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Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan got to have a moment of his lifetime on Thursday night by running a fake punt up the gut for 33 yards against the LA Rams, but also may have seen his life flash before his eyes on a hit as he was going down.
The #Seahawks run a perfect fake punt, but Jon Ryan bobbles the ball, takes a massive hit and stays down. He's headed to the locker room pic.twitter.com/EWmSXoN2AI
— Chat Sports (@ChatSports) December 16, 2016
Ryan left the game and did not return, nor would a punter be needed for the rest of the game as Seattle ended up winning shortly thereafter 24-3. Head coach Pete Carroll said after the game that Ryan was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Carroll says Ryan being taken to hospital for evaluation. Says "he's pretty loopy".
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) December 16, 2016
The Seahawks don’t play again for another nine days, facing the Arizona Cardinals at home next Saturday. In the event that Ryan does have a concussion, there’s a chance that the team will have to sign a free agent punter, which seems likely given how severe the injury looked on the field, even if it’s just as an insurance policy.
The last time anyone besides Jon Ryan punted for Seattle was Ryan Plackemeier in Week 1 of the 2008 season. That was a 34-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills in which Plackemeier had 11 punts, including ones that went for 22, 22, 31, and allowed a 25-yard return and a 63-yard TD return. They released Plackemeier and signed Ryan (who had started his career with the Green Bay Packers) for their next game and he’s been with the team for the last 141 regular season games, plus some notable playoff appearances both good and bad. (Good: Packers. Bad: Vikings.)
Also lost to injury on Sunday was defensive end Michael Bennett, who may have been having his best game of the season. Bennett had a tackle for a loss and a QB hit but was in the backfield all night and helped contribute to Frank Clark and Cliff Avril combining for three sacks.
three pumps: the video
— josé ⭐ (@whoisjoserivera) December 16, 2016
starring michael bennett pic.twitter.com/OjbG4cS0jj
However, Bennett left with what was thought to be a possible concussion and put into the protocol. After the game, Carroll said that Bennett just had a “wrenched neck” and that he should be okay. That’s a relief given that he missed five games already this season and just returned two weeks ago.
Safety Kam Chancellor had to leave the game with an injury but returned almost immediately.