The Seattle Seahawks may have escaped State Farm Stadium with a win over the Arizona Cardinals, but they unfortunately suffered more gut-wrenching injuries in Glendale yet again. Earl Thomas broke his leg and is done for the season (and likely done as a Seahawk), while rookie TE Will Dissly has a patellar tendon rupture that will see his promising year cut short.
As Seattle looks ahead to a key divisional battle at home against the Los Angeles Rams, head coach Pete Carroll provided a few updates at Monday’s press conference on players who missed Sunday’s game at Arizona. The bad news is that linebacker K.J. Wright’s knee injury is still a problem, so he might be out through the bye week, and unavailable against the Rams for the second time in as many meetings. Mychal Kendricks hopefully can still play, but he is facing suspension from the NFL after pleading guilty to insider trading, and is currently appealing the ban.
On the plus side, they should have three starters returning to the lineup this weekend. Defensive lineman Dion Jordan, running back Chris Carson, and left guard Ethan Pocic are all on track to play vs. the NFC’s only undefeated team.
Carroll said KJ Wright may be out a couple more weeks so Seahawks will have to hope Mychal Kendricks remains available. Says Jordan, Pocic and Carson should all be back Sunday against Rams.
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) October 1, 2018
If Pocic does start again, this will be the first time all season that the Seahawks have had their intended starting offensive line playing together. Seattle’s OL is coming off a strong performance in the running game, gashing a good Cardinals run defense for 171 yards on 34 attempts. I have a sneaking suspicion things will be harder against that Rams defensive front.
The oft-injured Jordan’s return would provide a much-needed boost to a defensive line that has often struggled to generate a pass rush, and is hurting for depth at the moment with Rasheem Green out indefinitely with an ankle sprain.
Carson is coming off a 102-yard, one touchdown performance against the Dallas Cowboys, albeit on 32 carries. With Mike Davis and Rashaad Penny both impressing on Sunday, there might be rare reason for optimism at the running back position. Carson is also Seattle’s best receiving back, so perhaps we’ll see Chris used as an outlet quite frequently to avoid having Russell Wilson hold the ball too long.