First-place Seahawks holding breath awaiting more tests on DK Metcalf’s injured knee
The Seahawks will await word early this week on how badly DK Metcalf’s knee is injured.
“X-rays showed nothing there,” coach Pete Carroll said after the star wide receiver got hurt early in Seattle’s 37-23 victory over the Chargers outside Los Angeles Sunday. “But we are going to have to take him back (home) and get tested and checked out with MRIs and all that stuff to make sure.
“So, we are going to have to wait and see. Can’t tell you. Sorry.”
Metcalf leaped over Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson on pass deep down the left sideline from quarterback Geno Smith late in the first quarter. Metcalf was unable to hold onto the ball as he landed at the goal line with all weight down upon his left leg. The leg buckled inward some at the ankle as he landed.
“He landed on his knee in an odd way,” Carroll said.
He then walked to the Seahawks sideline for medical attention while limping, slightly. After some minutes, Metcalf had a towel draped over his head with his legs extended across the back of a flat-bed cart as he was driven from the Seahawks’ sideline across the back of the opposite end of where he got hurt, to the SoFi Stadium X-ray facility.
Moments later, almost immediately after Metcalf got carted off, the Seahawks announced he was out for the remainder of the game. Usually, teams hedge some and say a player is doubtful or questionable to return, even if he doesn’t. An almost immediate declaration he was out for the day suggested the injury was clear and serious.
Asked about that after the game, Carroll said before he and the team flew home to Seattle Sunday evening: “He did something to his knee. His knee wasn’t feeling right. He landed funny, and that’s kind of all I know about it right now.
“I’m thrilled there was nothing on the X-rays. That’s one test. We’ve got to get another test when we get back (the MRI), to see what it shows.”
Metcalf had one catch for 12 yards Sunday before he got hurt. For the season, he has 31 receptions for 418 yards and two touchdowns in six games plus one quarter of a seventh.
Veteran wide receiver Marquise Goodwin had his biggest day of his seven-game Seahawks career when Metcalf got hurt. He had the second two-touchdown game of his 10-year career Sunday.
“He’s shown great stuff,” Carroll said.
“If DK’s going to take a while to get back, he’ll jump into a role. We will really feel confident using him.”
Safety Ryan Neal, who had an interception, four passes defensed, seven tackles and a fourth-down stop, said he talked to Metcalf at halftime, after he’d been hurt and X-rayed.
“I mean, we are all thinking about it,” Neal said. “We came in at halftime and we were just like...”
He pantomimed a look of wonder and concern on his face.
“But he was in good spirits,” Neal said. “And the cool thing is, I asked him, ‘How you doin’?’ And he said, ‘All right.’ ...That was the signals he gave me. He was smiling.
“I was like, ‘That’s a good sign, for anybody.’
“We hate to lose him. Even today, you look at it, guys were getting hurt left and right.”
The Seahawks lost fill-in starting guard Phil Haynes to a concussion late. He started his second consecutive game Sunday because veteran right guard Gabe Jackson was out injured again.
Special-teams captain Nick Bellore sustained a concussion making an open-field tackle as the first man sprinting down to cover Seattle’s second-half kickoff.
The Chargers lost Jackson, their $82 million cornerback, one quarter after Metcalf got hurt. Jackson appeared to seriously injure his knee leaping with Goodwin on the Seahawk’s second touchdown catch of the game. Jackson was also carted off the field.
“We can get (into) the conversations about turf and grass. That’s just a whole ‘nother conversation,” Neal said about the injuries on SoFi Stadium’s artificial surface. “It’s not even, often, people hitting anybody. It’s off the freakin’ surface.”
Neal was among the more optimistic Seahawks about Metcalf’s immediate future after this game.
“It sucks to have that happen. But DK’s in good spirits. He had a smile on his face.
“I think we are going to be all right.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2022 at 6:53 PM.
