahawks will have to rely on backups Jake Bobo, Laviska Shenault Jr. and Dareke Young to fill in and play alongside starters Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Macdonald also mentioned that the Seahawks could use more two tight end sets, and maybe more two running back sets as well, as a way to create different offensive looks without Metcalf.
“There’s lots of options there at our disposal that are in the system, so if we didn’t have him — you’re never going to fill the shoes of a DK Metcalf, but you can kind of work around it in certain ways,” Macdonald said.
The players who would most logically see their snaps increase are Bobo and Shenault.
Bobo has been the No. 4 receiver all season and stepped in when Metcalf was injured Sunday, playing a season-high 29 snaps, though he did not have a catch (Pro Football Focus assessed him a drop on the one pass that came his way). The second-year player out of UCLA, who made the team a year ago as an undrafted free agent, has eight catches for 66 yards this year.
Shenault, a second-round pick of the Jaguars in 2020 who signed as a free agent in the spring, has played in every game this season and has been one of the primary kickoff returners. He has four catches for 26 yards this season but did not have a snap on offense Sunday.
Young, a third-year player, does not have a catch this season but has been a regular on special teams.
“We have a huge amount of confidence in our guys,” Macdonald said. “We’ve got a deep [receiving] crew. Jake stepped in yesterday after DK went down and then the way that we build [it] all three guys can kind of play all three spots where you can mix and match. … Laviska being able to play multiple spots and the catch-and-run stuff with him is exciting.”
Jerrell shines, but RT spot unclear moving forward
Macdonald reiterated that he was pleased with the effort of rookie Michael Jerrell at right tackle.
Jerrell, a rookie from Division II Findlay University, was seeing his first NFL offensive snaps. He played all 60 snaps and according to PFF gave up four pressures and earned a 50.9 grade. He was called for a false start.
“The guy played hard,’’ Macdonald said. “The guy played really hard. There’s a couple plays where he lost the reps and that’s going to happen. But the guy fought. … The game wasn’t too big for him, just really pleased with his effort, frankly.’’
Jerrell was forced to start with Stone Forsythe out with a hand injury. Forsythe started five games after taking over for George Fant, who is on injured reserve with a knee injury suffered in the season opener.
Macdonald said he was “not sure’’ if Fant would be back this week but didn’t rule it out. He didn’t give a specific timeline on Forsythe but didn’t rule out he could be back this week.
Fant and Forsythe took over as the top two right tackles in the absence of Abraham Lucas, who had knee surgery last January and has been on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
Macdonald said there’s a chance Lucas returns to practice this week, though he would need more time to be able to play.
“But it’s looking good on that front with Abe. When he does come back there is a process to get him ready to play, so even if he did start to practice I think you’re looking at a good chunk of practice time to get him ready to go play a game.,” Macdonald said of Lucas, a third-round pick out of Washington State in 2022 who started 16 games as a rookie before battling knee issues all last season, limited to just six games.
Lucas could practice for 21 days before the Seahawks would have to activate him to the 53-man roster.
Macdonald praises Walker taking one for the team
Running back Kenneth Walker III played despite battling flu-like symptoms that Walker said left him fatigued and dehydrated.
Walker led the Seahawks with 69 yards on 14 carries and scored on a 17-yard pass reception and a 20-yard run and also had an apparent 13-yard TD run nullified because of a holding penalty.
Players joked later that they are going to call it the Ken Walker flu game, a reference to a famous performance by NBA legend Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls during the 1997 NBA Finals.
“He’s a warrior, man,’’ Macdonald said. “I know he wasn’t feeling well, and that probably doesn’t even do it justice. I don’t know what he had, but he gutted through it and played his tail off. … So for him to be able to put the team first and gut through it was big for us.’’
Right guard rotation to continue
The Seahawks continued their rotation at right guard with Anthony Bradford starting, but Christian Haynes coming in to play two series in the first half and getting some time in the second half. Bradford played 45 snaps and Haynes 15.
One of Haynes’ drives concluded with Walker’s TD run in which he burst through a hole over the right side created by Haynes and Jerrell.
Macdonald said he thought each played well and that for now, the two will likely continue to each play.
“I thought both guys took a step in their game,’’ he said. “I think that competition right now is what is best for both of them and probably what’s best for the team, so I would imagine that the rotation still continues at this point.”
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