He hasn’t seen action all season, but he might in the NFL Championship Sunday against Green Bay. Third-string QB B.J. Daniels will fill the roster spot of injured WR Paul Richardson and may play on special teams — or play a little wide receiver or running back, Pete Carroll said Monday.
The Seahawks coach is normally reticent about passing on roster replacements early in the week. But it seems as if he wanted to give the Packers something to think about. Daniels, a 5-11, 217-pounder from the University of South Florida, has seen no action this season, although he was active for four weeks.
Daniels, 25, has spent practice time at both positions, and he could also return kicks in place of Richardson, whom the club confirmed was out with a torn ACL from Saturday’s win over Carolina. He was placed on injured reserve, meaning he’s done for the postseason.
Daniels’ elevation may offer intrigue.
“He’s been really impressive to us all year long,” Carroll said. “It’s a classic example of rewarding a guy that has been competing his butt off. He’s going to help us in a number of spots.
“Of course he’s a third-string quarterback, but we’ll work to see how he fits in on special teams. He’s a backup returner for us. He can play running back and wide receiver. He’s a very versatile guy for us to bring to life right now.”
Regarding Richardson, Carroll said there’s “more going on” in Richardson’s left knee than just a tear: “It’s complicated.”
Given the usual nine-month recovery period, it sounds as if Richardson, this year’s No. 3 receiver (28 catches, 271 yards) behind Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse, won’t be ready for the 2015 season opener.
The player most likely to get Richardson’s cut of the action Sunday is Kevin Norwood, who was inactive last week. The fourth-round rookie from Alabama has nine catches for 102 yards.
“We totally trust that he knows what’s going on and can make good plays,” Carroll said. “They’re a little different in style, but we think he’s going to be a very effective player. We just haven’t seen a lot of him. We’re okay about that.”
Two other injured starters, CB Byron Maxwell and C Max Unger, apparently are doing better. Maxwell played only four snaps on special teams because of illness that lingered through the game Saturday, but “feels fine” as of Monday, Carroll said. Unger rolled his previously injured ankle in the fourth quarter and came out, but appeared all right Monday.
Another who missed Saturday, TE Tony Moeaki, is returning after a calf injury.
Regarding Green Bay, which has lost its past two games at the Clink, including the semi-immortal, highly controversial “Fail Mary” game on a Monday night 2012 that helped end the lockout of NFL referees, Carroll said the Packers followed a seasonal track similar to Seattle — slow start, furious finish, winning seven of their final eight, plus Sunday’s 26-21 playoff win over Dallas.
“I don’t think it’s that much different, except their guys are coming through,” he said. “They’ve really turned their season around statistically from the first eight games to the second eight games. Their rushing stats on have gone way up on offense and gone way down on defense. They’ve gone through a transition during the course of the season that has really turned them into playing great football here at the end.
“As we went against them in the opener, we thought this was the team we would be playing now. It’s matched up pretty well.”
Notes
Coach John Fox and the Broncos “parted ways” Monday afternoon following Denver’s elimination from the playoffs by underdog Indianapolis. That makes for a sweep of disarray for all three playoff opponents Seattle defeated a year ago. The 49ers and coach Jim Harbaugh parted ways after an 8-8 season and no playoffs, while the New Orleans Saints finished 7-9 in the NFC South, the league’s worst division . . . No word yet on whether Seahawks DC Dan Quinn will be a candidate, as he has been for five of the previous six head coaching vacancies . . . The Packers will arrive Friday in Seattle, a day earlier than usual. But it’s not to acclimate for the elevation. A reporter Sunday in Green Bay after the Packers’ win over the Cowboys actually asked in a press conference whether Seattle’s altitude would be a factor . . . Carroll was complimentary of the NFL for its noon Sunday start: “I think it’s only fitting that they’re starting the game at 12:00. We worked really hard to negotiate that and finally got that done. Hopefully our 12s will celebrate our 12 o’clock start.”
15 Comments
Interesting tactic if Carroll is truly trying to make the Packers second guess his moves, unless he’s just simply rewarding Daniels for being a good soldier the past couple seasons and letting him be on the playoff roster. Especially if there’s playoff bonus involved.
Not totally surprised the Broncos and Fox parted ways. I’d say the reasons for the Broncos “down” season were more than Fox who did seem to be out-coached at times. Injuries to Manning, Julius Thomas, Welker having an off year, the team missing Decker more than they’d care to admit, defense emphasizing containment instead of pressure, they still had a 12-4 record and their 4th AFC West title under Fox. The man has taken two teams to the Super Bowl (but losing both times) so he’ll land on his feet somewhere. I’d think they’d at least keep him as long as Manning is around. Now it wouldn’t surprise me if Elway quietly pushes Manning out the door. Too bad Harbaugh already accepted the Michigan job.
Fox wasn’t the problem. The problem was loading up on FAs to get a title before the window closed on Manning, as it has done. That’s on Elway.
SF did the same. And both teams tried to make their offense even better. Neither of them followed the Seahawks blueprint of building a strong defense. You bring in a FA offensive player and they’ll need a season to become acclimated to the team and plays.
Hmmm. So Daniels is assuming a role many thought Terrelle Pryor would’ve been a good fit for? I expect special teams and maybe a little WR, but nothing prominent. Norwood can catch a pass but won’t stretch the field the way Richardson can, although the latter was rarely sent as deep as you’d expect for someone with his speed.
BTW, Fox is a very good coach who won’t be out of work for long. And I think an Elway-Harbaugh combo would’ve been oil and water. You think Harbaugh would get the kind of control he craves in Denver? He’ll be a great fit in Ann Arbor…for four or five years, anyway.
Fox is good, but being in the middle between Elway and Manning is no-man’s land. Especially after Elway’s team building plan crashed.
Whose Fault is it? Elway and Manning both point to the Fox in the hole….
If Elway didn’t sign Manning they’d have Tebow at QB.
Good point Jaf… If Manning didnt want to play in the NFC Russell Wilson could conceivably be holding a hawk clip board right now with everybody gushing about his potential behind Manning.
I think Elway did the right thing and landed Manning but its really strange speculating about what could have been.
Peyton wanted to keep it set up that if his team made it to the SB it wouldnt be in the same conference as his brother so they might meet in multiple SBs. Pete sure tried the hard sell to bring him here though.
I wish Dallas had prevailed on Sunday. i fear the usual excuses that Rodgers is injured and therefore blah blah blah true football destiny has been denied blah blah blah
The pic at the top of this post is pretty interesting. Wilson has amazing body control….
That is a very hard left turn.
I don’t think the sentimental side stories will cause the Seahawks defense to weep uncontrollably.
Norwood and Daniels….both on the man of mystery chart for the Packers since there is little to no film of either of them. Seahawks could Surprise them with a play or two…
Jumping Jack(Kam) Flash can attest to plays that catch the opponent by surprise. Its great fun.
For BJ I hope he gets in the game. The play: a throw to BJ in the flat, he makes a football move short of the line of scrimmage and throws a bomb to …
you can never have too many BJs in the lockeroom.
Sing along.
I think Carroll is expecting everyone to think something larger is up, and therefore spend time and neuron-synapse activity worrying about ulterior motives. In reality, I’ll bet Pete has answered up cleanly about his motives. The ultimate deception.
Hey look, a bald eagle.