As if moving the ball this season wasn’t sufficiently difficult, the 0-2 Seahawks officially will be without WR Doug Baldwin (knee) and LG Ethan Pocic (ankle) Sunday, joining LB K.J. Wright on the sidelines for the home opener against the Dallas Cowboys. There’s a chance C Justin Britt, listed as questionable, may not play because of a shoulder injured chasing a fumble Sunday in Chicago.
Newcomer LB Mychal Kendricks (ankle) is also listed as questionable.
The good news for fans is the Seahawks get back LB Bobby Wagner (groin), CB Tre Flowers (hamstring) and RG D.J. Fluker, who will make his first start of the season at right guard after recovering from a hamstring strain.
J.R. Sweezy, who started at right guard Sunday against the Bears, will move left to Pocic’s spot. He’s spent his career on the right side, but practiced at both spots since his return to Seattle.
If Britt, who has missed only one game since he becme a starter, can’t go, Joey Hunt, who played most of the fourth quarter Sunday, will fill in.
The shuffle means that the Seahawks could have players in three positions in the line who didn’t start against the Bears. Which isn’t necessarily bad — the Seahawks, with 138 yards on the ground, are 29th in the NFL in rushing.
In a week filled with criticism regarding the offense, new coordinator Brian Schottenheimer stepped up and offered a self-lash too.
“I need to do a better job, I’ll be the first to say that,” he said Thursday. “It’s just one of those things where you get a lot of thoughts and advice as a play caller. Not just from Pete, from everybody until it’s third-and-22 and you’re backed up on your one-yard line. You’re like, ‘Hey guys, what do you like? Hello? Hello?’
“I think some of it’s me learning Pete a little bit. Hey look, I get paid to call the plays. I need to do a better job. Sometimes it gets you off your game. It’s not Pete, it’s just different things. It’s hard to find a rhythm sometimes. But I need to be better and I will be.”
Thomas doesn’t practice; Sunday in question
SS Earl Thomas was at practice but did not participate Friday, with Carroll uncertain whether the former holdout will play Sunday.
“We’ll see how he’s doing and make sure he’s OK,” Carroll said. “He’s got some other stuff going on. That’s what we’re working on. It’s personal. That’s why we’re not going to talk about it.”
NFL.com reported that Thomas had not been traded and reiterated Carroll’s statement that Thomas was dealing with a personal issue. Two teammates told NFL.com anonymously that they expected him to play.
11 Comments
Art, what did you make of the Earl situation? Staying out of practice for a “personal situation” although he is healthy? A conspiracy theorist might suspect that they are about to pull the trigger on a trade to the Cowboys, but don’t want to trade him until after the game…
Not sure. Earl has played well and is healthy. NFL.com quoted players as saying he’ll play, Mysterious.
It’s a pity if Earl doesn’t play. I had this game versus Cowboys as one of the five games the Hawks could win this season. Now not so sure. So much drama this season… this is much watch tv even though it’s a lost season.
I see you’ve come around to watching.
Earl could be traded to the Boys at halftime, becoming the first player to play for two teams within the same game. Couldn’t miss that.
I wish B.S. was more definitive in his remarks – he is “the man” calling plays, doesn’t he know that’s why he was hired?
As for the O line, just a continuation of this road to nowhere, so what else is new? Another game of no rushing yards and RW running for his life. If I was RW, if the O line doesn’t get straightened out, I’d be looking for a team with a line. This crappy line is limiting his career.
Gettng all five starters on the field at once might be useful before the group is condemned.
The conspiracy theorist in me questions if Earl is passing on Sunday’s game because it’s the Cowboys? And might we see Earl sitting out certain games for “personal reasons” this season? Very disappointing to see this happening based on the responses by all parties involved. Makes me appreciate players like Cortez who stood with fans when the moving vans arrived in Kirkland.
The patchwork O-Line is doing their best but they’re still a work in progress. I don’t know if the new stand-tall-in-the-pocket-and-wait-for-the-play-to-develop approach works with Wilson when he obviously has reservations. But I get that when he runs it makes things harder for the line. But when you’ve been sacked 12x and are 0-2 why not let him do what worked so well during the Super Bowl years?
Climate Change. It’s hard to watch. We don’t want to see it or believe it.
climate change. It’s not pretty and the future is uncertain.
Here’s a question— why has Dallas been so mediocre for so long? They have every resource. Is it simply Jerry Jones?