Remember during the preseason when left tackle George Fant’s season-ending knee injury felt semi-catastrophic? Well, three months later, with the injury bug treating the Seahawks’ roster like an all-you-can eat buffet, Fant’s bad knee seems almost inconsequential.
Some friendly health advice for anybody playing for the Seahawks right now. The suggestion might not be easy to follow, but it’s paramount for a pain-free body.
If you want to avoid being sidelined by an injury, there is one simple rule to follow: Don’t be good at football.
Seriously, this is getting insane. Seems just about every quality player for Seattle — from rookie running backs to seasoned superstars — has gone down at some point.
Injuries are more a part of football than any other team sport in this country, but the rate the Seahawks are falling is mind-blowing.
Left tackle George Fant seemed to have started the party in the second week of the preseason when he tore a knee ligament vs. the Vikings. This was just a few weeks after coach Pete Carroll had touted Fant as the most improved player on the team — a potential game-changer who had made mammoth gains in the weight room and on the field.
Remember how it felt semi-catastrophic at the time? How it was going to cripple the already flimsy O-line and doom the Seahawks’ season?
Well, three months later, with the injury bug treating the Seahawks’ roster like an all-you-can eat buffet, Fant’s bad knee seems almost inconsequential.
Seattle lost Pro Bowl defensive end Cliff Avril to a neck injury in early October. It lost Chris Carson — the rookie who’d won the starting-running-back job in his first month with the team — to an ankle injury that same day.
Arthroscopic knee surgery forced left guard Luke Joeckel to miss a month and a half of the season. Likely Hall of Famer Earl Thomas — the best safety in the league — missed two games because of a knee injury, including the out-of-nowhere loss to Washington.
And of course there was cornerback Richard Sherman and strong safety Kam Chancellor — both of whom are four-time Pro Bowlers — getting knocked out for the year last month with respective Achilles tendon and neck injuries.
Yeah … there was a time people were complaining about George Fant.
Somehow, through all of this, the Seahawks (8-5) have managed to stay relevant. They’ve been able to upset juggernauts such as Philadelphia and remain in the playoff hunt.
But even when it looks like their health might be stabilizing, another player vanishes — players such as middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, who entered Sunday as one of the leading candidates for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Wagner left the game because of a hamstring injury in the third quarter Sunday. Do you know what happened on the Jaguars’ next three plays from scrimmage? They scored touchdowns. One of those scores was on the heels of a punt return former Husky Jaydon Mickens returned to the Seahawks’ 1-yard line. But another came when Dede Westbrook beat linebacker Terence Garvin, who was in the game because Wagner was out.
But wait … there was more. Pro Bowl linebacker K.J. Wright suffered a concussion late in the third quarter Sunday and was taken out of the game. Running back Mike Davis, who compiled a career-high 66 yards on the ground, was knocked out by a rib injury.
It’s possible he, Wagner and Wright make it back for Seattle’s potential make-or-break matchup with the Rams in six days — but it’s also possible they won’t.
There is no one factor to explain the Seahawks’ health woes. Bad luck is no doubt a factor, but the fact that their core guys are getting up there in age can’t be ignored.
Chancellor, Thomas, Sherman and Avril — they aren’t the once-invincible kids who took over the league a few years ago. In fact, given Chancellor’s and Avril’s injuries and age (29 & 31), they might never play another snap.
What this will mean for the Seahawks going forward is hard to determine. With their depleted secondary, it seemed almost certain they would fall to Carson Wentz and the Eagles two games ago, but they triumphed despite opening up as six-point underdogs.
This team consistently surprises fans, but it also consistently sends its top players to the injured reserve list.
For what it’s worth, many of these injuries have allowed otherwise unknown Seahawks to step in and shine. Perhaps that would happen again if Wright, Wagner or Davis can’t go this week.
Just don’t root too hard for their replacements. If they play too well, they might be gone before game’s end.